The series on Holstein’s most successful broodmares enters its fourth instalment. This time, the spotlight is on Nele V, a State Premium-awarded daughter of Contender from line 1859. With 24 stars in the Holstein Star Rating System, she ranks among the very best.
Perhaps Nele isn’t an immediate household name – such is the lot of broodmares who are far too rarely given the recognition they truly deserve. The situation is often quite different, however, when the conversation turns to their offspring. This is certainly the case with Nele. Over the course of 20 breeding years, the 25-year-old has given birth to 16 foals – without the aid of modern reproductive techniques. Ten of these are by Casall, two each by Lucky Champ and Cascadello I, one by his son Charleston, and one by Corrado I.
Nele was born at the stud farm of Hilde and Klaus Thies in Hemdingen. They had originally purchased Nele’s dam, Taube by Latino-Farnese, on the recommendation of Herbert Blöcker and added her to their breeding programme. Before Klaus Thies passed away, the Thies couple offered Sören Brühe the right of first refusal for Nele. The breeders had long been friends, and Hilde and Klaus Thies hoped that Sören Brühe would also enjoy great breeding success with Nele. In Hemdingen, Nele had already produced, amongst others, Casdorff by Casall – who was licensed at Neumünster in 2009 and is stabled at the Moritzbug State Stud – as well as Casella by Casall (Monika Gonos Noskovicova/SVK), who has enjoyed success at 1.45-metre level. “It was a great honour for my wife Katja and me at the time that Klaus Thies entrusted Nele to us. A Contender mare with such valuable bloodlines and such successful offspring is a sure bet from a breeding perspective,” says Sören Brühe. In the spring of 2009, Nele finally joined the Brühe family. She went on to produce seven foals at the Brühes’ stud in Seeth-Ekholt – the first in 2010 by Corrado I. Under the name Cornell, he competed in show jumping under the Slovak flag. Cincinnati (2012) was sold at the foal auction in Elmshorn for 41,000 euros to the Thomas family in southern Germany and is now successfully ridden by Nick Armbruster.
Nele’s last foal and later Holstein champion mare: La Perla by Casall
In 2018, Nele finally had her last foal. “It was a difficult birth,” Sören Brühe recalls vividly. “And it was clear to us that this filly would be Nele’s last foal.” Three years later, this Casall daughter named La Perla stood on the Herbert-Blöcker-Platz at the Elite Mares Show in Elmshorn, adorned with the winner’s sash. “Everything simply comes together perfectly with this mare. She is distinctly of the mare type, possesses sufficient frame and conformation, her pedigree and dam line are among Holstein’s finest, and in terms of temperament she leaves nothing to be desired,” remarked reporter Heinrich Plaas-Beisemann from Westphalia at the time. Incidentally, Katja and Sören Brühe also have a full sister to La Perla on their farm: Donna Lady, born in 2011. She, in turn, is the dam of Zino van Ekholt by Zinedream, who was licensed in Neumünster in February 2023. And with La Perla, the circle is complete, as she gave birth this year – in partnership with United Way – to a foal that trotted alongside La Perla across the Herbert-Blöcker-Platz at the R+V Foal Championships in Elmshorn as reserve champion of the colts. Meanwhile, Nele is enjoying her well-deserved retirement at Katja Claußen-Brühe and Sören Brühe’s farm in Seeth-Ekholt. “She is the best ‘foal granny’ you could imagine and enjoys looking after the other mares in the paddock during the summer,” says Katja Claußen-Brühe, describing Nele’s daily life today.
Nele’s most successful offspring:
La Perla by Casall, born 2018, Holstein Champion Mare 2021, State Premium
winner; Casella by Casall, born 2005, 1.45-metre
class; Cincinnati by Casall, *2012, 1.45 metres
; Casdorff by Casall, *2006, licensed in Neumünster
; Cassadort by Casall, *2009, 1.40 metres
Photos: Janne Bugtrup (La Perla), private (Nele (on the right in the photo))
