Almé Z

His route into our horses does not run as a simple father-to-son chain at every step. Almé sired Attack Z; Attack Z became the sire of Iliona van het Carelshof; Iliona then produced Parco by Darco.

From Parco the line continues through Branco van Overis into our AES licensed stallion Noah.

This is precisely why the Hall of Fame exists: to show how a stallion foaled in France in 1966 still has a living place in horses standing in North West England today.

Almé was foaled in France on 16 April 1966. He was a bay Selle Français stallion bred by Alphonse Chauvin, by the great French foundation sire Ibrahim out of Girondine.

Girondine was by the Irish-bred Thoroughbred Ultimate xx. The mating joined Ibrahim's established French jumping power with a substantial measure of Thoroughbred blood and refinement.

Girondine was more than the dam of one exceptional horse. Published breeding histories record that she also produced three full brothers to Almé who became licensed stallions or successful jumping horses.

Almé's reputation was not built only after retirement. Before becoming one of Europe's defining breeding stallions, he competed internationally in showjumping.

Historical accounts record him being ridden during his career by Bernard Geneste, Fred Lorimer Graham, François Mathy and Johan Heins.

He won major Grand Prix classes, including the Grand Prix of the Netherlands. That sport career gave practical credibility to the qualities breeders would later seek in his sons and daughters.

Almé was therefore not a theoretical pedigree experiment. He was a horse who had already answered difficult questions in the arena before his descendants began answering them across the world.

Almé's lasting power came from producing sons who did not merely compete: they founded breeding branches of their own.

The measure of Almé's influence becomes clearer in the generation after his sons.

Through Jalisco B came Quidam de Revel. Through Galoubet A came Quick Star and Baloubet du Rouet. Those names became international reference points in both sport and breeding.

This is why Almé's name may now appear several generations back while still remaining highly relevant. The distance on the paper does not mean the influence disappeared. It means the tree grew larger.

Breeders came to associate the Almé family with scope, power, a strong gallop, athletic reflexes and the ability to solve large jumping questions.

Yet the most important quality of all was not visible in one performance: his descendants repeatedly passed their ability into further generations.

A great competition horse proves itself once. A great breeding stallion must continue proving itself through sons, daughters, grandsons and entire mare families. Almé did exactly that.

Almé began as a French Selle Français stallion, but his influence did not remain within one country or one registration book.

His years at Zangersheide helped carry the line into continental Warmblood breeding, while sons and grandsons became influential within French, Belgian, Dutch and German families.

That ability to work across studbooks made him more than a national success. He became one of the genetic connectors from which the modern European showjumper was built.

For Warmblood Horse Sales, one Almé branch matters especially: Attack Z.

Attack Z was an Almé son. His daughter Iliona van het Carelshof became the dam of Parco, the international stallion by Darco.

Parco then sired Branco van Overis, and Branco sired Noah.

This means Almé's influence is not merely somewhere in the background of our pedigree. It occupies a documented and understandable route into Noah's sire family.

Through Noah, the Almé influence continues into the horses bred by Warmblood Horse Sales.

It is present in Rameros, Ramedoc, Zara, Elizabeth Diamond, Maggie May, Bella Ragazza and Ramesses II.

Each one stands at the living end of a family tree whose roots include Ibrahim and Almé. That is what turns historical research into something personal: the past is not locked inside old studbooks. It is still walking in our fields.