June 26, 2022
Photo: Johan Achterhof
KFPS Studbook stallion Bikkel 470 (Beart 411 x Tsjerk 328) has been put to sleep. In the past five years this 14-year-old stallion was stabled at Erwin Spliethof’s yard in Bladel. ‘From a ‘tendon injury’ to a hoof operation, to be followed by a life-threatening gut infection triggered by the wrong antibiotics’, the stallion keeper wrote on the Facebook page. ‘But he struggled through all that. We were so proud of him! But a severe gut infection always comes with the great risk of laminitis and unfortunately this nightmare hit him as well. Grateful for having had him in our yard for over five years, but so frustrated that it all ended in this manner. A stallion with a perfect character, his presence filled our yard with positive energy, our number 1!!!’
Pleasant personality
Bikkel 470 was born as Bikkel fan ‘e Lange Ekers at Henk Bakker’s yard in Haskerhorne. His dam is Lysbeth fan ‘e Lange Ekers Star Preferent Performance (Tsjerk 328 x Thomas 327), pedigree 19. He was approved at the age of three in the spring of 2012, on the basis of his very good lineage, his low kinship, his more than satisfactory exterior, and his more than satisfactory performances in the Central Examination, as stated in the assessment report of some ten years ago. Not a stallion of extremes, but instead a stallion without flaws, as can be read in the user advice. That was underlined by his respectable overall marks and 77 points for all three disciplines. What strikes the eye in the final conclusion is the mention of the stallion’s ‘pleasant personality’. Something that Erwin Spliethof and Linda Boon wholeheartedly subscribe. ‘Bikkel had a very special character. His career is not a huge success story, but for us he was the face of our business’, Erwin explains. ‘He meant so much to us and was so special, only now that he is gone do we appreciate the full extent of that.’
Bikkel 470 daughter Roaske
Bikkel 470’s total number of stud services stands at around 400, leaving a legacy of eighteen Star mares, one Star gelding and five Star stallions. Three horses have obtained the Sport predicate, one succeeded in acquiring the AAA suffix. One of Bikkel 470’s most well-known offspring is Roaske út ‘e Polder Star Sport AA, who competes at Z1 level in dressage under Evelien Duin and who is well on track for securing a place in the final of the Alrako KFPS dressage competition.
