THE HANOVERIAN

Breeding
Don‘t leave
anything to chance
The Hanoverian breeder Reinhard Wilms from East
Friesland was dealt a ‘lucky hand’ in respect to
selecting the right stallion for each of his broodmares.
He had his greatest successes with the producers
Rubinstein, Stedinger and De Niro.
By Jürgen Stroscher
The breeder’s pride: Celle’s State
Stud sire Rosentau.
the moment the 65-year old farmer from Hinte
near Emden is renovating the barn of his
A
milk cows to bring it up to the most modern technical
standard. “Everything will function digitally
in the near future. Every cow will be fed and milked
computer-controlled,” Reinhard Wilms proudly explains.
He operates the ultra modern facility as
GbR together with his son-in-law. He also manages
more than 180 hectares of grazing land. An
indoor riding ring with casino and apartment, several
stables for boarding horses and broodmares
as well as generous run-in stalls for young horses
are also part of the facility.
The development in the Hanoverian breed has not
progressed quite that far, “but my dad is occupied
for nights on end with making the right decisions
when selecting stallions for his broodmares,”
daughter Sigrid (40) says. Her last name is now
Poets and she has two children. “I grew up with
horses. I probably rode before I could walk,” Sigrid
Poets remembers. She is still active in the Young
Breeders’ Program. Horses returned to the family
farm “Horst” in Groß Midlum, East Friesland
around the time of Sigrid’s birth. “Something was
missing on the farm without horses,” Reinhard
Wilms tells with a grin. After all he learned to work
the fields with horses during his agricultural training.
“My grandfather used East Friesian horses as
work horses and sold horses from his breeding
program for good prices at the time.”
Photos from that time decorate the walls of the
Wilms’ home. Engines replaced the horses on the
farm once agriculture became motorized during
the post-war period. Only a pony for the children
remained. Grandpa sometimes rode it just for fun.
Reinhard Wilms built up his Hanoverian breeding
program with father Engelbert but soon thereafter
took on entirely as his responsibility. He was very
successful with the filly Nevada by Noble Roi xx/
World Cup II in 1989. “She looked like a deer. The
whole family was impressed with her beautiful
face and her radiance. We lovingly call her Nanni,”
daughter Sigrid also takes pleasure in the now 24
year old exceptional mare that still stands top fit in
a stall on the farm of Family Wilms. The mare will
now enjoy the spacious fields in East Friesland without
a foal at her side. “I wanted to introduce
Thoroughbred blood into the line with the sire Noble
Roi xx and the homebred mare World Rose. I
was surprised about the intensity with which the
stallion passed on his beautiful head, his elegance
and his dark bay color to his offspring. His good
breed qualities have come through up to today’s
generations.” Nine of 13 broodmares go back to
Nevada.
“Nanni” has not only proved her excellent fertility
with 18 foals but also her outstanding breeding
qualities. Dr. Burchhard Bade who is the former
managing director of the State Stud Celle secured
her fifth foal called Rosentau by Rubinstein for the
state stud where the black stallion advanced to
become a state stud sire. “Rosentau was my first
premium stallion. That does not happen every
day,” Reinhard Wilms proudly looks back to the
beginnings of his Hanoverian breeding program.
Another premium sire followed in 2006 with
Seneca by Stedinger out of Nevada’s daughter Deike.
Two additional licensed sons are on his list of
accomplishments.
8 The Hanoverian 04|2013