Zack ready for well deserved retirement
Successful 19 yr old Blue Hors Zack by Rousseau / Jazz bred by B. WILSCHUT, BOSSCHENHOOFD (NED) will say goodbye to the Danish audience and the international dressage scene during next weekends World Cup in Herning.
Blue Hors Zack was spotted by former Blue Hors manager Esben Møller at KWPN stallion licensing at was purchased to Stud Blue Hors.
He was educated at Grand Prix level by Daniel Bachmann Andersen, and they competed at two World Cup finals, one time WEG and one time European Championships, before Nanna took over the ride beginning of 2021 where Zack became her first Olympic partner at Tokyo 2021 Olympics and they were also part of the Danish team gold in Herning at World Championships in 2022.
Sunday Blue Hors Zack will finish his career with start no 58 at international Grand Prix level.
Blue Hors Zack is sire of 41 approved sons and 27 offspring competing at Grand Prix level. Among the most successful offsprings are: Blue Hors Zepter, Glock’s Zonik, Sezuan, Jameson RS2, Straight Horse Ascenzione and Zippo M.I.
Informations at Blue Hors website about Blue Hors Zack:
Our world-class stallion Blue Hors Zack launched his career as a 3-year-old champion stallion at the Dutch stallion licensing, where he was purchased by Blue Hors. Shortly afterwards he was approved in Danish Warmblood and was used extensively, especially in Danish and German breeding, from a very young age. In sport, Zack just keeps getting better and better. He was not ready for Grand Prix until he was 12, and he is still developing.– He has been an incredibly strong and durable horse, he has almost never been sick or injured, and so every day he is super ready and motivated to work – even the day after a big event, when he has to take time off, says Zack’s former rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen.
He debuted in international Grand Prix at the age of 13, after which his and Bachmann Andersen’s journey to world elite dressage took off at high speed. They soon became part of the Danish national team, representing Denmark at the WEG 2018 in Tryon, and became the best Danish equestrian pair in the Grand Prix, ranked at 10. They have since won the World Cup qualifiers in Herning and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, 7th place in the 2018 World Cup final in Paris and 4th place in the 2019 World Cup final in Gothenburg. At the Danish Dressage Championship in 2018 the pair ranked No. 8, then claiming victory as the Danish champions in 2019. The pair has achieved numerous international victories and top placings, including Amsterdam, Neumünster, Paris, Uggerhalne, Aachen, Hagen, Darmstadt, and Salzburg. In 2019 they won the CDIO5* Grand Prix Freestyle in Falsterbo with over 85%, and at the European Championships 2019 in Rotterdam they finished individually at No. 7 with 83.711% in the Grand Prix Freestyle. Zack finished the FEI 2019 competition year ranked at number 6 in in dressage, making him the world’s highest-ranking stallion in dressage.
In 2020, he ranked as no. 10 on FEI’s World Ranking in Dressage
His sire Rousseau won the stallion performance test in dressage in Ermelo in 2002. In the same year, he won the Pavo Cup in Holland with an up till now never reached score. By both test riders, he got a perfect 10. At the age of 5 he won the stallion performance test in ’s-Hertogenbosch and thereafter the silver medal at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden.
Zack is the second foal out of the mare Orona, whose first foal by Neostan (Florestan) won intermediate (M) level dressage classes in the Netherlands as a six-year-old. Orona herself succeeded in intermediate (M) level classes and finished a very good IBOP test (mare performance test). She also produced two KWPN elite mares, one of them is by Blue Hors Don Romantic. Orona is a daughter of the Grand Prix stallion Jazz, one of the most sought-after stallions in the Netherlands, who was successful in international top sport. In 2013, he was 2nd on the WBFSH ranking for dressage stallions.