Loretto Analysis- Masterpiece
of Potency

Pedigree Analysis of Pre-potent Stallion

Loretto, a Holstein stallion born in 1932, has a stature as a superior pre-potent stallion that has stood the test of time. This Loretto analysis will demonstrate how his successful breeding history and his continued presences in the talented sport horses of today is reflected in his pedigree. As sport horse breeders we can certainly use the design of his lineage as a 'blue print' of what works in building genetic strenth.

This is the era when the heavy agricultural horse had been adapted into several strains that included a stylish coach horse and an even lighter type of cavalry mount, but there were still enough of the heavier stock for agricultural work (draught). The post-WWII movement for selection for a sport horse had not occurred yet. Loretto then in type is still a 'heavy coach' horse as well as a magnificent stallion.

Tietz said, "The get of Loretto are splendid horses of incomparable dignity, possessing buoyant, springy gaits, which develop along with the horse and delight the observer." His descendants excel in the modern Olympic style sports.


Loretto pedigree

You will not often see pedigrees as genetically strong as this one is- others that come to mind are the Trakehner Hohenstein and the 'broodmare of the century' La Trioenne. His sire Lorbeer has a strong background build-up of the Ethelbert bloodline. Ethelbert gave some riding horse points to the Holstein, along with a large dose of elegance and quality. Lorbeer was described as a small but wide bodied horse, who had a deep girth, high neck carriage, fabulous gaits, impulsion and enormous presence. He passed on his charisma along with soundness and a good mind. Notice that Ethelbert's 2nd sire is the Tb Ethelbert- who is a son of Faugh-a-Ballagh, this is a pre-potent jump line. This horse and his full brother Birdcatcher are still powerful jump typesetters in the TB.

On the dam side we find a strong presence of Achill 1877- this is still a important bloodline in the Holstein today. Achill is the product of extreme inbreeding as his sire Hercules and his dam Liesch are 1/2 brother and sister. But it continues on from his 2nd sire is Achill 1849 who is a pure Yorkshire Coach Horse, by Brilliant out of Stern. Stern is 1x1 to a full brother and sister. If you ever wondered why the Holstein is so recognizable as a type- it is because of background genetics like these. For instance the equally powerful genetic transmitter Favorit is loaded with these same bloodlines.

The Yorkshire Coach Horse was the greatest coach breed of the 1800s- large, elegant, fast and powerful trotters. They were prized as carriage horses, but also as 'improvers' for other less stylish breeds. Germany imported huge numbers of these horses, to set a more carriage type into their largely agricultural breeds. The Yorkshire is extinct now, but was a breed developed from crossing the Chapman horse with the English Thoroughbred. The Chapman Horse is today known as the Cleveland Bay. And the cross with the Tb has been used for hundreds of years for the production of the heavy version of the Hunter Horse as well as a coach horse.

Of interest to those who like to trace the origin of athletic traits in our horses, the great modern day jump breeds of Holstein and Selle Francais, both descend from trotter breeds. The Selle Francais from the Norfolk Trotter (Hackney) with some Standardbred added for speed, and the modern Holstein is largely of Yorkshire and Tb background genetics

Besides the Ethelbert and Achill dominance-there is a third base outline in this lineage formed by the full brother stallions Falb/Ali 4x5x5x4 with an extra line of their 1/2 sister Lawine in the 5th. This is the genetic equivalent of Falb being the sire of Loretto. Further, full siblings, and there are several other groupings here, are the single most powerful genetic design you can build into your pedigrees. Genes form clusters that travel down the genetic trail together, so when you add in several full siblings into a lineage you have created a super-mass of the same genotype, which will overpower any other influences present. This is dominance with a captial "D".

Tietz said of Falb and Ali, "Both stallions were the embodiment of the brilliantly moving, splendid, pure coach horse." Neither of them ever produced any riding horses, only magnificent coach horses. Ali had 33 stallion sons and Falb had 40. Falb was considered the most important carriage horse of his era. He had tremendous presence and enormous action in his gaits, with a large frame while still being slab-sided. .

Now, all we have discussed above declares a great performance pedigree of the coach type and also a good stallion- he would be able to pass it on reliably. But Loretto is one of the greatest typesetters of all time. And here is why: great stallions and broodmares need what we call filly factors - a strong female element, through full sisters, or several different daughters of a significant sire or both sons and daughters of a taproot mare (see Tesio Methods). This is what the statistics have shown is so. And here in front of us is the living proof. In Loretto we find he is 4x4 to the full sisters Wachtel/Vista, he is 6x5x7x6 to Aniketa/Agathe, and he is 7x6x5 to Geel/Liesch.

Just having one of these strong filly factors would guarantee his success as a stallion, but with these three he has the genetic cohesion to last forever in the lineages of champions. His daughters are pure genetic gold in the pedigree. As breeders we need to learn to target mares for duplication- this is what makes the great breeders stand out from the just good ones.

As a breeder, if you want to insure your horse's presence in the lineage of winners in years to come, it will pay off for you to study the pedigree patterns of the genetic giants of yesteryear.

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