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 his pedigree as an illustration of what works in building athletic pre-potency.

Loretto was considered a great stallion, and he accomplished the perfect melting together of the carriage horse (Achill line) and the riding type (Ethelbert line) that developed into the modern Holstein. 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 both dressage and jumping.


Loretto 7 generation pedigree

Loretto's pedigree is amazing, with a wonderful amount of linebreeding and complexity. Even though he brought together two distinct types into his gene pool, he did so with harmonious interaction. The Elegant line, along with his brother Nordhauser (Ethelbert line), are percentage wise the heaviest contributors to the gene pool. And at first glance this line appears to be an all male representation. The statistics have shown that repeating a good bloodline through its male descendants only, leads to loss of the abilities in short order- usually by three generations.

"Siblings in blood" are not as easy to spot in a pedigree as straight brother and sisters are, but their influence in no less potent. There is a stallion named Schiller on the dam side of Loretto's pedigree in the 3rd generation. He is the genetic 5/8 brother of Elegant, and he is here through a daughter. Elegant is the sire of Lorbeer, and Schiller is the sire of the mare Spanne. This brings in the needed sex balance of the overloaded male line of Elegant/Nordhauser, which allows all the power of the line to come through.

The Ethelbert line gave the 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.

The stallion Schiller, who already is a key ancestor for the complexity and sex balancing he brings to the Ethelbert lines, is also key to the most powerful combination in the pedigree. Schiller is by Falb out of Vesta, a daugher of Hertha and Cicero. His 3/4 brother Vollmacht is dam sire of Lorbeer. Vollmacht's dam, Wachel, is a full sister to Vesta, Schiller's dam (filly factor). Schiller is also 7/8 brother to the mare Ceder, who in turn is 3/4 to Vollmacht. This triad of close siblings is dynamic; it ties in the Achill line through Adjudant and his full brother sons: Falb and Ali. Tietz says, "Both stallions were the embodiment of the brillantily 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. These three close siblings bring together the pure coach horse with the pure riding horse: the Ethelbert line. The close relationship with full, 3/4 and 7/8 siblings makes this much more powerful, and is truly the most potent configuration in the lineage.

Then Schiller, sex balances the Elegant top line and connects it all together, this really is an illustration of extraordinary complexity.

The Achill line has plenty of sex balance with 3 different daughters on the dam side: Geel, Wolke and Hirundo.

In this pedigree, one of Ethelbert's sons: Young Ethelbert is represented by daughters only, which is a very strong filly factor. His daughter, Patria, is the dam of Lord, the sire of Elegant. Hertha is behind the most powerful combination in the pedigree, though 3 different daughters : Vesta, Wachel and Ceder. Cicero,a pre-potent jump transmitter, who is part of this power triad is a descendant of Ethelbert also, and he is a strong colt factor. And the Young Ethelbert generation is balanced by Fregatta, who is the dam of Cicero, which makes Ethelbert a strong colt factor. More complexity is delivered by Cicero having a son outside of this triad: Rajah.

There are more beautiful interactions: the stallion Champion, of whom we only have a partial pedigree, is a strong colt factor. In 10 generations there are 10 lines of him, 7 sons and 3 daughters (colt factor). His dam Geel, has a daughter Emma, in the 6th generation, making her a strong filly factor and sex balance for Cicero. With many of the mare lines incomplete, Loretto still has the potent filly factors apparent that are necessary to make him a top stallion.

There is much more in this pedigree, so much so that it contains a overwhelming level of complex interactions, too much for this simple pedigree analysis. Enough is discussed to show you why the influence of Loretto endures through the generations, his potency is immense.

Loretto's pedigree is a prime example of how to include different strains into your horses successfully. Even with the incomplete tail female lines he is an outstanding example of complexity, balance and intergration.

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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