With the purchase of Gjalt 426 (Pyt 325 x Lukas 324), the presence of the first approved KFPS stallion at Stephanie Dietrich´s new stallion station in Germany´s Sauerland is a fact. ‘The idea is to breed my own approved Friesian stallion with a low kinship profile in the future.’
New Accommodation
In Sauerland – mid to south Germany – Stephanie runs her own equine business, with twelve stables for broodmares and raising young stock. With presently six broodmares, the business comprises 26 hectares of grasslands and in 2020 a new stable block will be erected featuring fourteen paddock stables as well as an equine Aqua Trainer. In partnership with a veterinary lady friend Stephanie is looking to expand and further professionalise her breeding yard and rehabilitation programme for Friesian horses. ‘All stables measure 5 by 5 metres and are kitted out with cameras’, Stephanie explains. ‘So we´re fully equipped to take care of our clients´ broodmares from the moment of insemination through to the delivery.’
Low Kinship Gjalt 426
Stephanie elatedly tells us that with the arrival of Gjalt her accommodation can now boast the first KFPS-approved stallion. ‘Gjalt has a very low kinship’, is one of the main reasons for buying the 17-year-old America-born stallion who was approved in 2005, we hear. Meanwhile Gjalt has two approved sons, stallions Omer 493 and Walt 487. ‘Gjalt also has a golden character, even the girl next door who´s only ten can bring him in from the field.’
First Friesian Horse at the Age of Ten
The now 28-year-old Stephanie caught the Friesian horse bug at a very young age. Visiting a horse musical in Germany aged just five, she had her first glimpse of Friesian horses. ‘Later when I grow up I too want a horse like that’, she told her father. When she was fourteen gelding Meinte fan Friduwich (Jurjen 303) arrived, her first Friesian horse. By now a 23-year-old, Meinte is enjoying his pension. With his replacement Abe van Stal Geurts (Beart 411) Stephanie competes in ZZ dressage and she was a keen member of the Z-Friesian (foursome) Team Groningen as well as Friesian Proms.
From Hobby to Job
She decided to turn her horsey hobby into a job and therefore enrolled for the education ‘International Horse Management’ in Dronten. She also took up internships with the Van Manen Brothers, The Friesian Connection (Michigan) and the KFPS. Her thesis was a study into the hereditary defects of dwarfism and hydrocephaly in Friesian horses. Eighteen months ago Stephanie launched her own enterprise. ‘With the focus on breeding and training Friesian horses. In early 2020 when the construction of Stable Wickeschliede will be completed, the rehabilitation branch will be introduced.’
For more information please go to: www.wickeschliede.de or on Facebook under Gestüt Wickeschliede
