DAM: Krack C

​

​

The story of Krack C is important because he marked the real beginning of dressage specialised breeding in Holland, but also because it highlights the role Holsteiner stallions played in the development of the modern Dutch dressage horse.

Krack C was presented to the KWPN stallion committee in 1996, one of the panel at the time, Cor Loeffen remembered him well; “He was a fancy and long legged stallion from the start. On the hard surface he showed a sufficient walk and a very good trot. At liberty in the ring he demonstrated strong movement with lots of leg action and suppleness, In jumping however, he showed little technique, push or scope. Although Krack C comes from jumper bloodlines, the Committee was convinced that he could benefit dressage breeding, and it turns out we were right. And that’s how specialization got started.”

(I am indebted to Dutch journalist Gemma Jansen who profiled Krack C in an article in the KWPN publication  idsi back in 2012)

Originally christened Kevin, Krack C was foaled in April 1992 at Stoeteri ‘t Centrum, the home of breeder Fred Vlaar. Fred’s daughter, Petra, recalls that he was something of an ugly duckling, with a thick baby coat because he was born so early in the year, but he soon shed that coat, and was very definitely a swan.

Petra Vlaar told Gemma Jansen, that Krack C’s dam “Gicara II is now 20 years old and in great health. Her dam Baccara (Ulrich) is also keur preferent prestatie and competed in the national championships for broodmares. Giacara II’sgranddam Lady Cara (Uppercut xx) is keur preferent. Her dam, Gicara (Eratosthenes xx) is kroon preferent and dam of the KWPN approved stallions Kalief (Uppercut xx) and Monaco (Le Faquin xx). Another three generations of predicate mares follow Gicara.”

Krack C is by Flemmingh and it is interesting that with a horseman’s eye Mr Vlaar could see a young jumping bred stallion’s talent for dressage. Again thanks Gemma: “Krack C’s sire is Flemmingh keur, who was not well known at the time of his breeding to Gicara II.’ Petra Vlaar recalls ‘My father followed the stallion competition and saw Flemmingh jump in Veendam. What stood out, in particular, was the way he moved between the jumps. My father thought he’d be a good match with Gicara II, and he was right. Krack C means a lot to our family. Of course, it was very special that he competed in the World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera. My parents were there and greatly enjoyed watching Krack C.”

Fllemmingh

Chance again plays its part, there was another astute spectator in the stand: “In 1994, Ad Valk, who operates a horse sales business in Gorinchem, coincidentally sat next to Fred Vlaar in the stands at Indoor Brabant. The two struck up a conversation about Flemmingh, and Vlaar mentioned that he owned one of his sons. Valk’s curiosity was piqued, so one day he took a drive to Midden-Beemster. Valk recalls the first time he saw Krack C:

“I saw him in a herd, and his conformation and movement stood out head and shoulders above the rest. It didn’t take long to make a decision. I bought a 50% share in him. He came to my place as a two-year-old. The initial plan was to present him at the Stallion Selection as a three-year-old, but he wasn’t mature enough, so we waited another year. A working student started him under saddle, which wasn’t any trouble at all because he was so easy. Before we took him to Ermelo, the well-known German horseman Maas Hell came by to look at him. He offered a lot of money for the stallion, but we didn’t take it. I’ve never regretted my decision, although Krack C is the first and last horse that I’ve kept.”

Valk found something special in Krack C: “I was crazy about that horse – his presence, temperament, and of course, those front legs. In my opinion, Krack C comes very close to the ideal horse. Look, we all know what the ideal horse should look like, but we don’t have one. Krack C is no wonder horse, but he’s one of the few stallions that I know that can sire a very special horse.”

American dressage rider, Nick Wagman was working for Valk at the time, and he started riding Krack C as a four year old, and loved him: “He was very hot and sensitive to ride but always well-behaved.” Wagman went on to win two Pavo Cups with the stallion.

The first time I saw Krack C, at a demonstration in Den Bosch, my next door neighbor told me that Krack C’s movement was so extravagant that special methods might have been used to train the horse. (The practice of ‘stringing’ with ropes joining diagonal hooves, so that when one diagonal is on the ground, the other must be up, way up, has been a constant rumour on the Dutch dressage scene). Wagman recalls “I almost stopped riding him because of all the unfair criticism.”

Anky and Krack C

The American returned home, and the ride went to Anky van Grusven; “Ad Valk and Fred Vlaar approached me and asked if I wanted to ride Krack C. I said ‘yes,’ but I wanted to take him on trial for a month. I soon discovered he was my kind of horse. At first, I just focused on winning his trust and getting him relaxed. He was really an incredible horse – always very enthusiastic and cooperative. What’s more, he was consistently very well-behaved and sweet on the ground, and he was very quiet around other horses at shows. In his tests, he often got low scores for his walk, which was unfortunate, because he had a really good walk at home, but he didn’t always show it in the hectic show environment.”

The pair had victories at Aachen, Mechelen, Moscow, Oslo, Helsinki, Wiesbaden and Rotterdam, and went on to represent Holland at the 2002 WEG in Jerez, where they finished eighth.

After that Krack C was retired from compe

ition, and joined the stallion barn of Joop van Uytert, where he stood until his death in May 2017.

At the time of his death, Krack C had a total of 10 KWPN approved sons, including the famous stallion Vivaldi and another successful  breeding son, United, who is the sire of another stallion success, Bordeaux. Krack C also had 13 grandsons on the list of KWPN approved stallions.

Joop van Uytert summed it up:

“We are tremendously proud of the breeding of Krack C. He and Gribaldi were the two first stallions on our stud. They were both so influential. And not only Krack’s sons are doing well, you also see lots of good horses from Krack C dams.”

Buriël 

“Think about Juliette Ramel’s Buriël (s.Osmium), a fantastic horse. And what about the KWPN Stallion Apache, he is also out of a Krack mare.”

Apache

“Krack was a super sport horse and after he got back to the stud he has known eight wonderful years. He’s had a top-life!”

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​