Holstein mares – they are the foundation of success. Venetia I by Con Air has 29 stars and ranks second in the list of the most successful mares currently in breeding.
Venetia was born in 2005 at Regina Rühmann’s stud in Quickborn. Her breeder sold the foal, a fine example of her type from line 1571, to Reimer Detlef Hennings and Fiete Mehrens that very same year; they were buying mares at the time to further expand their joint breeding programme. “We were looking for special mares that stood out in terms of their bloodline and performance,” recalls Reimer Hennings. And Venetia met precisely these criteria. With Caretino, Capitol I, Flamingo and Marlon xx on her dam’s side, the very best Holsteiner blood flowed through her veins. “What’s more, my father had already been closely associated with this dam line for many years. He was particularly interested in Dunja, a Marlon xx daughter from the Jahr family’s Constanzehof. And so we secured line 1571 – from which Fantus also hails – for our breeding programme,” Hennings continued.
Venetia passed her mare test in Lürschau at the age of three and was subsequently put into breeding. Between 2009 and 2021, she produced no fewer than twelve foals for her owners. Among them are five licensed stallions and several successful sport horses, such as Canair by Cancara (Ricarda Dirlenbach), Strawberry Girl by Cascadello I (Christoph Lanske), Chiefs Lady by Cascadello I (Nils von Hirschheydt), as well as the licensed stallions Pikeur Canvaro by Cannavaros, Castelano by Castelan II, Cascador Air by Cascadello I (Michael Aabo/DEN) and the full brothers Chavaros I (Christoph Lanske) and Chavaros II by Charleston. The latter emerged from his licensing at the Holstenhallen in Neumünster in 2021 as the resplendent reserve champion and has since been based at the Maas J. Hell stud in Klein Offenseth. Reimer Hennings’ stable also houses two daughters of Venetia. One is a three-year-old daughter of Shot Gun by Stakkato Gold, who is in foal to Diablue PS by Diarado for 2024. The other is a two-year-old El Barone mare. Sadly, Venetia recently had to be put down following complications during pregnancy, but this highly successful Holsteiner mare lives on in breeding between the seas through her numerous successful offspring.
Venetia’s most successful offspring in sport:
Canvaros by Cannavaros, *2011, 1.45 metres
Strawberry Girl, *2014, 1.45 metres
Canair by Cancara, *2009, 1.40 metres
Pikeur Canvaro by Cannavaros, *2010, 1.40 metres
Reimer Detlef Hennings on Venetia:
“Venetia was a beautiful mare, with superb movements and an unbeatable character. Almost all her offspring were already successful in show jumping up to 1.40 metres from the age of seven. In particular, Castelano, a son of Castelan II who was sold abroad, was a very impressive show jumper in his younger years under our daughter Alessa. We are delighted to still have two of Venetia’s daughters in our stables today. Her sudden death at the age of just 18 is a great loss to us.”
Further information on the star rating system:
Read more here about Online IX, the most successful Holsteiner mare still in breeding with 35 stars, who was honoured as Holsteiner Mare of the Year in 2023.
Photo: Janne Bugtrup
