The AES continues to grow in its activities as a truly global studbook, promoting top class performance breeding around the world, by holding a successful stallion licensing in Poland. The event was well attended with excellent entries, resulting in the licensing of 6 new stallions. Studbook Director Joris van den Oetelaar was part of the grading commission an impressed with the quality of horses presented: “It was particularly encouraging to see a good crop of stallions born in 2013. The AES is passionate about discovering and nurturing young talent without forcing breeders and owners to overproduce their horses.” The other judges were Marc Mertens and Bernard Demets who between them provide a truly international perspective and decades of experience in the industry. The first of the 2013 crop of newly licensed stallions we would like to introduce is Cassiopeia , a stallion line-bred to the legendary Cor de la Bryere, by combining the famous Casall and Corrado. Cassiopeia is a horse with a beautiful large frame and lots of presence who convinced the judges with his great jumping technique. Cassiopeia’s mother comes from the Holstein family 260 and brings further important jumping blood in Calypso and Ladykiller XX. Our congratulations to the owner, WECHTA SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA SP. J. and the breeder, Joachim Schiedel. Next we have the impressive showjumping talent of Isco , by the Heartbreaker son Quasimodo van de Molendreef out of a Burggraaf mother. Behind that comes the thoroughbred influence of Julio Mariner XX, and then the famous Jasper. The mare family has been a prolific producer of Grand Prix showjumpers, including the licensed stallions Olargo B and Coltaire Z. This lovely stallion is owned by FKJ ZBYSZKO and was bred by H.G. Mosman-Rohe. FKJ ZBYSZKO presented another successful stallion in the Zavall son Iowa . This interesting stallion showed a lot of power and presence. The mother is by the important Indoctro and comes from the dam line of the influential stallion Cavalier. This lovely horse was bred by J.F. Abring. The theme of Indoctro carries on in the next licensed stallion, Hineada , a direct son of this influential stallion, and out of a Corlando mother. Interestingly, Hineada comes from a different branch of the same dam line as Iowa, counting among its progeny the successful showjumping stallion Cor de Pomme. Hineada convinced the judges with beautiful type and a wonderful temperament. We congratulate his owner, KRZYSZTOF KRZYSZTOF, and his breeder TJ Tjaarda. A slightly older stallion presented and accepted for licensing was the Canoso x Carthago Z stallion Quentin Tarantino AB bred at the famous Gestüt Sprehe and owned by ACCORD'AB ANDRZEJ BŁAŻEJEWSKI. Behind the father and grandfather comes the thoroughbred influence of Rantzau. The damline is the Holsteiner line 223b that produced the stallions De Kooning and Loredano, as well as the internationally successful showjumper Conny (ridden by Evelyne Blaton). The AES offers a clear and transparent licensing system, allowing an initial registration status for horses that show a lot of promise but need to be allowed to develop further before a final decision on their licensing can be made. This applied to the Vivant son Viviano out of a Cassiano mare who also brings the very desirable L-line blood of Landlord and comes from the Holstein Stamm 504, from which came Jan Tops’s successful show jumper Operette, as well as numerous licensed stallions. Congratulations to his owners, WECHTA SPOLKA Z OGRANICZONA ODPOWIEDZIALNOSCIA SP. J. and his breeder BJORN NAGEL, we are looking forward to following this horse’s development in future. We would like to thank everyone involved in making the Polish licensing a great success, and we are already looking forward to our next AES visit!