When Escolar’s daughter Europa—the half-sister to Gut Neuenhof’s Goldberg—gave birth to a jet-black filly in 2023, the Schürner family already had a hunch: there was something special lying in the straw. As the coming years would show, that first impression was spot on.
The foal grew into a mare who perfectly combines the nobility and charisma of her sire, Maxim (a grandson of Totilas), with the power and energy of her maternal grandsire, Escolar. Anyone who wasn’t lucky enough to see Moon River during her mare performance test—which she completed with a score of 9.0, including a 9.5 from an outside rider—had the chance to witness the mare in all her glory at the Westfalen-Woche in Münster-Handorf, if not before.
It was clear—no mare from the 2023 Westphalian Horse Stud Book could hold a candle to Moon River, neither in hand nor under saddle. First, the black mare qualified for the Westphalian Championship (8.4), and later went on to win the Westphalian Championship itself, the latter with an overall score of 8.9 and individual scores ranging from 8.5 to 9.5 for basic gaits and rideability.
And in between? She also became the undisputed champion mare at the Westphalian Horse Stud Book’s Elite Show. In the words of breeding director Thomas Münch: “What we have here is not only something very special in hand, but also proven under saddle.”