December 20, 2004 – Stratford, Ontario – Canadian breeder Augustin Walch of W. Charlot Farms was named the 2004 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Hunter Breeder of the Year.

Owned and operated by Walch, W. Charlot Farms of Stratford, ON, is a leading producer of sport horses and has now been recognized for its breeding achievements in the United States. The USEF rankings, which gives points based on performance, awarded W. Charlot Farms a total of 7,673 points for the 2004 competition season, putting it almost 2,000 points ahead of the second-placed breeder. Walch will be presented with the 2004 Hunter Breeder of the Year Award at the USEF Annual Meeting held January 12-16 in Louisville, KY.

“Every breeder has his dreams, and I am thrilled that one of my dreams has now been fulfilled,” remarked Walch, who immigrated to Canada from his native Germany in 1980. “I am very happy to be recognized as a breeder of top hunters in the United States, easily the most competitive hunter market in the world.”

Seven horses bred by W. Charlot Farms contributed to the overall points total and all of them carry bloodlines from its flagship stallion, Rio Grande, who is approved by the Hannoverian, American Hannoverian Society, International Horse Sport Registry, Oldenburg, Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association, and the Canadian Sport Horse Association. Five of the seven horses were sired by Rio Grande, one is by the Rio Grande son, Rio Bronco, and another is out of a Rio Grande dam. A 1986 registered Hannoverian stallion, Rio Grande is by Raphael, a registered Westphalian by Ramiro Z, while his dam is the Hannoverian mare, Wandra. Purchased as a three-year-old from the Verden auction, Rio Grande enjoyed a successful international show jumping career, contesting the 1996 World Cup Final and qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games under Eric Lamaze, before being retired to stud in 2001.

“We are extremely fortunate to have Rio Grande who passes on his wonderful disposition and athletic abilities, and our wonderful broodmares whose importance is often neglected,” noted Walch. “We are also fortunate that several of the horses we bred found skilled owners, riders and trainers that successfully developed their potential.”

Of the seven W. Charlot-bred hunter horses competing in USEF recognized competitions, the two most successful were Rave and Rio Bravo. With a total of 2,278 points, Rave, a registered Canadian Sport Horse by Rio Grande, was shown in the Small Junior Hunter 15 and under division. Rio Bravo, also a Canadian Sport Horse by Rio Grande, was shown by Daisy Johnson in the Large Junior Hunter 16-17 division, and accumulated a total of 2,184 points.

Rio’s Tasha, by the 2002 USEF Horse of the Year and Rio Grande son, Rio Bronco, earned a total of 1,412 points in two different divisions. The Canadian Sport Horse mare earned 786 points in California in the First Year Green Working Hunter division under Mark Purcell and 626 points in the Children’s Hunter Horse division with one of his clients.

Also of special note is another Rio Grande son, the Hannoverian gelding Eye Remember Rio (formerly Rio’s Rex), who is shown by his legally blind owner, Victoria Watters. Incredibly, the pair earned a 2004 Cosequin Winter Equestrian Festival Circuit Reserve Championship title in the Adult Amateur Hunter 35-50 division.

In addition to Rio Grande, W. Charlot Farm also stands four other top breeding stallions. Esprit D’Amour by Espri and Futurist by For Pleasure, both Hannoverian stallions, enjoyed great success in their first year of grand prix competition under short listed Canadian Show Jumping Team member, Erynn Ballard, with Futurist being crowned the 2004 Ontario Open Jumper Champion. Rio’s Ricardo, a registered Canadian Warmblood stallion, was the 2003 Four-Year-Old Young Horse Ontario Champion while the eight-year-old Hannoverian stallion, Viva Voltaire (Voltaire – Grannus – Argentinus), boasts stellar show jumping bloodlines and is producing promising dressage and hunter prospects.

“The future is very exciting for us as it is our hope that our younger stallions will follow in Rio Grande’s footsteps by also becoming top-ranked sires,” noted Walch. “Already, this is beginning to happen as a three-year-old son of Viva Voltaire was recently named Baby Green Hunter Champion at the Los Angeles National Horse Show. This is the type of result that is very rewarding to us as breeders.”

In addition to the numerous hunter competitors, W. Charlot Farms is also a leading producer of show jumping horses. In 2004, Pour Patrice W was crowned the Four-Year-Old Ontario Champion in the Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series while Rio’s Ricardo was the Reserve Ontario Champion in the Five-Year-Old Division.

With a herd of approximately 150 horses, including 40 broodmares and 31 foals born in 2004, W. Charlot Farms breeds specifically for the horse sport market. For more information on Rio Grande and W. Charlot Farms, please visit www.charlotfarm.com or call tel: (519) 271-5322.