Selten HW (Sandro Hit x Hohenstein)
Interview with Irene Wiederhold from Horses Worldwide Farm
Where are you from? When did you start riding? When did you start breeding?
Born and raised in Germany, I started with vaulting at the age of four, then riding by the age of 6. I bought my first broodmare, SPS Wachau (Weltmeyer/Lanthan) with super performance scores early 2000, followed by SPS High Princess (Hohenstein/Donnerhall), with an overall score of 8.22. A lot of time for search and research went into starting my own breeding program.
Are your sale horses located in the USA or Europe?
They are usually located in Germany as we sell worldwide, this way they can be in the same hands and barn, all the way until they fly out to meet their new mommies or daddies.
Do you have broodmares that you breed, or do you buy foals and raise them?
Both, most horses that will be offered for sale were either born or raised at our farm.
All are correctly started dressage horses with class and famous bloodlines. Stunning looks, movement and great characters are just some of the criteria which we always look out for.
Tell us all about Selten HW. Did you breed him?
Yes, I am Selten HW’s breeder (SPS High Princess is his dam, Sandro Hit his sire), he made all my breeder dreams come true and then some, that’s for sure.
You can find all his information, pictures, videos, news articles on our website.
Some background on Selten HW:
“Selten HW is an American bred Hanoverian by Sandro Hit x Hohenstein. After winning the 2008 and 2009 U.S. young horse championships with Michael Bragdell, the black was shipped by his owner Elizabeth Ball to Europe to be sold. Bigwood purchased the horse as an 8-year-old at the 2012 Equine Elite Auction for 500,000 euro. Under Fiona’s husband Anders Dahl, the horse made its international debut at small tour level in 2014 and at Grand Prix level in 2016. They represented Denmark at the Rio Olympics and World Equestrian Games in Tryon. The pair’s last CDI was the 2019 CDI Hagen last April.”
How old was he when you sold him?
He was 3 years old when PanAm rider Elizabeth Ball bought him. At that time, he was already super successful at Devon and also named Champion Oldenburg stallion.
Tell us about his character.
He was always the wise guy, totally knew when to shine and turn it on. Michael Bragdell at Hilltop Farms had developed him super nicely and they had a true love relationship. Selten HW would work his heart out for him every single time. Selten HW is as far as I know the only horse until today who collected the Young Horse Championship Title three years in a row, twice with Michael Bragdell and once with Elizabeth Ball. Just to continue his super journey internationally in the caring hands of Anders Dahl, with many more titles, like Horse of the Year, victory in Spain, Barcelona CDI4 and many, many more championships and victories.
Is this the 1st Olympic horse you bred?
Yes, what an amazing journey that was, so happy he is still fit and alive, enjoying his retirement with Anders Dahl.
Did you know he was that talented as a young horse?
Yes, it was very obvious, Scott Hassler would say you can’t hear him touch the ground and we were blessed when Hilltop accepted him into their program, despite that they said they usually only take their own offspring. Very thankful to everyone who helped to bring out the best in Selten HW, an unforgettable horse of a lifetime.
You are also a real estate agent. For how long? How did you get into that line of work?
Early 2000, I opened my own real estate office in Florida, I’m a Real Estate Broker and always loved to work with Real Estate.
What is next for Horses Worldwide Farm? Are there any up-and-coming superstars we should be looking for?
Always striving to only have the best horses, we get pickier every year and the quality keeps improving, people say they can spot HW horses from far away at clinics or competitions. They are sure super special all around.
A very recent phenomenal accomplishment was Eleven HW winning the 50-day stallion test in 2022, with 6 x 9’s and 4 x 8.5’s, for a phenomenal total of 8.78, out of 27 stallions participating, he convinced the riders and the judges, that he’s truly the best.
Thank you, Irene, for the interview at www.horses4yc.com
Irene can be reached HERE:
www.HWfarm.com – Irene Wiederhold, managing member HorseSales LLC at 239-772-7722 or Irene@HWfarm.com
