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“I have only been methodical,” Luc Henry tells World of Showjumping about his acclaimed breeding program, which has earned him the reputation as being something of a genius. “I don't feel that I have done anything special. However, I don't lie to myself; I don’t imagine quality or base my choices on hope. Good is not good enough, what I expect is exceptional natural quality.”

Good is not good enough, what I expect is exceptional natural quality

During his active years as a breeder, the French-born Belgian-based 56-year-old ran an operation with stables in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Ireland. At the end of 2020, Luc surprisingly announced that he would conclude his successful career as a breeder, auctioning off his entire stock – including the maternal bloodlines from the likes of Liscalgot, Usha van’t Roosakker, Baluka Hero, Panama du Seigneur, Prima Donna van’t Paradijs and Ta Belle van Sombeke.

The legacy Luc’s breeding program has left is a lasting one; more than 20% of the horses that he has bred have ended up performing at minimum 1.50m level with past stars including Aganix du Seigneur, Tic Tac du Seigneur, Bogeno (formerly Queen’s Lover Hero), Querlybet Hero, Ayade de Septon and Urico. Today, Dourkhan Hero Z, Ganesh Hero Z, Verdini d’Houtveld Z, Zarkava Hero Z, Picobello van’t Roosakker, High Star Hero, Colibelle Hero Z, Kays Pleasure Hero Z and Ulysses (formerly Freeman Heureka Z) – the four latter recently recording top placings at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, USA, with McLain Ward, Darragh Kenny, Carlos Hank and Cian O’Connor – make sure Luc’s name won’t be forgotten anytime soon, despite the six years that have passed since he concluded his chapter as a breeder.

With World of Showjumping, Luc now shares his approach to breeding, the system he has believed in and his take on the future.

Luc’s passion for horses began at the 1978 World Championships in Aachen, where he witnessed the competition in the judges’ tower alongside his grandfather Ernst Gössing. “Since I was a child, my goal was to breed horses that would compete at major championships,” Luc tells.

Since I was a child, my goal was to breed horses that would compete at major championships

As the World Championships return to the iconic Soers-showgrounds this August, Luc might experience a circle closing, with three to four of his former horses being in the run of making it on to their respective national teams. “I believe Picobello van’t Roosakker could represent the Swiss, while Dourkhan Hero could be in for the German team and High Star Hero for the United States team,” Luc explains. “I know Cian is enthusiastic about Ulysses, but I am not sure if it will be too early for the horse this year.”

“I was not focused on only one lineage,” Luc explains about his approach to breeding. “Some breeders only use one bloodline, but for me it was only quality that mattered. I wanted to cross pure natural talent. Horses that have pure natural talent are not necessarily those that win the most. Sure enough, all horses jumping at the highest level have some degree of talent, but pure natural talent is something different – it is something you feel and remark through profound and quiet observation.”

I wanted to cross pure natural talent

“I was really inspired by the way the breeding selection for the French trotters has evolved. Rarely have the stallions that won the biggest races, at the age of 8-9 years old, gone on to become the leading sires. The most talented and fastest trotter stallions at a young age have often become the leading sires. For me, pure natural talent showed at a young age, is the primary criteria,” Luc continues.

“In the jumping world, and Belgium is probably an exception, I would say 80% of the breeders are more often dreamers full of hope than people who carry out a detailed analysis of the quality of their mares," Luc says. "Most of the breeders try, but don't profoundly know their mares, they don't really know the stallions they use, they simply often pick what looks good or shines great. I believe you need to focus and know the horses you breed with from A to Z. That's why I was never afraid to use young stallions in my program, because I knew those horses really well.”

I believe you need to focus and know the horses you breed with from A to Z

“From my errors,” Luc says when asked how he has built up his knowledge. “I have made a lot of mistakes in my career. When I started breeding, I had almost no practical knowledge. I only knew the origin and the best lineage. I understood the cross of good horses, and the WBFSH book was my Bible. In the end, when I look back on it, I was really an incredibly lucky man to succeed as I did. Even so, I believe that this success is undoubtedly the result of my extraordinary focus and absolute confidence.”

