“Not every foundation mare becomes famous. Some quietly leave their greatest legacy through the next generation. Davina van het Gonnehof is one of those mares.”
A Mare Worth Remembering
Not every legend becomes known through championship victories. Some become important because of the family they leave behind.
Davina van het Gonnehof was already a proven sport mare before she became part of the breeding programme at Warmblood Horse Sales. Her public pedigree record places her at 1.30 metres show jumping, and her bloodline carried the influence of Olympic Ramiro, Ramiro Z, Voltaire, Bon Ami, Flügel van la Roche and Goedele van de Kruishoeve.
Her greatest legacy, however, was not measured by another fence. It arrived through two daughters by Noah: Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May. Through them, Davina became the foundation of a maternal family whose story is still being written.
The Sport Mare
Recorded to 1.30 m
Davina's competition record confirms that she was more than a mare with an impressive pedigree. She had already demonstrated the athleticism, balance and courage carried within that pedigree.
The surviving video gives visitors something more valuable than a line of text in a database: the chance to see Davina herself in the arena.
Archive competition footage of Davina van het Gonnehof show jumping.
Her Bloodline and Her Legacy
Pedigree
Davina combined internationally recognised performance blood with a proven Belgian maternal family. Through Goedele, the mare line also carried the practical Hanoverian influence of Flügel van la Roche, remembered for bone, work ethic and reliability. Her pedigree mattered because she then carried it forward through her own daughters.
Her Legacy
Davina became the mother of two full sisters by Noah.
- Elizabeth Diamond — the first daughter of Noah bred at Warmblood Horse Sales.
- Maggie May — the following generation from the same cross.
- Bella Ragazza — Davina's granddaughter through Elizabeth Diamond.
Why Goedele Was Chosen
Davina's dam, Goedele van de Kruishoeve, was not selected by accident. Her breeder, Mr Wilfried Nijsen, explained that the family bought Goedele as a breeding mare because of the combination of Bon Ami and Flügel van la Roche.
Bon Ami was valued for bringing blood, athletic quality and toughness. Flügel van la Roche was valued for strong bone, an exceptional work ethic and a dependable attitude.
Mr Nijsen recalled that his father was a great admirer of the Flügel blood. He remembered the stallion working in the fields during the week before competing at local shows at the weekend, never disappointing in attitude or results.
That family memory explains something a pedigree chart alone cannot: why this mare line was trusted. The combination behind Goedele brought together blood and athletic sharpness with substance, reliability and the character to work.
A Remarkable Discovery
A forgotten connection, recovered more than twenty years later
The breeder who still remembered bottle-feeding the twins
When it became necessary to complete the pedigree documentation for Davina's daughters, the search led all the way back to the Belgian farm where her story had begun.
Published pedigree records revealed something extraordinary: Davina van het Gonnehof had been born as one of a pair of twin fillies. Her sister was Dana van het Gonnehof, recorded from the same parents and the same year.
Warmblood Horse Sales traced their breeder, Mr Wilfried Nijsen, and contacted him directly in Belgium. More than twenty years after their birth, he immediately remembered the two foals. He recalled that the twins had required exceptional care and that he had bottle-fed Davina and Dana himself.
That first-hand recollection confirmed not only that Davina was a twin, but that her survival depended upon the personal care of the breeder who knew her from her first days of life.
That memory reconnected the beginning of Davina's life in Belgium with the daughters she later produced in Britain. It also helped preserve the documented family line carried by Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May.
No database could have supplied that human detail. It survived because Mr Nijsen remembered the vulnerable twin foals he had once held and fed by hand, and because the search for Davina's history eventually found its way back to him. Without his memories, this chapter of Davina and Dana's story could easily have disappeared.
Historical Acknowledgement
Warmblood Horse Sales offers sincere thanks to Mr Wilfried Nijsen of Belgium for sharing the memories and pedigree material that made this fuller history possible.
His recollections preserved three important parts of Davina's story: why Goedele was selected for the Bon Ami and Flügel van la Roche combination, how Davina and Dana were born as twin fillies, and how both foals were bottle-fed by hand.
Pedigrees preserve names. Breeders preserve the reasons behind them. Mr Nijsen's contribution allows future visitors to understand not only where Davina came from, but the care and breeding judgement that stood behind her from the beginning.
A Timeline of Davina's Story
Why She Belongs Here
A true Hall of Fame cannot be built only around the famous stallions found in a pedigree. The mares are where bloodlines become families, and where the future is either continued or lost.
Davina's page is different because her importance is personal, documented and still visible. The photograph at the top shows her beside Maggie May. It is not simply a mare and foal photograph. It is one generation moving forward beside the next.
Every breeder remembers the mares that changed everything. Davina van het Gonnehof became one of those mares for Warmblood Horse Sales.
“From a talented sport mare to the dam of our future. Davina's heart lives on in every stride of her daughters.”
Historical Evidence and Sources
This page was compiled from documented passport, pedigree, competition and offspring records, including:
- Davina van het Gonnehof's original BWP passport.
- BWP registration number W-215123-BWP.
- Published pedigree records naming Olympic Ramiro as sire.
- Published pedigree records naming Goedele van de Kruishoeve by Bon Ami as dam.
- Maternal pedigree records tracing the line through Arvana, Nirvana and Flügel van la Roche.
- Public sport records listing Davina at 1.30 m show jumping.
- Archive competition footage retained by Warmblood Horse Sales.
- AES and breeding records for Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May.
- Preserved correspondence with breeder Wilfried Nijsen recalling the twin fillies Davina and Dana and the care they received as foals.
- Mr Nijsen's account of why Goedele was selected for the Bon Ami and Flügel van la Roche combination.
The wording on this page is original. Public statements have been limited to facts supported by passports, pedigree records, competition records and surviving media.