Influential sires: Dutch Warmbloods
Warmbloods didn’t always use to be the fancy sports horses they are today, a strong influence in their current dominance is the outcrossing to Thoroughbreds. One of such Thoroughbreds that was used to create the ultimate sport horse was the good-looking gray Abgar xx (Abernant xx x Roc du Diable xx). Born in France in 1958, Abgar didn’t prove to be as successful on the track as they would’ve hoped. As a four-year-old however, he did win 8 of his 10 starts in the steeplechase.
A few years later, in 1964, Abgar xx was purchased and brought to the Netherlands by a man intending to use him to breed Thoroughbreds. In 1967 his offspring appeared on the track. They were not as successful as his owner hoped, partially due to having a difficult personality to work with. As a result, he was sold to a Mr. Vorspaget. Vorspaget was to use him on his Thoroughbred mares, but again his offspring didn’t succeed in impressing him. Still wanting to use the stallion, Vorspaget bred him to a few of his warmblood mares. The halfblood offspring all had strong hindquarters and were of good quality. Vorspaget would only use Abgar on his own mares and those of his friends.
Abgar had the attention of the other warmblood breeders in the country, and after some time Vorspaget finally decided to allow him to be bred to other mares, but only those he selected and if the breeders agreed to send their foals to the offspring inspection to have Abgar approved for the KWPN studbook. This proved to be a success. Abgar would not only bring good jumpers, but several good dressage horses as well. Today you will still find him in many pedigrees of successful sporthorses in both disciplines, perhaps even cross country.