Sanne Thijssen's Con Quidam RB (Quinar Z x Cardino 5) has jumped into many hearts with his charisma and fighting spirit. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

Text © World of Showjumping

“Con Quidam’s best quality is his mentality. It makes him who he is,” Sanne Thijssen tells about her stunning stallion Con Quidam RB (Quinar Z x Cardino 5) – who has jumped into many hearts with his charisma and fighting spirit. 

The pair has grown into the top sport together; Sanne began riding the stallion when she was 16 – and since then, the two have gone from one success to another. After representing the Netherlands at two European Championships for young riders, the pair went on to win team silver at the 2022 FEI World Championship in Herning, Denmark, as well as taking the victory in the 2021 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, Spain. 

Sanne Thijssen and Con Quidam RB have become regulars on the Dutch team. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

In the next part of our series ‘From youngster to international Grand Prix horse’, World of Showjumping discovers more about the now 17-year-old stallion’s journey to stardom. 

Con Quidam RB was born at Holsteiner Zuchtstall Bröcking in Germany, and Rüdiger Bröcking explains that the stallion was full of energy already as a foal. “Con Quidam was very awake, full of power and had great self-confidence. He always free jumped fantastic, and really had the mindset of wanting to get over the fences. Con Quidam also had exceptional movements and could have become a great dressage horse as well.”

Con Quidam RB comes from a very successful mother-line that has produced several horses competing at international level. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

Con Quidam RB’s mother S-Capitola B – that was bred by Holsteiner Zuchtstall Bröcking and is half-sister to the stallion Con Capitol – is from a very successful mother-line that has produced several sport horses competing internationally. As Bröcking decided to let S-Capitola go into the sport, her only foal was Con Quidam RB. “S-Capitola B jumped at 1.35m level and qualified for the Bundeschampionat before she got sold. We get around four to six foals every year and buy some as well. Normally, we let them grow up here, start them up and then try to sell them over the sport. Con Quidam, on the other hand, was sold as a 3-year-old to our business partner from Bulgaria. We now have a stallion candidate, out of the sister of Con Quidam’s mother, that is very similar to Con Quidam.” 

“I bought Con Quidam RB from Zuchtstall Bröcking in Germany when he was 3-years-old,” Bulgarian rider Nedko Petrov explains. “After I had seen him for the first time, I just couldn’t fall asleep – he was so special. As a young horse he was very playful, good natured and always good for a prank.” 

“He was born to be a champion, for me he is a gift from God,” Nedko Petrov says about Con Quidam RB that he owned and rode from age three to six. Photos © private. 

Petrov started Con Quidam RB up and did the first shows with him. “He was born to be a champion, for me he is a gift from God,” Petrov says. “He is a terrific athlete and jumper! I rode him myself until he was 6-years-old and then I decided to send him to Germany. I could see that Con Quidam had great qualities and I wanted to give him the chance to develop further. I wanted to give the ride to Svetlin Ivanov to get Con Quidam ready for the Bundeschampionat for 6-year-olds, but in the end, Ivanov had no right to participate. That is how Rossen Raitchev started to ride him, and that is how Con Quidam’s international career began. I’m very happy to have been a part of this world-famous horse’s life.”

Rossen Raitchev, who is based in Germany, rode Con Quidam RB for a bit more than half a year. “Con Quidam came to me in May 2012, and already from the beginning he was a really good horse. He was brave and always wanted to jump. Con Quidam was a small horse with a huge heart. To ride, he was easy and learned very quickly – on the ground he was very much a stallion though and could go totally crazy and easily destroy a box,” Raitchev tells.

"He was brave and always wanted to jump. Con Quidam was a small horse with a huge heart," Rossen Raitchev says. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

The plan for Con Quidam RB in Germany, was to do the Bundeschampionat – the German Championships for young horses. “Con Quidam jumped so good and already in the first qualifier he got a score over 8.0 and qualified,” Raitchev tells. “It didn’t go as well at the Bundeschampionat though, as he had back pain after spending the night kicking and screaming in the temporary show stables. After that it was decided that he should go to the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Lanaken. There it went better and Con Quidam won the first qualifier and finished 14th in the final for the 6-year-olds.”

Leon Thijssen spotted Con Quidam RB already in 2012 and asked for the stallion, but at the time he was not for sale. “Then, at the beginning of 2013, Rossen called me and said I could try Con Quidam. The owner was there at the time and since I was interested in Con Quidam, he loaded him and drove after me with the truck for 7-8 hours to our place to do the vetting. Then he stayed with Con Quidam until his wife called a few days later to confirm that the money had arrived,” Thijssen smiles.

