Windfall *Pg*

It all started when...

When he was four years old Windfall was placed by his owners, the Diehm family of Germany, with the daughter of the late Olympic gold-medalist Reiner Klimke. Ingrid Klimke had ridden several of their young stallions quite successfully (Starway, Grand Prix) and was emerging as one of Germany's top event/dressage riders. Over the next four years the pair took the German combined training world by storm. They scored forty wins and placings, including national Young Horse championships, a professional rider championship (in which Windfall was used for all three phases), and wins at all the CIC**s and CIC***s held there in 1999. In fact, in 1999 as a seven-year-old he was elected Germany's Horse of the Year (all breeds, all sports) by the readers of the prominent magazine, Reiter Revue. Although he was short-listed for the German team for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he did not travel because Ingrid Klimke was selected to compete on another Diehm-owned horse, the thoroughbred gelding Sleep Late.

In late 2000, the Diehms sold Windfall to Tim Holekamp, New Spring Farm, with the understanding that Darren Chiacchia would campaign him in the US and that he would be kept intact for breeding purposes. That plan has been followed with considerable success. Over the last ten years Windfall has emerged as the most prominent advanced level eventing stallion in the world. At the time of his retirement in 2009 he had earned enough USEA grading points (now called "award points") from wins and placings that he was and still is the second highest scoring horse in the history of the sport in North America, behind only Winsome Adante. His dressage performance has been without equal. At virtually every venue he has won or placed in the top three in that phase, at times besting the most successful event horses in the world. Until recently he held the all-time record best dressage score at the Rolex CCI****, higher than 78%.  As a show jumper he has been consistent and accurate, rarely pulling rails. On cross country he was initially distractible, as most stallions are, and time has been needed to get the consistent top runs of which he is capable. That aspect came up to the desired level beginning in the fall of 2002 with his fifth place finish at Fair Hill CCI***.  Since then he has consistently run double clean on xc when it mattered, including the 2004 Olympic Games at Athens.

Video: Meet Windfall, the Holekamps, and the story of breeding Trakehner sporthorses