Wolkentanz

Wolkentanz (1991 – 15 October 2010), also known as Wolkentanz I, was a champion Hanoverian stallion who stood at stud at the Celle State Stud in Germany. He was noted as a leading sire of dressage horses.

Background

Wolkentanz was bred by Gerd Lühr, and foaled in Borgholzhausen in 1991. He was chestnut in colour and stood 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) at maturity.

The sire of Wolkentanz, Weltmeyer, was a major influence on the Hanoverian breed. He had been champion stallion at the Verden licensing in 1986 and won the 1987 performance test at Adelheidsdorf as well as being named the top three-year-old. Ultimately, Weltmeyer was named the Hanoverian Stallion of the Year in 1998 and his offspring included 70 licensed stallions.

As a young horse, Wolkentanz was noted for having correct conformation, but he was considered a bit small in height for a warmblood. However, he was also recognized for having excellent gaits. He changed ownership two times and was owned by a youth rider prior to his stallion evaluation. Following the evaluation, the evaluator, Burchard Bade of the Celle State Stud, obtained the young stallion for the Celle program.

Accomplishments

In 1993, as a two-year-old, Wolkentanz was named champion at the Verden Stallion Licensing. In 1994, he was named Champion Three-Year-Old Riding Horse at the Federal Championships of German Riding Horses. In 1995, at age four, Wolkentanz completed the stallion performance test with an overall score of 133.78 and was rated the best stallion of his age group. In 1996 he was Reserve Champion (Bundeschampion), ridden by Ole Köhler. He became known as a performance horse at Celle as part of the Celle Dressage Quadrille, recognized for having a very good-quality trot.