Wendy McMahon dreamed for years of owning a “special” dressage horse. He would have a calm, sensible temperament, high rideability, good conformation and movement. Many hours of research convinced her that a Rotspon offspring might be what she wanted. When she saw Rotspon himself on videotape, her decision was confirmed.
Wendy bred a Rotspon filly from one of her good Arabian mares, but she wanted more. Quietly searching online, after four years she found her horse at a private stable in Germany and set out to make her dream a reality.
Importing a horse from Germany is a huge undertaking, not least of which is the waiting through weeks of quarantine time, first in England and then in New Zealand. Wendy and her horse were finally united at Matamata Vets, where Angela Smith and I caught up with them just before their long trip home to Invercargill. Wendy was quite overcome – her new horse was even more than she had dreamed of.
Born in 2002, Royal Mirage W (Rotspon/Wolkentanz I,) was bred in Germany by Dr Beate Wojackez. He passed a 70-day stallion performance test at Schlieckau in Germany in 2007. His full brother, Roman Lifestyle, two years older, is competing successfully in dressage in Germany at S level (advanced).
Royal Mirage W is black and gorgeous, with a lovely head and eye, calm and sensible temperament. Now home and riding him, Wendy reports that he is easy to handle and to ride, with all the movement she wanted. Wendy is grateful to the following people who helped bring her dream to fruition:
Angela Smith, who was a huge support during the purchase process.
Jenny Veitch, who started the Rotspon dream by selling Wendy some of her very precious [frozen] semen, from which Wendy now has a filly.
Victoria Weston of Matamata Vets MVS, for all her help and training with the collection process.
Royal Mirage W is the first, fully approved Hanoverian stallion descendant of Rubinstein I to come to New Zealand, bringing a new option to NZ Hanoverian breeders.
For more information, contact Wendy McMahon
Ph. 03 213 1068
marcus.mcmahon@woosh.co.nz
