One outcome of the study was the development of a novel sire-ranking system that incorporated direct-sire, sire's-sire, dam's-sire and performance bonus points. Using this methodology, Kanshebber emerged as the highest-ranked sire in both showjumping and eventing.
His dominance was particularly striking in showjumping, where he recorded nearly three times as many direct offspring as the second-ranked stallion, Kantje's Ronaldo. Kanshebber was also one of only two sires during the ten-year study period to have direct offspring represented in all three FEI pony disciplines. The only other stallion to achieve this distinction was his own son, Kosmo van Orchid's.
Given this level of success, Kanshebber's story is well worth exploring. In this article, we examine the factors that contributed to his extraordinary influence, and discuss his connection to the Kantje's Ronaldo line, a bloodline that played a role in his success.
Kanshebber at three years old
Kanshebber was born in 1994, bred by Wim Versteeg, who would later become the president of the NRPS studbook. Kanshebber was by the Arabian stallion Krimh and out of the Arab x New Forest mare Daisy Brown. Given the achievements of his parents, it is perhaps unsurprising that Kanshebber went on to become such an influential stallion in his own right.
Kanshebber as a foal with his dam, Daisy Brown
His sire, Krimh, stood at approximately 150cm and competed successfully in horse classes up to 1.35 m showjumping, while also competing in dressage and eventing.
His dam, Daisy Brown, participated in several European Pony Championships, winning individual gold in 1986.
Kanshebber himself enjoyed an international career as a jumping pony before eventually joining Paul and Carla van de Laar at Orchid's Stud as a breeding stallion. Although he had already sired a number of offspring before arriving at Orchid's, many of his most successful descendants carry the famous Orchid's prefix.
Unlike many modern stallions whose chilled and frozen semen is distributed across Europe and beyond, Kanshebber covered all of his mares naturally, making his influence on European pony sport all the more impressive.
During the ten-year study period, Kanshebber was identified as the direct sire of 14 showjumping ponies, six eventing ponies and one dressage pony competing in European Pony Championship Individual Finals. In addition to his direct-sire influence, he accumulated 20 sire's-sire points and five dam's-sire points within the ranking system -sire's-sire points were awarded only once for each unique son represented within a discipline. This approach was designed to prevent a single prolific son from disproportionately inflating a grandsire's score.
Direct Kanshebber offspring accounted for 5.7% of all showjumping ponies analysed and 2.7% of all eventing ponies, making him the most represented direct sire in both disciplines.
However, one of the most interesting findings of the study was that 16 of Kanshebber's 21 offspring (76.2%) were out of dam’s by were out of mares by Waterhof's Pretendent, his son Kantje's Ronaldo, his grandson Kantje's Carlando, or his great-grandson Orchid's Cestanii.
(Johnson, 2026)
This highlights the importance of considering more than just the direct sire when calculating sire rankings. Without accounting for the dams' sires, this complete picture would have gone unnoticed. This data suggests there was something particularly special about the combination of Kanshebber and Kantje's Ronaldo blood.
So now only one question remains...
Who will be the next Kanshebber?
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