Jasper 366 Sport Elite Preferent (Olof 315 x Franke 251) turns 25 this year and to mark this happy event he will be honoured at the Stallion Inspection. Breeders/owners Taeke and Gooitske Wijma will certainly be present at this celebration in Leeuwarden.
King of the Stallion show
What is it with Jasper 366 that makes lovers of Friesian horses go into raptures? With his 1.61m height at withers he is not the most imposing appearance but at the Stallion Inspection he rises above himself. The ‘King of the Stallion show’, as speaker Bert de Ruiter is fond to announce him, simply has that sparkle, the charisma to move people. With his wonderful feathers, attractive face and his mentality to always show himself to his best, that is why Jasper 366 has won a place in the hearts of so many. After his performance at last year´s Stallion Inspection Jury member Louise Hompe said: ‘There are precious few stallions who still know how to surprise us at this kind of age, like he does .’ Words that won Jasper 366 a place in the champion ring in early 2019.
In breeding too Jasper 366 has earned his spurs: on the basis of his offspring´s performances he was declared Preferent. On his Preferent declaration he was especially praised for improving movement in his offspring. And he knows how to move himself too: in dressage he climbed up to Intermediate I and he made a name for himself in showdriving. Just as special is the fact that his breeders Taeke and Gooitske Wijma have always kept him in ownership, which is a rarity with Friesian Studbook stallions.
And considering that 22 years ago the Jury members even had a discussion whether or not Jasper 366 should be referred to the Central Examination! Taeke Wijma once mentioned this to judge Piet Hoekstra: ‘Piet answered me in jest: you owe it to me that he was approved. I did see that he had it in him’
Ambitious foal
Jasper 366 grew up at the yard in Jislum where Gooitske Wijma´s parents and grandparents also ran a dairy farm. Wijma bought Jasper´s dam Antje ut de Mieden Star Performance (Franke 251) from Romke Annema. ‘Jasper was already quite an ambitious little thing when a foal,’ Wijma says. ‘Antje was competing in the sport and when she went to competition we had to bring the foal along too. We would leave him in the trailer when Antje went into the ring. With young Jasper in the trailer we had to back it up against a wall, otherwise he would jump straight out.’ Wijma used to keep all colts from his breeding: ‘It was easy to spot Jasper in the herd of young colts out there in the field. He was dominant and always ahead of the others, clearly the leader of the pack. When I took other horsey people along to check up on him they invariably remarked: he stands out, he just has that little bit extra.’ Taeke Wijma took it upon himself to prepare Jasper for the First Viewing, back then he was still called Kasper ‘fan Panhuys’. In those days, 1998, having horses prepared for inspections by professionals wasn´t common practice. ‘All we had back then was a simple outdoor arena. It had rained and the surface was sopping wet. Jasper didn´t care and kept going. There was no need to use the lunge whip.’ Taeke Wijma recalls.
Jasper 366 has had a huge influence on breeding. Not just in terms of numbers, but especially when it comes down to improving movement technique. His mark on breeding continues to grow thanks to his sons, with the popular Preferent Beart 411 (maternal sire Feitse 293) in front. Son Dries 421 (maternal sire Hearke 254) is currently standing stud in South Africa. Also stationed in America were Jisse 433 (maternal sire Dirk 298) and Alert 475 (maternal sire Hearke 254) who unfortunately, have both died. Grand Prix son Haitse 425 (maternal sire Rypke 321) was Champion of the Stallion Inspection in 2008. ‘Jasper´s own sons have now become his rivals,’ Wijma states, ‘But he is still doing his stud services like a young stallion. In the past season he has serviced nearly thirty mares. He has never been ill in his life. He has always received the best of care, but it´s also part of this pedigree, they´re all strong horses. They are feisty characters, true fighters.’
Never sold
Taeke and Gooitske are glad they have never sold Jasper 366 even though they did get very tempting offers that made them think really hard: ‘The money would have been more than welcome, especially at the time when a new cow shed was under construction. Money in the bank is great but part of it goes to the inland revenue. And you don´t always have to sell something that is good. We have experienced so many lovely things with Jasper. People who come to see us just to say they are so happy to own a Jasper offspring themselves. We´ve had nothing but positive reactions, that´s really fantastic.’
