Caretino is one of Germany's top stallions,
producing horses that excel in both the dressage and jumper rings. From
the latest (2001) WBFSH rankings of top jumping sires, he is ranked #5 and
is the youngest, at 18 years old, in the top ten. With more than 100
offspring, known for their astonishing movement and jumping ability, in
sport, Caretino has 18 approved sons and 114 daughters, of which 12 are
German State Premium. Recently Caretino was one of four to be accredited
as an approved KWPN stallion without having been presented at the Stallion
Show nor evaluated on the constitutional requirements of the KWPN.
Caretino is by Caletto II, the most important son of
the Holsteiner breed mainstay, Cor de la Bryere. Caletto II is said to
embody the perfect traits of the Holsteins: noble and expressive,
long-bodied, correct conformation, excellent gaits and exceptional jumping
ability.
As a young stallion, Caretino won his 100-day test
in the Holsteiner Verband with the brilliant scores of 9.0 and 9.5 in
jumping and 9.0 in general performance.
In his early competitions he won the 1998 Holstein
State Show Jumping Championship that, in turn, qualified him for the
Federal German Championships in Mannheim at which he won. Shortly
afterwards he become a successful international jumper with rider Bo
Kristoffersen. Their efforts included 40 placings in national and
international competition and, as part of the Danish Nation's Cup team at
Gera in 1992, they brought home a fourth place finish.
The promising Caretino showed outstanding potential
and in early 1994 the ride was taken over by the legendary Ludger Beerbaum.
Just six months later his international career was cut short after he
sustained injury. Caretino was retired from sport but began his career as
a leading sire.
By 2001 12 of Caretino's offspring had competed at
the international level including AK Caridor Z (Jos Lansink), Crocodile
Dandy (Alison Firestone), Chandra (Sören von Rönne), Toyzrus (Jill
Henselwood) and Ballerina 124 (Marcus Merschformann). Most recently, his
son Camirez (Marcus Merschformann) won the 2001 Hamburg Derby, one of the
most demanding events in the international circuit. In dressage Caretino
has proven himself as well with the approved sons Cheenook, Carpaccio and
Cockney who are considered some of the best movers ever to have entered
the sport.
The definite breakthrough of the Caretino offspring
in international show jumping, Chandra (Sören von Rönne), Ballerina
(Markus Merschformann) and Caresino (Thieß Luther), confirms that the
Caletto II son ranks alongside the best stallions within the current
Holsteiner breeding.
Caretino was represented by an excellent collection of sons during this
stallion approval [31st edition of the annual Holsteiner stallion approval
and auction in Neumünster, Germany], with no less than four being approved
for breeding. The most striking Caretino son was the dark brown Casario II
(dam's sire Leonid x Ahorn Z, lineage 6893), the best jumper, who was bred
from a sister of the stallions Concerto I and II (Contender - Bagina x
Ahorn Z (Jann)). Casario II, deservedly, finished as championship
runner-up in the approval. At the auction for approved stallions, Casario
II was bought for DM270,000 ($118,800) by the Belgian Luc Verelst, who is
the sponsor of international showjumping rider Marc van Dijck. - Jac
Remijnse, Breeding News for Sport Horses, No. 61 - January 2002.
