March 19, 2026 
In the World of Welly (Wellington, Florida), it is said that any horse less than eight years old walks around in a cloak of invisibility. Expenses are high, riders are ambitious, and only “made” horses warrant consideration.
Enter the owner. After years of traveling the show circuit with her elite sport horses, sitting in VIP, and toddling after her rider on the coursewalk, she begins to wonder if there is more to this whole horse world.
Enter young horses. In an audacious display of rebellion, the owner finds herself, unbeknownst to her rider, on an auction site, bidding frantically for that loose-jumping phenom she saw in an online ad.
Enter young jumping phenom, just arrived from Europe and fresh out of quarantine. Gorgeous, yes, but when faced with a jump, the brain exits the stage, the jump is rushed, the rails clatter to the ground. Too difficult for an amateur, too much of a project for a pro, the horse finds a home as a pasture pet keeping a beloved former-performer company in a field.
Enter the producer. The owner declares herself “sick of this sh-t” and casts around for that rarest of rare riders: the producer. This sainted equestrian is not out for glory, never in the big ring, but lives and breathes horses daily, a font of patience and repetition that brings out the best in every horse.
“Now,” says the owner. “I will start from the beginning.”
And like an artist, the owner prepares the palette for her revered producer, delivering to him all the best genetics, which she buys freely and without worry as these young ones will be born and grow under the auspices of her perfected production system.
Enter the embryo auction! Now, the owner can buy siblings, offspring, cousins of the best horses in the world. Take this embryo auction, “From Genes to Medals,” ten lots that will blow the mind of any aspiring horse breeder or producer.
Let’s look at Lot 1.
Lot 1 is a sibling of the famed Nikka vd Bisschop, famous for jumping 1.65m under no less than the current world number 7, Nina Mallevay as well as Canadian Olympian Erynn Ballard. She also has two siblings that have jumped 1.60m and the black type just goes on from there, peppering her extensive damline.
What’s my type? That’s right—black type!
A black-type pedigree refers to the preponderance of international sport horses, horses that jump 1.45m in international FEI classes, which are listed in pedigrees in bold (black) type. The more black type, the better the pedigree.
Let’s look at Lot 2.
Lot 2 has the sire everyone is crazy for—the Zangersheide stallion Aganix du Seigneur. If that weren’t enough, consider this: Lot 2 is the uterine sibling of Caracole de la Roque, an insanely talented horse ridden by Karl Cook and often cited as the best horse in the world.
Lot 3? Here we have the sire who just won the 5-star Grand Prix at the Dutch Masters: United Touch S. Did you know that Laura Kraut’s Grand Prix horse Una Mariposa calls him her dad? It seems that United Touch might not be only a freak jumper but a freak producer as well. The dam not only jumped internationally at 1.45m but is also the uterine sister of Rodrigo Pessoa’s Uncle Tom.
Let me just point out Lot 4 quickly. Here we have the favorite sire Cornet Obolensky matched with dam Jade vd Bisschop. Jade jumped 1.60m and earned over 500,000 euros in prize money during her career.
Lot 5 asserts itself with one of the best-producing dams in the sport: Surprise de Blondel. Surprise revels in creating the black type, as she is the mother of two 1.60m horses, as well as two 1.50m horses and three 1.45m.
A total of ten lots are available in this auction. We have another Cornet Obolensky and another United Touch S! We have an Emerald van’t Ruytershof as well as a Chacco Blue! We have a Zirocco Blue VDL and the hottest sire in France, Candy de Nantuel!
Wait—I must tell you about Lot 10.
Not only does this auction have two embryos sired by United Touch S, but we have his uterine sister Klarissa von Barlo. The dam of both of these horses is a horse called Touch of Class, who basically needs her own category, being that horse that has produced not one, but TWO 1.70m horses, United Touch S and his sibling Zypria S, ridden by Willem Greve in the Toyko Olympic Games. And speaking of Laura Kraut, she is also the mother of her Grand Prix horse Deauville S!
Writing this all out, even skipping lots 6-9, your author feels breathless. Is it possible she could win all 10 lots? Is it possible to distract the other bidders with some sort of diversionary tactic during the auctioning of Lot 1 or suggest a trip to the bathroom during the auctioning of Lot 10?
One can only try!
Join us at Eyecandyland for the From Genes to Medals embryo auction on Monday, March 23rd at 5pm.
