Top Dressage Sire Sandro Hit Passes Away at Age 28

Sandro Hit has been humanely euthanized at the age of 28, following a short infection during which his general condition deteriorated and, according to the veterinary team treating him, there was no prospect of improvement.

“Sandro Hit was especially close to my heart. He was something very special and the real founder of my now so large stallion station. His loss hits us very hard,” Paul Schockemöhle explained in Mühlen, Germany, where the stallion, whom he had bought at auction as a foal in Vechta in 1993, spent his whole life.

Sandro Hit was bred by Reinhold Harder, a son of Sandro Song out of Loretta by Ramino-Welt As. The elite mare produced further licensed stallions with Diamond Hit (by Don Schufro) and Royal Hit (by Royal Dance).

Scroll to continue with content

In 1999, Sandro Hit won the World Championships for six-year-old dressage horses in Arnheim, the Netherlands, under Dr. Ulf Möller and then again at the Bundeschampionat in Warendorf. From then on, however, breeding had priority, as the demand from breeders was enormous. Type, charisma, ground-hugging movement potential, rideability ‒ Sandro Hit passed on his unmistakable melting pot of talent to his offspring. There was hardly a breeding area in Germany or abroad that did not make use of his genetics.

From 2012 onwards, Sandro Hit claimed fame as one of the world’s best dressage sires. In 2017 and 2018 he held second place in the WBFSH ranking of the most successful dressage stallions, and since 2019 he has been in third place. At the just-concluded Tokyo Olympic Games alone, he sired a record eight offspring in the dressage arena, including the team gold winner Showtime FRH under Dorothee Schneider and the team silver winner Salvino with Adrienne Lyle/USA. His influence was found in Canada as well: at the Tokyo Olympics alone, alternate Naima Moreira Laliberté’s Statesman is by Sandro Hit, as is Lindsay Kellock’s mount Sebastien.

Sandro Hit has over 200 licensed sons, including numerous licensing winners, premium stallions and stallion market leaders. Two of them are stationed in Mühlen: Sir Donnerhall I and San Amour – and have long enjoyed the reputation of stamp stallions themselves. “I am very happy to have quality sons of Sandro Hit on station, securing his wonderful genes. It is a very difficult farewell,” Paul Schockemöhle continues.