Covering History: Stud duty in England prior to 1959, Elmshorn 1959 to 1960, Marne 1961 to 1963, passed away in 1964

Forty years have meanwhile gone by since the English thoroughbred Cottage Son xx placed his hooves on German soil. His endeavours in the Holstein breed are almost history and yet his genotype is still enjoying unabated popularity today. Even before Cottage Son xx was stationed in Holstein at the age of 15 in 1959 he had been an outstanding sire in England. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, several of his British born progeny were at the start in three day eventing. This was a good prelude for the big charismatic stallion in the Holstein breed, even though he came at a time when horse breeding was totally in shambles and the Traventhal state stud was close to its dissolution when he began his siring activity there. After the thoroughbred Anblick xx, Cottage Son xx was the second upgrader in Holstein following the Second World War. Upgrading of the horse populations was desperately necessary if German horse breeders wanted to keep abreast of developments in horse breeding. Horses certainly were no longer exclusively work animals that could occasionally be ridden as well. In the wake of the increasing motorisation of agriculture, the breeding goals needed perforce to be redirected. This is where Cottage Son xx performed marvellous services. Fourteen of his sons were approved and 53 daughters registered in the Association studbook. His best son was Consul, who unforunately was taken out of breeding too early after covering for a few years at different Association stations. For quite some time, it looked as though the paternal line could not be maintained. Capitol I, whose younger brother began his siring career at the age of fourteen in 1992 was later to be the only representative of this lineage in the male line. Capitol I was not easy to mate: Frequently his progeny were too heavy, some even to say it bluntly, too cumbersome and lazy. The Holstein horse Breeders Association therefore developed a whole host of requirements and conditions for the mating of mares with Capitol I (thoroughbred content etc.) for the maintenance of this bloodline, which at first glance appeared somewhat hard to comprehend, but ultimately bore fruit. Meanwhile, the legacy of Cottage Son xx has been placed on a broad basis once again by numerous Capitol I sons, so that the maintenance of the bloodline in the male line is no longer threatened. Despite this, the genotype of Cottage Son xx is very much sought after on the maternal side. Different to his English period, where Cottage Son xx produced overriding sports horses, this was not so much the case in the F I Holstein generation. Notwithstanding this however, his influence is still very much appreciated and in Holstein one can occasionally find people who meticulously count how many times a horse is inbred to this marvellous thoroughbred.