01 · The Foundation Sire
The Making of a Foundation Sire
Some stallions leave behind successful offspring.
A very small number reshape the direction of entire studbooks.
Ramiro Z became one of those horses.
Foaled in 1965, Ramiro Z was a dark bay
Holsteiner stallion by Raimond and out of
Valine, whose sire was
Cottage Son xx.
Through Raimond he carried the influential Ramzes line,
while Cottage Son added Thoroughbred blood to the maternal side.
Ramiro was conceived in Holstein, born in Westphalia and
licensed at Neumünster. He later stood in Westphalia,
Holstein, Zangersheide and the Netherlands, spreading his
influence across several of Europe's major performance studbooks.
Public pedigree records describe him at approximately
175 cm and record his approval across numerous
European studbooks, including Holstein, Hanover, Westphalia,
BWP and KWPN.
Name
Ramiro Z
Foaled
1965
Studbook
Holsteiner
Colour
Dark bay
Height
Approximately 175 cm
Sire
Raimond
Dam
Valine
Dam Sire
Cottage Son xx
Rider
Fritz Ligges
Sport
International show jumping
02 · The International Performer
Proven in Sport Before His Breeding Legacy Took Over
Before becoming a foundation sire, Ramiro proved himself in
international sport with German Olympic rider
Fritz Ligges.
Historical accounts associate the pair with international
Grand Prix, Nations Cup and Puissance competition.
HorseTelex records Ramiro at
1.60 m jumping level.
His sport career mattered because breeders were not selecting
from pedigree alone. They had seen the stallion's scope,
strength, rideability and presence tested in the arena before
those qualities were carried into generations of descendants.
Internationally campaigned under Fritz Ligges
Associated with Grand Prix and Nations Cup competition
Historical accounts describe Puissance performances
Recorded by HorseTelex at 1.60 m jumping level
Historical summaries do not always provide complete
class-by-class result lists for horses from this period.
This page therefore describes Ramiro's international career
without inventing named victories or exact dates that could
not be verified from the records reviewed.
03 · What He Produced
Look at the Legends That Came From Him
The true scale of Ramiro Z's influence becomes visible through
the horses who followed him. Some became championship performers.
Others became important breeding stallions whose descendants
still shape modern pedigrees.
Championship Mare
Ratina Z
Ramiro Z's most celebrated daughter became one of the
defining show-jumping mares of her era. With Piet Raijmakers
and later Ludger Beerbaum, Ratina Z won Olympic,
World Championship, European Championship and World Cup honours.
Relationship to our horses:
Ratina Z is not in our direct pedigree. She is included
because her career demonstrates the exceptional quality
Ramiro Z was capable of producing.
Foundation Stallion
Raphael became an influential breeding stallion and the
beginning of one of the two Ramiro Z routes carried by
Noah and Elizabeth Diamond.
Licensed BWP Stallion
Olympic Ramiro carried the Ramiro Z line into BWP breeding
and became the sire of Davina van het Gonnehof.
Wider Breeding Dynasty
Approved Sons and Daughters
Ramiro's influence extended through a large family of
approved sons, international performers and broodmares.
His importance was not limited to one discipline,
one country or one studbook.
Why this matters:
His blood became part of the architecture of modern
European performance breeding.
05 · The Breeder's View
The Ramiro Type Brian Wanted to Preserve
The choice was never based on trophies alone.
Warmblood Horse Sales did not seek Ramiro Z blood simply
because his name was famous. Brian Mills was drawn to the
physical type that repeatedly appeared through the family:
an attractive and expressive head, balanced conformation,
presence, refinement and striking white facial and leg markings.
That mattered because the Belgian line through Lugano,
Darco and Parco already supplied power, scope and proven
jumping ability. The Ramiro line offered a way to reinforce
elegance and type without abandoning athletic performance.
Expressive Head
A cleaner, more refined profile was one of the qualities
Brian admired.
Balanced Conformation
Strength combined with elegance rather than heaviness alone.
Distinctive Presence
White blazes and socks frequently appeared within the wider family.
White markings are influenced by several genetic factors and cannot
be attributed to one ancestor as a guaranteed trait. This section
records Brian's breeding observation and selection goal rather than
claiming a single “Ramiro marking gene.”
06 · The Double Connection
Ramiro Z Appears Twice in Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May
The full sisters carry Ramiro Z through two separate branches
of their pedigree. One route comes through Noah's dam line.
The other comes through Davina van het Gonnehof.
Ramiro Z
The two Ramiro Z routes meet again in Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May.
This repeated appearance was not simply a collection of famous names.
In both full sisters, it brought together two different routes to
the same influential ancestor: the Ramiro line behind Noah and the
Ramiro line behind Davina.
07 · The Living Legacy
The Legacy Lives On
Ratina Z showed the world what a daughter of Ramiro Z could achieve.
Raphael showed how the line could continue through a breeding stallion.
Olympic Ramiro carried it into Davina, and Davina carried it into the
mares bred at Warmblood Horse Sales.
That is why this page does not end with Ramiro's death or with a
list of old results.
It ends with living horses.
More than sixty years after Ramiro Z was born, his influence still
lives through Noah, Davina van het Gonnehof, the full sisters
Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May, and now into the next generation
with Bella Ragazza.
The legends came from him — and our horses came from him too.
Historical Evidence
Sources and Pedigree Evidence
This profile was compiled from documented pedigree,
sport and breeding records, including:
-
HorseTelex pedigree, height, studbook approvals
and 1.60 m sport record
-
Historical accounts of Ramiro Z's international
career with Fritz Ligges
-
Zangersheide historical material describing
Ramiro Z's role in the breeding programme
-
FEI's historical profile of Ratina Z and her Olympic results
-
Pedigree records for Raphael, Ragazzo and Olympic Ramiro
-
Davina van het Gonnehof's BWP passport and published pedigree
-
Noah, Elizabeth Diamond and Maggie May's documented pedigree records
The wording on this page is original. Ratina Z is clearly identified
as an example of Ramiro Z's wider legacy rather than a direct ancestor
of the Warmblood Horse Sales horses. Observations about type and
markings are presented as Brian Mills' breeding selection philosophy,
not as guaranteed genetic rules.
