In this series on Holstein’s most successful broodmares, a special place is reserved for a mare named Ressina. At the Roll family’s stud in Struvenhütten, this daughter of Coriano-Caletto I – who was awarded 20 stars in the Holsteiner Mare Model – has established herself as a top broodmare for eventing horses.
Ressina was born at Ernst Eggers’ stud in Struvenhütten, in the Segeberg licensing district. This is where the Eggers and Roll families successfully breed from line 223b. The Ladalco mare Teska, Ressina’s granddam, also traces back to the Roman daughter Afra. Ressina was born in 2001. “She had actually already been sold as a foal,” recalls Eggers’ daughter Kirsten Roll, “but the buyer pulled out at the time due to a pasture injury. That was a stroke of luck for us, because it was with Ressina that our Holsteiner breeding programme began.”
When she was four years old, the young breeders registered Ressina with the Holsteiner Verband and were delighted to receive the district premium. At a stallion presentation in Elmshorn, they finally chose Con Air, who was successful in competition at the time. “We were looking for a stallion with height and sound conformation,” says Kirsten Roll, explaining the decision on the mating. “She has always passed on very fine and noble traits, has a very good trot and is strongly influenced by her sire, Coriano,” adds Norbert Roll.
In 2007, the Rolls then bred Ressina to Casall, and the following year a colt was born, which they sold to southern Germany. Under the name Candyman, the bay was awarded premium stallion status at the DSP and enjoyed success up to advanced level under Lawrence Greene until 2017. In 2009, FischerIncantas was born in Struvenhütten. “We’ve always been fans of bloodlines, and when we saw Ibisco live for the first time back then, we were absolutely thrilled,” recalls Norbert Roll. So thrilled, in fact, that over the years they bred Ressina to Ibisco xx four times. The most prominent of these horses is undoubtedly Incantas, who was also once DSP-approved, and with whom Michael Jung became World Champion of Young Eventing Horses in Le Lion-d’Angers, France, in 2015. And with a full sister to Incantas, Carlotta by Ibisco xx, the Roll family has a valuable half-blood mare in their breeding programme, who impressively demonstrated her quality as reserve champion at the 2013 Elite Mare Show in Elmshorn.
Eleven years ago, Ressina foaled another foal by Casall. This time it was a filly, which Kirsten and Norbert Roll sold to their long-standing business partner Julia Schmid in Ulm. “Julia consistently trains talented eventing horses and markets them successfully,” says the breeder. She had discovered Easy-Turn – as the mare is called – at the Elite Mare Show in Elmshorn. Having been awarded the State Premium title in the final ring, Easy-Turn also moved to the south of Germany at that time. And today she is the flagship of the Roll stud. Competing under the Australian flag, the Casall daughter has already won several four-star competitions with Shane Rose in the saddle.
Ressina is now 22 years old and is in excellent health in Struvenhütten. Over 14 years of breeding, she has produced twelve foals. These include two licensed stallions, four State Premium mares and internationally successful sport horses, which are causing a sensation particularly in eventing.
Cover photo: Easy-Turn (Bimbadeen Park Enquiry Form), article photo: Ressina (private)
