The breeders

Helmut Ewenz

Helmut Ewenz, born in 1960 in Weißenthurm, took over the Gut Birkenhof Equestrian Center in Bonefeld in 1978 and runs it together with wife Ursula and daughter Denise.

Helmut Ewenz has an eye for horses! He has proven this several times! For example, with the purchase of the pony stallion High Noon, who became the Bundeschampion of Show Jumping Ponies in Warendorf at the age of five and six under his guidance. He also demonstrated his expertise with C-Back to Germany, a KWPN stallion by Eurocommerce Berlin (Caspar x Libero H x Exkurs XX), which he successfully presented at the stallion licensing of the Zweibrücker Verband.

When Helmut had the opportunity to bring S-Capitola (by Cardino x Capitol I) into his stable as a breeding mare, the decision was clear – he wanted to breed successful sport horses himself. This included Capitola, the mother of Con Quidam (by Quinar), who would go on to develop into a world-class star under Sanne Thijssen (NL) in the following years. Helmut’s first homebred foal from Capitola, the stallion Ustinov von der Mittelerde (by Uriko), born in 2016, was licensed at the Oldenburg Horse Breeders’ Association in Vechta in November 2019. The licensing took place in front of more than 5000 breeders and enthusiasts of horse breeding, receiving a standing ovation. Now, at the age of eight, Ustinov is already successful at the S level (1.45m).

Helmut is also active in the breeding of dressage horses. With the broodmare Romina HM and State Premium Mare Loretta, he has already bred outstanding dressage foals, almost all of which have been awarded prizes and are now preparing for top-level competition.

Furthermore, Helmut has always had an eye for outstanding dam lines. This is why the purchase of Olivia van’t Breezerhof, and thus an investment in the famous Oldenburg Rudilore family, was an easy decision for him. “Owning such a broodmare line is truly something extraordinary,” said Helmut Ewenz after making the purchase. And he’s right, because Olivia’s grandmother is a sister to the legendary sires Rubin Royal OLD, Blue Hors Romanov, and Blue Hors Rockefeller.

Here is the entire breeding collection from Helmut that will be available in the coming years:

Gebhard Jansen

Gebhard Jansen, born 1960, was introduced to breeding through his family and has since then delved into the vision of breeding top sport horses himself.

It all started with La Rougea Hanoverian jumping mare by Lanthan x Arsenik, which was successful with daughter Linda to M **. According to his vision, he only used successful stallions which had achieved top sporting results. So he bred four offspring with La Rouge; a gelding by For Pleasure and Chacco-Blue and two mares by Goldfever.

The two geldings have had a successful career in show jumping. They are or were successful in national S**-level competitions (1.45m).

Among the mares, it was Golden Sunshine (*2011) who was awarded the title OS H.Pr.St. (Oldenburg Hauptprämien Stute) in 2017 with her colt Conbrio von der Mittelerde (by Comme il Faut) before changing owners.

The second Goldfever mare, Golden Moonlight (*2012), was never active in sports due to an injury as a foal. However, in 2024, she was awarded the OS Elite Mare status due to the sporting achievements of her offspring. With Big Moon Rising von der Mittelerde, by Olympic champion Big Star, she not only produced her first top-level athlete but also was a very successful breeding mare. Currently, Big Moon Rising competes in S**-level competitions (1.45m). Her first two foals were both awarded the Elite Foal title. Big Moon Rising herself was also honored with the OS Elite Mare designation.

However, since the breeders' association has a very special focus on the best mother lines, the further step was only logical - in 2017 Lizzy alias Ulysse de la Pomme, bred by Geert Baertsoen from France, comes from one of the best and most successful dam lines in the world. In 2020, Lizzy produced a foal by one of the most successful show jumper, Tobago Z, who, under Daniel Deusser, has earned over €3.0 million in prize money since 2015. In 2021, three more foals followed – by Kannan, George Z, and Ustinov von der Mittelerde – with embryo transfer making it possible.

Here is Gebhard's breeding collection:

From breeding to the Stable of Mittelerde !

We started the breeders' association with the construction of our Middle Earth stable in 2014. Breeding alone is boring, we said, and so Helmut and Gebhard, together with their families, started building stables and also thinking about different breeding ideas.

It all started with Fatima ME. We first saw her as a foal on one of our extensive breeder tours and selected her for ourselves. With Fatima ME, from Holstein Stamm 741, we acquired one of the best mare lines in Holstein. By the age of five, Fatima was already competing at the World Championships for Young Show Jumping Horses in Lanaken. In parallel with her training, we bred three foals through embryo transfer: two colts by Olympic champion Big Star and a filly by Mylord Carthago – My Fantasy von der Mittelerde.

Our joint activities really began with Capitola – the mother of Helmut’s first homebred and licensed stallion, Ustinov von der Mittelerde (see above), who comes from one of the best mare lines in the world. We didn’t want to let her go so quickly, so after two successful years, we decided to invest together in this mare and assist nature a bit – with embryo transfer and ICSI. It was a labor-intensive process, but the success proved that we were on the right path.

Overall, we did two "normal" embryo transfers with Capitola and in 2018 bred the stallion Verdino ME (by Verdi N.O.P.) and the mare Dial My Number ME (by Diamant de Semilly). We were also extremely successful with ICSI (IntraCytoplasmic SpermInjection). In 2018, Kashmina ME (by Kashmir van't Schuttershof), three Heartbreakers, two stallions (Have a Break ME and Heathrow ME Z) and one mare (Heather ME) were born using this special method of insemination.

Three Heartbreaker foals from one mother in only one year - that is probably unique in the world !
(f.l.t.r. Have a Break ME, Heathrow ME Z, Heather ME)

Capitola, who was successful in sport up to 1.40m (S* level) and has proven her breeding power through numerous highly successful offspring, was posthumously awarded the OS Elite Mare title.

But that’s not all. 2019 was the year of major decisions, and together we invested in two more mare lines that are at the very top of the list of the world’s best show jumping bloodlines. First, Jolly Girl II de Kervec, a filly from the Fragance de Chalus line. This line has produced countless sport horses that have gone on to compete at the highest levels, including Olympics and World Championships. Among them are the top stallions Bamako de Muze and Mylord Carthago. The second addition was Jingle Star Kervec. Jingle Star’s grandmother is the sister of Tabelle van Sombeke, the mother of Olympic champion Glock’s London (by Carembar de Muze). With these two new additions to Mittelerde, we hope to significantly enhance the quality of our offspring and soon provide top sport horses for German equestrian sports.

The horses of Mittelerde are perfectly accommodated in the Mittelerde Stable at Gut Birkenhof run by Helmut Ewenz. "Perfectly Accommodated" can be taken literally - in summer 2015, the Mittelerde Stable was awarded the title "Best Stable in Germany" by a jury of the FN (German Equestrian Federation in Warendorf) in a nationwide competition.

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