Description

Name: Furioso II
Gender: Stallion
Pedigree: Click here for the pedigree

Furioso II (Furioso xx / Talisman / Lord Orange xx) Born 1965 died 1986 Breeder – Alfons Lefevre Height 16. 1 1/2

Furioso II was imported to Germany by the legendary Oldenburg breeder, George Vorwerk . Furioso II was out of the great mare, Dame de Renville, who produced a series of wonderful horses when mated with Furioso xx. The first of these was Mexico, who standing at the French National Stud of Le Pin, sired 20 approved sons, 20 dams of stallions, and famous international showjumping horses, including Laeken (sire of Champion du Lys), Jexico de Parc and Heur de Bratand. His son, Le Mexico, has been a hugely influential sire of jumping horses in Holland.

Furioso II was interesting to the Oldenburg breeders as they needed a half-blood stallion to help make the transformation of their mares to more modern lines, without too much direct Thoroughbred blood.

Furioso II was approved for the Oldenburg studbook in 1967, and then went on to easily win his 100 day test. Later he was approved for Hannover, Rhineland, Hessen and Westfalia. For many years, Furioso II was ranked in the top three sires of leading money winners in Germany. Furioso II had winners in all disciplines. His showjumping stars included: FBI (with Thomas Frühmann), Heissman (ridden by Eric Van Der Vleuten, then Michael Matz), Voltaire and For Pleasure.

Furioso II’s most influential son is Voltaire – out of a mare by another classic sire of jumping horses, Gotthard. Voltaire is the sire of countless approved sons and top hunter/jumpers . Such a stallion is born only once every hundred years! exclaimed the man who discovered Furioso II, Georg Vorwerk (father of Gudula Vorwerk who stands a string of stallions, including – until his death, Rubinstein), when he first saw the dark chestnut on a tour to France. This was the advent of Anglo-Normans in German breeding regions but primarily in Oldenburg. Especially in his younger years, Furioso II was a sensational sight to behold who could not conceal his French origins. Even at an advanced age, Furioso II was still a bundle of energy. When he left the Vorwerk Hof in 1986 on loan to the Belgian stud of Zangersheide, he died of a serious colic. He had already left a great number of approved sons in Germany, but his last year brought two additional sons Faust Z and Freedom Z (later sold to USA) in Beligium. In dressage, his son, Purioso is the sire of numerous stars including Anky van Grunsven’s Grand Prix horse Cocktail (who is the sire of Jazz); Le Mexico is the sire of Ulft, who in turn is the sire of Ferro. The Oldenburg stallion Welt As is out of a

Furioso II daughter, and is the sire of Anky’s gold medallist Bonfire and Christine Stückelberger’s Grand Prix horse, STC Diamond. Two further Furioso xx sons are performing covering duty in German breeds, namely Urioso (a full brother to Furioso II) utilized in Holstein who had interestingly missed out on using the sire Furioso xx (although they coveted the bloodlines) due a breeding regulation concerning Thoroughbred stallions and the weight they had carried on the track. Even in 2007, Furioso II continues to shape the sport of showjumping. In the 2007/2008 edition of the French breeding reference, Monneron the French breeder (and journalist) Bernard le Courtois has compiled a ranking of the top 75 jumping stallions in the world – based on the FEI results of 2515 horses competing at CSI level. Furioso II’s son Voltaire is ranked 11th in the world with 19 CSI winners, while For Pleasure despite largely concentrating on a competition rather than a breeding career, ranks 13th with 11 representatives.

Furioso II died in 1986 having sired 81 approved sons, 96 dams of approved sons, and progeny earnings of DM9,000,000.