"He was out for a longer period, and after that I gave him to Sanne to build him up. I never got him back,” Leon Thijssen tells. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“You could see the quality from the beginning, but you couldn’t see the scope,” Thijssen explains. “And then his eyes and expression – still when someone comes to the stable, they automatically stop outside Con Quidam and ask about him.”

It wasn’t all easy to start with though, as Con Quidam RB turned out to be very much a stallion. “He was so much stallion, that he almost killed himself,” Thijssen tells. “We decided to do a chemical castration, but that was terrible. Con Quidam’s muscles got so stiff from the castration that we couldn’t ride him. He was out for a longer period, and after that I gave him to Sanne to build him up. I never got him back,” Thijssen smiles.

"From his capacity, Con Quidam would be perfect to win a 3* class, however, he wins the 5* classes only because he loves to compete," Leon Thijssen explains. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“When Con Quidam came to us, we put him in our stallion stable next to the other stallions,” Thijssen tells. “However, he got so upset next to the other stallions – it was really like nothing I had seen before. Then we moved him and put him with our older mares, and he was totally calm. Still to this day at the shows, he can have the box door open next to mares but if he ends up next to a stallion he is terrible. This was something we really needed to figure out.”

Thijssen explains that Con Quidam RB exceeded his hopes. “He is better than I thought. Just to see him at the World Championships in Herning: A competition like that is for a few horses only and he did it because of his mentality. From his capacity, Con Quidam would be perfect to win a 3* class, however, he wins the 5* classes only because he loves to compete. In a 1.30m class he can jump very normal, but when he enters a huge arena and see the audience, he can jump anything. Not every horse has that mentality!”

“I started to ride him when he was seven and we grew into the levels together,” Sanne Thijssen tells. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

With Con Quidam RB turning 17 this year, Thijssen has already done some thinking about the stunning stallion’s life after the sport. “I think he for sure will go for at least one more very good year,” Thijssen says. “After that we will see how he feels and when it is time to retire him, he will go into breeding. I know he bred natural in Bulgaria, but he hasn’t been breeding since. I think he will suit mares that need blood and quickness.” 

Sanne Thijssen took over the reins on Con Quidam in 2014, when she was just 16 years old. “As a young horse, Con Quidam was always motivated – which he still is,” Sanne tells. “He was very fresh and a real stallion… Not like he was dangerous, but everyone knew when he was at a show with him screaming and making a mess in the warm-up. He was even fresher than he is now, and his warm-up routines included bucking, screaming and occasional attempts to attack other horses.”

"In the big grass arenas, he is at his best,” Sanne Thijssen tells abour Con Quidam RB. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“I started to ride him when he was seven and we grew into the levels together,” Sanne says. “We did two European Championships for young riders; in 2015 we ended 6th in Wiener Neustadt, and in 2016 we finished 4th in Millstreet. These were not just his first championships; they were also mine.”

“Con Quidam has his own personality, and, for me, he is like a human,” Sanne smiles. “He has his days… Some days he is happy and playing around, other days he is lazy and some days he is very angry with other horses. He shows so many emotions, and his character is unbelievable.”

Con Quidam RB has now turned 17, but according to Sanne he does not feel his age. “Con Quidam sustained a tendon injury in 2017, and was out for 2.5 years so now it feels like he can do 2.5 years extra,” Sanne tells. “He feels like he is 13 or 14, and he is very sound. When he was injured, it took a long time to figure out what was wrong as he was never lame. We didn’t really know where to search, and after the injury we took our time to get him back. However, we are well aware that he is getting older, and his health is priority, so we take it day by day.”

"He shows so many emotions, and his character is unbelievable,” Sanne Thijssen says. Photo © Jenny Abrahamsson for World of Showjumping.

“Con Quidam’s best quality is his mentality. It makes him who he is,” Sanne tells. “If he didn’t have that mindset, he wouldn’t jump the classes he does. I let him be as he is and that helps him. He is like he is, he has his own way of doing everything and he needs to be like that to get the capacity and scope for the biggest classes. Con Quidam gets his scope out of rhythm and not out of power. Hence, the indoor shows are not his thing, since the arenas are smaller, and the fences comes quicker and you then need scope out of power. So, during the indoor season we are taking it easy with him to get ready for the outdoor season. In the big grass arenas, he is at his best.”

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