Mare portrait: Tarusa – delivering jumping excellence to Swedish breeders
Tarusa with her last foal Flaviano, born 2019, by For Ever Jump. Photo: Wendela Wallentinsson
Short Facts on Tarusa:
Studbook of origin: KWPN
Born: 2000 in the Netherlands
Breeder: Arend van Ittersum
Pedigree: By VDL Corland out of Darusa by Nimmerdor – Joost – Courville xx.
Tarusa is the name of a mare who during the past decade definitely put her hoofprints on Swedish show jumping breeding. She was born in the Netherlands but has only been used in breeding in Sweden. Already her first offspring put both Tarusa, and Sweden as a country of show jumping breeding, on the map; Fendi (SWB), renamed Fibonacci when he started to compete with Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, had an incredibly successful career in the show jumping arenas worldwide. His track record includes team silver in the European championships in Aachen 2015, team bronze at the Olympic games in Rio 2016 as well as numerous wins and placings on international 5* 1.60 level.
Tarusa is one of six siblings, where three sisters have gone on to produce black type horses in show jumping and one brother placed on international 1.60 level. Among Tarusas own offspring so far you’ll find two in international 1.60 horses; Fibonacci (SWB) (by For feeling) and the approved stallion Crusader Ice (SWB) (by Cabachon) and another three black type show jumpers. On top of that, she produced the daughter Vitra (SWB), who in turn produced Hello Valentino, who successfully competes on 1.60 level with Scott Brash and recently placed 9th in his first ever 5* Grand Prix, The Stuttgart German Masters.
Tarusa produced her first foals at Tina Peterson Lind’s yard Stall Hästberga and has been in breeding at Susanne and Wendela Wallentinssons yard for the past 10 years. An important person in this context is breeder, trainer and judge Lars Berglund, who was crucial for Tarusa ending up with Tina and also provided advice in stallion selection for both Tina and the Wallentinssons. Both Tina Peterson Lind and the Wallentinsson family describe Tarusa as a nice blood type mare with a beautiful head and a friendly demeanor. According to the Swedish Warmblood database blup.se, she stands at 165 cm. Her offspring vary significantly in size. Those who have dealt with Tarusa's offspring can testify that they have very strong personalities, which sometimes caused a bit of trouble and bruises in those handling their breaking and training early in life. They would often be a bit late in their development and did not always show their qualities until they were about seven years old. They undeniably all possess a lot of scope, are careful jumpers, and enjoy working, once the “teenage period” is over. Swedish rider Sandra Skytt who’s had three of Tarusas offspring in training says: “They really like to go to shows and they have a fabulous attitude to jumping, once the fences get a bit bigger. All of them have had strong personalities, but in different ways. Quicksilver was super kind. Vera Wang, who was a mare as the name reveals, acted like a real stallion, and found small fences really scary. Vitra (dam of Hello Valentino) was really difficult to get up on.”
Wendela Wallentinsson describes Tarusa’s offspring as they were born sprinkled with a little extra stardust – kind, yet special and with a lot of blood. Tarusa's genes live on in Sweden through daughters that are in breeding with both Tina Peterson Lind and the Wallentinsson family, and not at least through the approved son Crusader Ice's all Swedish offspring. Crusader Ice himself is placed on international 1.60 level. This year his first foal crops have started to shine at all major young horse events in Sweden. Hopes are high that they will continue to do so, as the rest of the late bloomers of this line. Now, Tarusa herself is to retire from breeding, deservedly, at the age of 23.
A Swedish version of this article was previously published in Swedish Equine sport magazine Tidningen Ridsport # 16 2023.
