Stutteri Ask is located in Denmark and was founded by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who still owns the stud today and is very passionate about it. Kjeld does not ride any of the horses himself, but he has a large interest in breeding them. Every year the stud produces between 15 and 17 foals, and Kjeld is the one who gives them all their names. All of their horses have ‘Ask’ at the end of their name. ‘Stutteri Ask’ means Ash Tree Stud in English. Stutteri Ask got its name from the Schelenborg Gods, where Stutteri Ask was founded and still remains today. Schelenborg was previously called ‘Eskebjerg’, which meant ‘the hill with ash trees’.
Stud operations
Most of the Stutteri Ask horses are registered in the Danish Warmblood Studbook, but they also have some registered in Holstein, Oldenburg, Zangersheide and other similar studbooks.
Today, the stud is led by Søren Møller Rohde, who is their head rider. Søren is active both on the horses and as the main leader of the team. In 2016, Søren won the Danish Championships with the mare Velerne Ask (Cosimo x Carpaccio). In 2015, he won silver with Laramy Ask (Lambrusco Ask x Larome, bred by Stutteri Ask). Velerne Ask was recently on the winning team at the Nations Cup at Equitour in Uggerhallene Aalborg, where she produced two lovely clear rounds. The other members who make up the riding and training team are Karen Møller Rohde, Maria Bjørnkær Bennetsgaard, Lasse Bendixen and Betina Møller Jensen.
Initial bloodstock
The founding and first stallion is Casir Ask. He is still going strong, but is retired from the sport. He is now living the life, and spends most of his time turned out in the field. He has the sweetest character and is very well behaved and easy to handle. He is stabled between two mares in the yard, and due to his temperament this causes no problems whatsoever. Today he is 27 years old. The stud stopped selling his fresh semen when he was 25, but they still have some frozen semen of good quality, which they offer to their loyal customers.
Casir Ask was Stallion of the Year in 2008 for Danish Warmbloods. He has elite status in the Danish Warmblood Studbook and was nominated as A-sire in the Swedish Warmblood Studbook. He has claimed international victories himself and through several of his offspring competing in the sport on the international stage. He was the breeding stallion in Denmark with the most wins, with several international victories and placings.
Casir Ask produces big-framed, noble foals with good basic gaits, and he passes on his extraordinarily good temperament to his offspring. His offspring are very sought after among competitive riders, as they are very rideable and have fantastic jumping ability and scope.
When the stud first started up, the mares were not of particularly strong jumping pedigrees, but the stud soon invested in mares who had excelled in the sport, and these mares have become the foundation for most of the stud’s breeding success today. These mares are Heide Ask, Florence Ask, Charett Ask and Lolitta Ask.
Stallions today
All of the breeding stallions are of very high quality, otherwise, they are taken out of our breeding programme. The stud constantly tries to find new stallions for their collection, but they are very determined that the quality of the new stallion must be at a minimum the quality of the stallion they have in the stable, otherwise they prefer to wait. They don’t believe in cheating their customers, and will not sell semen just to make money. They want their stallions to sire the best horses, and this demands a high quality of the stallions.
At the moment, Favorit Ask is the most popular among the breeders, and this year the stud have upgraded their catalogue with two new three-year-old stallions, Kanango Ask (Kannan x Quick Star) and Action Man Ask Z (Action Breaker x Calvados Z) (in the image above).