Le Mexico

After his thirteenth season at stud, he was upgraded by the KWPN executive committee as a ‘keurhengst’. That title means an important step on the road towards an outstanding breeding career. After the first approval, judged on conformation and movement in hand, Dutch stallions have to fulfil the performance test. After successfully completing the performance test they are transferred into the ‘real’ studbook. At the end of their second season at stud, Dutch stallions are judged on the basis of their offspring (in Le Mexico’s time, this test was conducted at the end of their fourth season). At four and a half, all stallions compete in the winter competition, a series of jumping or dressage tests for approved stallions of the same age. The next test comes when the eldest progeny are three or four years old (it depends on sufficient numbers of young stock being on the ground) the next proof will be delivered by the studbook entries of female offspring. At this stage, the few best stallions can be licensed for three seasons at once. This is the first step to stallion upgrading. The second is the title ‘keurhengst’ (or tested sire) and it is a rare title. The third, and most prestigious graduation, is to the title of ‘preferent stallion’, reserved for the happy few really dominating stallions, bestowed after many years at stud, and almost always at the very end of their careers. He sustained tremendous colic in the early spring of 1987, and died only a few months after his upgrading. In his thirteen years at stud he produced no less than 1134 foals as a result of 1744 matings. In the 1983 volume of the Dutch Horse Yearbook – the first annual publication of performances of all registered sport horses in the Netherlands – we find a long list of Le Mexico’s youngstock, both in dressage and jumping. While his eldest offspring were only nine years old by then, there were already ten Grade A jumping horses in the yearbook, among them Lucinda (ridden by Linda Southern), Opstalan’s Peckwush (ridden by Bert Romp) and Fliegette of Noordland (ridden by Sylvia van Staalduinen). In the year of his death, the first edition of the breeding values was printed and Le Mexico ranked with 146 points in the jumping section alongside such famous performance sires as Nimmerdor, Abgar xx, Exkurs xx, Lucky Boy xx, Farn and Notaris.