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Vollrath Stud Berny and the Dynamit filly DANGERMOUSE, at four days old. Berny Maubach grew up on a farm in the Rhineland of Germany named "Gut Vollrath", which was situated between Duesseldorf and Aachen. By German standards it was isolated - 2km to the next village! Gut Vollrath was first mentioned in chronicles in August of the year 1300, when a Jordanus de Volderode sold 10 acres of land to the Monastery St Gereon in Cologne. 654 years later "Gut Vollrath" was demolished on 11 August 1954. Open-Cast-Mining operations needed dumping space for huge amounts of soil to access the 'brown coal' for electricity generation. Between 1956 and 1967 "Vollrath Hights" was created by dumping 250 million cubic meters of top soil. Nowadays the top is farmed again and big 'propellers' catch the high winds and convert it into electricity. Starting a horse breeding operation in his new home Neuseeland, it seemed only too appropriate to carry his country childhood over and call this enterprise Vollrath Hanoverian Stud, which was established in 1982 after Berny emigrated to NZ in 1978 from Germany, where he served for 16 years in the Police Force - resigning as a Detective Chief Inspector. Initially the syndicated and private stallions in NZ were used to establish stud foundation mares. In 1991 the time had come to import the stud's first stallion from Germany: Dynamit (Dynamo/ Eger II). He arrived at Vollrath in January 1992, and instantly became a very popular sire. However, disaster struck in November 1998, when Dynamit had to be put down due to a broken bone in his shoulder (nobody knows what really happened to him). Manfred Lopp with Berny and Jutta inspecting youngsters at Vollrath in April 1999. Manfred Lopp, now retired, was Head Saddle Master at Adelheidsdorf the Stallion Testing Station -- 100 performance tests -- for 30 years. His appraisal and expertise is invaluable to us. In 1996 Vollrath purchased a second stallion from Germany: Worldwide P.B. (Weltbuerger-Bella [Brentano II]) a perfect complement for Dynamit and all other hanoverian Stallions in New Zealand. Worldwide P.B. was provisionally licensed in December 1996, and ranked 16/40 for rideability in his 100-day performance test in Adelheidsdorf. He did not reach the necessary 90 points for registration with the NZHS due to his jumping under saddle - he was placed 34/40. The test rider Dr. Ulf Moller gave Worldwide the note 4, which disqualified him from being licensed. The stallion was taken without our consent from Adelheidsdorf to the sales venue in Verden, where he already had found a buyer - guess who was the sales agent .=. Dr. U. Moller ... makes you wonder, doesn't it! Worldwide P.B is registered with the NZWHA. However due to his own performance as a top dressage stallion under Claire Seidl-Wickens he received the full international license with the Hannoveraner Verband in May 2009. He started his first season in spring 1998 with a moderate book of mares. But on arrival we bred Gazelle (Genius/Rocky Mountain xx) to Worldwide, and the resulting filly is Waldhexe, truly a winner by any foal standard. We are excited to see Worldwide's arrivals throughout NZ. And again it was kind of "fate" (at a casual visit in Kattenfenne) that another stallion was purchased in September 2004. The same trustworthy 'stallion rearer' "Hof Heitgress" in Germany had the perfect match for our existing bloodlines in the two-year-old colt "Vollrath Lessing". (We named the young colt after a very famous German poet and writer G. E. Lessing.) Lessing joined our service actively from the 2005 season onward. First Lessing progeny - 2006 Faberge - the first offspring by Fürst Patrick - 2011 On another visit to the horse's homeland in August 2007 our friend Werner Heitgress had done it again - he took me to a "Westfalian Foal Auction" in Handorf. Although I had no intention whatsoever of purchasing a weanling ... the pedigree of catalogue #128 got my attention. But then when I saw the 5 month old colt in the flesh = Oh boy - I was hooked. As you can see now this beautiful youngster graces our paddocks at Vollrath. His name is Fürst Patrick Berny's helpers and closest allies - Jutta - Ninya and Carl Worldwide in his paddock at Vollrath. Vollrath Hanoverian Stud is located on State Highway 3 towards New Plymouth just 8km outside the city centre of Wanganui. Right in the middle of the western bay of the North Island of NZ the Wanganui area has one of the most beautiful moderate climates all year round with no major natural setbacks as its position is sheltered from storms and floods -- but not from little earthquakes from time to time. This climate allows year-round outside horse rearing and enhances natural healthy growing through unrestrained activity in a perfect environment, creating physically and mentally sound Performance Sport Horses -- ready to take on the world. And if we want a break ... the volcanic mountains, Taranaki to the west and Ruapehu to the north, are towering on the horizons - just a 90-minute drive away. The Whanganui River is a natural marvel and provides great canoeing and competitive rowing. Wanganui is the developing sports center of New Zealand, with the home of the Masters Games at Cook's Gardens (famous for Athletics and the first sub 4-minute mile) and of late one of the top NZ Equestrian events, the Wanganui Showjumping Classic held in late October each year. This is a top-quality national competition. Still within the Cook's complex is the Velodrome, New Zealand's up-with-the-world Cycling Venue. A modern aquatic Splash Center and two large Indoor Stadiums for all sorts of ball activities and the Gymnastics Centre lies in short walking distance from the city centre. And Wanganui also features an all-weather hockey park. Well, believe it or not, we do not have indoor equestrian facilities, guess we have to start working on that ... Berny and Dornkaat.

Vollrath Hanoverian Stud RD1 Wanganui, New Zealand Studmaster: Berny Maubach Phone: +64 6 345 6636 Email: info@hanoverian.co.nz all content © 2013 Vollrath Stud