Welcome to the website of our farm: Stoeterij 't Merelsnest We'd like to say welcome and present you a summary of the history, the horses and the results of our farm on this english page of our website. Our farm was grounded as a family passion for horses by Walter Van Bunder and his wife Gerda Stoop. We moved twice for our horses. In 2009 we moved to Ursel-Gent-Belgium, where we have the place to breed more with our best mares. That's our goal. The Olympic mare Sapphire was born with us. Her motherline is one of the best in Belgium and we almost only breed with that line. Sapphire's sister Wendelina, another show jumping star, now gives us stunning foals. On our farm we divide the tasks under the family members. The parents Gerda and Walter look after the horses and follow up the breeding side. The children Sofie and Björn produce and show the horses. Sofie is married to show jumping rider Tim Reygaerts.They have an own breeding and training barn in Ronse (Belgium). Björn rides own horses and horses from owners at the studfarm in Ursel. More info on Sofie and Tim's studfarm and training stable: www.stoeterijdemolenberg.be Contact In English: Björn (+32.74.309.439) Sapphire's motherline We started to breed with three different mares. The first and most important was the three quarter thoroughbred mare Chiquita (Photo right) (Cardinal xx x Julius Caesar xx), we imported from Germany. From her offspring, numbers of horses jumped 1.40 untill 1.60m Grand Prix level. This family is one of the most respected Belgian pedigrees. Sapphire is the most famous horse we bred out of the Chiquita line. This Darco mare won the Olympic gold Medal with the USA in Athens 2004 and in Beijing 2008. She won the Masters at Spruce Meadows, Florida, La Baule, Rome, New York,... Her full brother Qarco jumped GP, her sister Wendelina and her halfbrother Lapino. A few other succesful horses from the Chiquita line are: - Sapphire - Mclain Ward - Qarco V't Merelsnest - Robin Sweely, Philippe Lejeune - Romulus - Aaron Vale - Vincenzo Van 't Merelsnest - approved BWP - Quinten Van 't Merelsnest - approved BWP - Socrata Van 't Merelsnest - Johnatan Egmore (GBR) - Lapino - David McPherson - Maureen Van 't Merelsnest - 1.40m with Sofie Van Bunder - Nearco Nicki Mathen - Susan Hutchison - Ovidius Van 't Merelsnest - Filip Lacus - Wendelina Van 't Merelsnest - Marc Van Dijck - Artemis Van 't Merelsnest - Björn Van Bunder - Edjaz Van 't Merelsnest - Ward De Bie (BWP and Z aproved) - VDL Glasgow Van 't Merelsnest - Van De Lageweg (AES approved) Big mum Wendelina Chiquita, Sapphire's grandmother and Idjaz-C, her mother, both died in 2004. Wendelina (Photo right), Artemis (Voltaire x Hedjaz) and some other mares are now taking over the reins. Wendelina combines sport and breeding, as we're doing embryotransfer on her. Wendelina is the full sister of Sapphire. Her offspring is very promising. Two of her eldest sons (Edjaz and Glasgow) were approved at young age. We are breeding with Galathis-W (Lord Z), Haditha-W (Argentinus) and Indi Blue-W (Mr. Blue), three young and promising daughters of Wendelina.   Toulon and Vancouver d'Auvrey The second mare we started breeding with, was the KWPN mare Loteusi (Uppercut xx) her daughter Hayland-L (Lurano) was bred in our farm. Later she became the grandmother of the stallions Toulon (Photo right), Vancouver D'auvray and Undercover. Also the international jumping horse Saumur is a descendant of this mare. The stallions Toulon (Hubert Bourdy) and Vancouver (Bernardo Alves) are really appreciated in Belgium and jump the biggest GP's in the world. Semiramis line Third family is the offspring of the two sisters Kalifa (Lys De Darmen) and Oester Monsboro (J'Attack D'el Pantirije). Kalifa was sold as a six year old to Axel Wöckener in Germany for 1.40m competition. Her son Oriënt Van 't Merelsnest (Brown Boy) was a three-day Eventing horse. He was the national Champion in Belgium in 2002, gained the silver medal on the European Championships in Hartpury with the team and ninth individually. He had an unbelievable carrier but died in 2002. Two weeks after Hartpury... His sister Nurioso Van 't Merelsnest (Pachat II) finished eighth in the national chamionships for 4 yo horses in Gesves and was sold to Switserland immediately after. She won a lot of prizes in the 1.30m classes in Switserland and Great-Brittain. Sister of Kalifa was Oester Monsboro. We bought these two mares from Mr. Yves Van Hasselt because of their good french pedigree. One of their grandmothers "Nuit D'avril" was an Olympic gold medalist in the past. Oester Monsboro raised her first foal in 1995. Semiramis Van 't Merelsnest (Darco) was the result. This mare jumps 1.40-1.50m with Björn Van Bunder. Twice this duo finished in fifth place during the Belgian Championships for Young Riders. In 2007 Semiramis placed 8th in the CSI3* GP of Lummen. Her daughter Wilkie Van 't Merelsnest (Nabab de Reve x Darco) won the Belgian Cup for 5 yo horses after jumping 8 clear rounds in 2004. In the USA she won many 140m-classes with Aaron Vale.   Semiramis and Björn in Grand Prix CSI Lummen As you could read, we don't own all of our breeding products anymore, most of them are sold to professional riders, but we still have very talented young horses on our farm. From the famous Sapphire-origin, but also we have the offspring from Semiramis (Darco). We have always promising young jumpers on our farm! Frozen semen full brother Sapphire! Vincenzo Van 't Merelsnest was a BWP approved stallion. We sell the semen of this Darco son on our farm. Vincenzo was one of the most beautiful Darco sons in Belgium. He jumped 1.40m-level, but died afterwards. He's the full brother of Sapphire. Frozen semen available (+32.474.309.439) Award For our breeding results we were honored as "breeder of the year 2004" after receiving an award! We'd like to invite you to our farm. Studfarm 't Merelsnest Kleine Berkenstraat 3 9910 Ursel Belgium