Hanoverian Stallion Don De-Sandro Dances into Advanced

Don De-Sandro is a beautiful 2005, black Hanoverian stallion with Don Frederico/Sandro Hit/Weltmeyer/ Rubinstein lines.

A spectacular mover, Don De-Sandro possesses the conformation, rideability, expressive paces and presence of his forebears. 

When the Hanoverian Verband decided to institute a new award, the Grande Prize, to recognize stallions of superior breeding value, the inaugural award went to Don De-Sandro's sire, Don Frederico, and it was no surprise, since Don Frederico has been described as ‘the shooting star’ of Hanoverian breeding.

Don De-Sandro’s dam Sandro-D (imported from Germany) is a full sister to Matthew Dowsley’s San Jose, by the great Sandro Hit out of a Rubinstein mare. This is dressage breeding at its finest.

Matthew Dowsley has done all of Don De-Sandro's training and has also ridden him in all competitions.

In 2012 Don De-Sandro won the Elementary Horse of the Year and was listed on the NSW state development squad. He has successfully represented NSW at State and National Championships and in 2011 he was Australian National Novice Champion.

As a four year old, at Dressage With The Stars, Ulf Moller scored Don De-Sandro a 10 for conformation. The following year he won the first round of the five year old class and came top three. At Sydney CDI as a six year old he was also top three. 

Don De-Sandro's owner, Cheryl Smith, has been hooked on horses and dressage since she was a child.

"From my first horse at the age of 10 I have loved learning, competing, teaching and watching dressage," says Cheryl.

"I purchased Don De-Sandro as a yearling. His bloodlines were just so special, the best of the best in dressage. He was this beautiful black colt with a look at me attitude and was bouncing around like he was on springs."

"What I love most about Don De-Sandro is his personality. He loves to have a friend stabled beside him and has a great sense of fun."

"His achievements are something I’m very proud of and I'm grateful to Matthew Dowsley for producing such outstanding results. Don De-Sandro consistently scores above 70% in Medium and has just started to compete at Advanced level and won his first two tests! We are now aiming him for the 2013 NSW State Championships and then the National Championships."

Matthew Dowsley is also proud of Don De-Sandro, saying, "I am really happy with Don De-Sandro's progress for his age. He is very trainable and his paces are good especially the trot. He accepts the training really well, which is impressive for a stallion. He had nearly seven months off recently due to my being overseas and he came back into work very easily. I don't think I'd had him back a month when we did a Medium test and he scored over 70%. He did his first ever Advanced tests at a competition in Canberra on the weekend, winning both with scores of 67% for one and 72% for the other, which I was really pleased with."

Don De-Sandro's first crop of foals are rising two year olds and show outstanding confirmation, temperament and movement. Don De-Sandro is stamping all his babies with his lovely frame and with movement to burn. We can't wait to see what these youngsters can do under saddle!

View Don De-Sandro's Stallion At Stud listing for more information