660 kilometres lie between Nideggen and the French village of Servas, which is not far from the Swiss border. Thoms Lehmann, who has often worked as a photographer for the stallion station Gut Neuenhof, and our breeding advisor Birte Dicke took this journey to visit a very special sire: Cristallo.
Cristallo moved into one of the large stallion boxes at the picturesque Beligneux Le Haras stud some time ago – his French country estate, so to speak. And the visit of our small delegation made it more than clear that he lacks nothing here. “Like new,” was the conclusion of Thoms Lehmann and Birte Dicke about Cristallo’s appearance. This may be due to the special care that Sebastien Neyrath, owner and manager of the Beligneux Le Haras Stud, gives his protégé Cristallo – and of course also to the huge stallion pastures that surround the stud in lush green even in January.
Cristallo still produces around 100 offspring every year. More than 60 of his sons and daughters are successful up to advanced (S) level. The most famous representative is certainly Cristalline, who was part of the US World Championship squad in Herning under Adrienne Sternlicht and won team gold at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon four years earlier.
Cristallo himself has already reached the stately age of 20, but still seemed youthful and lively as ever during his visit. This is certainly also due to the impeccable care provided by Sebastien and Frederic Neyrath. We are happy to know that with the Beligneux Le Haras Stud we have a strong partner at our side who takes such excellent care of our “all-rounder” Cristallo.
