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Prince Thatch xx Image courtesy Celle

Vollrath Lessing's dam sire: the Thoroughbred PRINCE THATCH *1982, 16.2 hh

The Hanoverian Landgestüt in Celle received a heavy blow in 2004. One of their two most important Thoroughbred breeding stallions has died. Prince Thatch xx passed away July 22, 2004. Prince Thatch xx and Lauries Crusador xx are considered to be the two top TB breeding stallions in Germany and were acquired by the State stud for the purpose of refining the breed.

Prince Thatch xx is by Thatch xx out of Petroleuse xx (by Stupendous xx / Alizier xx) and was bred by Mr. Eisemann from Spechbach, Germany. He served four seasons as a race horse and finished his track career with a "GAG" weight of 79 kg.

The dark bay stallion was licensed and performance tested in Adelheidsdorf in 1989. He placed third in the HLP test, scoring 132.04 for dressage, the third best dressage score as well.

Prince Thatch xx was up for stud at the Celle State Stud for many years and covered an impressive amount of mares, of which 993 were registered with the Hanoverian Verband. He has sired 8 licensed sons, for instance Paris, Prince Noir and Princeton, as well as 65 State Premium Mares.

He also produced the Verden Auction price highlight Petrocelli (Prince Thatch xx / Falkland - sold for €110,000) and had 80 offspring featured in the Verden foal, sport horse and brood mare auctions.

Prince Thatch passed on refinement and athleticism. This is proven by the several FEI dressage horses he sired, including the Grand Prix dressage horses Piccolino (Prince Thatch xx / Ganymed - on the German Olympic A-short list with Klaus Husenbeth) and Gestion Joker (Prince Thatch xx / Absatz) - Anky van Grunsven's former Grand Prix horse).

"Prince Thatch did not die in a breeding accident," Celle spokesman Alex Brockmann said. "He passed away last Thursday at the age of 22."