HERO
17.2, 9 yr old Holsteiner gelding




Hero is a truly magnificent 17.2 Holsteiner gelding, just turned nine, by Cassini out of the Fier de Lui Z mare Atlanta VI.

Hero was born in northern Germany, and raised and started in the show ring by his own breeder. As a five year old he competed successfully in both dressage and jumping in E and A Klasse. We imported him as a six year old.

Although we brought Hero over as a intended sale prospect, he instead stayed and became my personal riding horse. Shortly after Hero arrived, I suffered a minor stroke which left damage to my left side. It is Hero who brought me back.

It is, therefore, somewhat difficult, if not impossible, to give a completely unbiased description of Hero.



One thing everyone agrees on: Hero is magnificent, beautiful, and enormously talented.

Although he's tall, it is impossible to judge his height unless someone is standing right beside him. He's beautifully proportioned, with a compact , elegant, well balanced frame and great length of leg.

Hero is currently at the point where, with a competent rider, he can do 3rd Level with his eyes shut and with one hoof tied behind his back. His lateral work is solid, his changes are easy. You have to remind him to stick with basic collected trot before he goes on to passage. He is not a horse who needs to be 'fiddled' with. You climb on, pick up the reins and put your leg on, and Hero is on the bit and ready to work.

What Hero does need, though, is to get back out in the big world. For all the time he's lived here, he has worked almost exclusively alone, in complete quiet. Very picturesque, bald eagles overhead, deer peering out of the bushes behind the ring, sound of the river in the background-pretty much total serendipity (otherwise known to Hero as 'Solitary Confinement'). Oddly enough (to us) this pastoral stuff is NOT Hero's choice of lifestyle. He prefers to be in the middle of things, bustling barn, horses working everywhere, trainer in the ring, maybe some sirens out on the road. He has never been entirely happy with the quiet country life, and he accepts, but does heavy sighs, at the role of 'therapeutic assistance'.

Hero lives to show off. He likes to. He wants to. So, though he's brought me a long way back, it's time for him to have what he wants- a competent rider with aspirations of greatness, a good trainer to take him onwards and upwards, and a barn where the biggest excitement in a year is not the bear at the back of the ring.

Hero is NOT a trailhorse. He is not your toddler's pony ride... well, for carrots, sure, ok. But really, although he's generally a very mellow easy-going fellow under saddle, who generally works with lovely relaxation and rythym, he's also a big, hugely charismatic and incredibly athletic animal. Percentage-wise, 95% of the time he's the lovely relaxed fellow, and 5% a time he's a horse you want to longe before you ride.

Of course, it's exactly that 5% that makes Hero what he is-a horse for upper level training and competition. If you want to be riding the most beautiful horse at the show or in the barn, any barn, he's it. And if you want to be training a horse who will learn to passage and pirouette as easily as a foal learns to breathe, he's also it.

We can't take Hero where we'd like him to go-the FEI levels. We have neither the expertise nor the physical ability to do so.



What we want for Hero is a talented rider who is better than us (meaning able to sit well, use leg, and take actual steady contact) and a good trainer to get him there.

HERO is offered for sale for $24,000.

Video clips of HERO are available for download here.



Hero, attempting to sneak out under the gate.