Our Breeding Philosophy.

Touchstone's goal to breed horses which have tremendous athletic ability without compromising conformation or riding characteristics is driven by the fundamental principles of disposition first, athletic ability second and conformation third.

In other words if you can't ride the horse, the rest no longer matters; if it cannot do the job looks don't count, and if the conformation is not there it will not stay sound. Within this context we select for horses of spectacular beauty, outstanding performance and impeccable rideability. We hope the results speak for themselves.

Beginning in 1973, Touchstone has built four generations of warmblood mares through selective line breeding with Hanoverian, Oldenburg and Dutch stallions. Concentrating on the "A" line the program has used this bloodline every second generation.

The foundation sire was Abrupt a direct son of the line founding stallion Abglanz. Abrupt spent his entire breeding career in Canada, from 1967 to 1988, producing excellent performance horses from whatever mares were available at the time. His successes include six open jumpers, one CET three day event horse and several competitive dressage and hunter horses. Touchstone's mare herd is based on this legacy.

In the mid-1980's Touchstone bought shares in the Gotthard grandson, Godewind. Although the Godewind horses developed a reputation for being more difficult to train, when combined with the superior temperament of the Abrupt mares, these horses proved to be powerful and athletic with excellent legs and substance and very rideable.

In 1988 Arkansas (who died Oct. 2002) was imported from the State Stud in Celle. Once again an Abglanz line stallion with superior disposition, Arkansas also possessed a tremendous neck and top line. This, coupled with good jumping technique and smooth gaits, has resulted in many foal futurity and mare show champions and several dressage champions, as well as successful young jumpers and hunters. Today his daughters from Godewind and Abrupt mares form the backbone of the Touchstone mare herd.

Following these three Hanoverian stallions, the Oldenburg Bajazzo by Barsoi XX out of a Grande line mare was acquired in 1993. The combination of thoroughbred and the top Hanoverian performance line has proved to be fortuitous. The Bajazzo offspring are excellent movers with superior jumping ability, refined good looks and wonderful trainability. Beau Soleil, one of three licensed sons, was 1999 licensing champion and in 2000 passed the Stallion Performance Test (SPT). Bajazzo's early offspring are now starting to make an impact in the show ring in Canada and the U.S. and his daughters are joining the breeding herd.

In addition to these stallions, Touchstone has been using frozen semen from selected international sires such as Zeoliet, Indoctro, Espri, Escudo I, Calvados and Aram, and breeding a few mares to some quality Canadian stallions such as Furioso, Oxford, Patriot and Fantast.

Beach Boy is an ideal stallion to use on the Touchstone mares. He continues our policy of combining both jumping ability and good gaits and will match and enhance the elegance and type found in our mares. Our goal is to produce horses which have tremendous athletic ability without compromising conformation or riding characteristics. An example of this is the young horse Zanzibar II. In 1998 he was CWHBA licensing champion, at which time Dr. Lehmann, senior judge from Germany, commented that he would easily find a home in the German stud books. In 2000 he completed the SPT in Olds and received the highest overall test ride scores; two 9s from the dressage riders and two 8s from the jumping riders.

Today Touchstone and it's partner Gould Ranching Ltd. produce about twenty five foals each year from a band of warmblood mares, most of which are the result of this long standing breeding program. Using A.I. and transported semen the stallions standing at Touchstone cover in excess of 100 mares per year. Frozen semen from Germany, Sweden and Holland continues to be used to complement the breeding program.