“As breeders, we are not creators of the success,” Luc points out. “Breeders are only one of the rings in the chain of success. I don’t have the power to create the success, but I have the power to decide to try bringing together the elements that will lead to success.”

“Matching the right horse with the right rider is an art,” Luc points out about the long process of producing horses from foals to top-level athletes. “The first thing you need is to know your young horse really well. At my place, all the foals jumped in their first winter. And when I say jump, they are not necessarily jumping 20 times over a combination, but they all came together to the indoor arena with cavalettis in the middle and I watched what they did. This way, I could see if they were shy or courageous, how their canter was, if they backed off. I couldn’t necessarily have a 100% idea of what they would become based on this, but I could imagine what kind of horses they would be as seven- or eight-years-old. Based on this idea, I needed to adapt myself to create the right path for each horse.”

The most important thing to consider, as horses are growing up, is that they are healthy and feel respected

“Each horse has its own path. The same goes for every child in a family. They are all different, and we have to adapt and find the right approach,” Luc continues. “All my young horses were educated by a horse whisperer. I did almost nothing with them when they were young because I didn’t want them to have bad experiences. The most important thing to consider, as horses are growing up, is that they are healthy and feel respected.”

To grow up healthy, a horse needs to live in a group, walk a lot and eat fibre

“We need to remember that Equus caballus, the horse, is a herd animal and an herbivore that lives on the steppes, and that they are made to move,” he explains. “Therefore, to grow up healthy, a horse needs to live in a group, walk a lot and eat fibre – and most people seem unaware of this. Avoiding stress is extremely important as well. As an example, when I weaned my foals, I had groups of mares and foals in the same field, and each day or each two days, I would remove one mare. In the end, the foals were all out together, and there was no big stress for them.”

“For me, a studbook is an organisation that is there to help the breeders register their foals, not to direct them,” Luc shares about his thoughts on how the breeding world is structured.

“When it comes to stallion approvals, they are fully subjective,” he points out. “When there potentially is a lot of money involved, not everybody stays authentic. In my opinion, during an approval, it is just not possible to see or discover what is fully true and what is not. Personally, I am not able to judge a horse during an approval. I am not able to do it, because on the day, the horses shown are presented in their wedding gowns, not in their natural state. What we need to know when we breed with horses, is who they really are.”

When there potentially is a lot of money involved, not everybody stays authentic

“The evolution of the sport is exceptional,” Luc continues. “I'm really amazed to see what kind of performances the horses and riders can deliver now. The competition is getting increasingly difficult and technical, and we need horses with a lot of blood that stay cool in their mind. For me, blood is vitality, vital energy, and you can have a lot of vitality while also being cool. The horses have to be in a position where they can wait for the demands from their rider, and with too much emotional activity, they cannot do this. This is an important aspect, and something I believe is difficult or impossible to judge in a setting of a stallion approval. Stallions like Aganix or Kassander can be a bit atypical, but they are exceptional breeding stallions. When I used them early on, I did not care if they were approved or not – meanwhile I really knew them well, including their natural strengths and weaknesses.”

“Something that I believe is really important for the studbooks is to make sure they do a proper DNA test for all the foals that are registered,” Luc points out. “ICSI and the use of frozen semen has created a huge issue in this regard. As an example, when I sold Aganix to Zangersheide, I sold him with all the straws I owned, and I never sold one straw separately before. This can be problematic for many stallion owners; they can easily lose all control, and that is really terrible. Transparency and authenticity are the only ways in all aspects. Sadly, there's so much money in the equestrian industry that there are people who try to outsmart others.”

While breeding thoroughbreds and trotters is strictly or partly regulated, there are virtually no restrictions when it comes to breeding jumping horses. With the reproductive methods ever evolving, the use of ICSI has created a situation where an unlimited number of foals with the same pedigrees is born annually. “We have no restrictions and we can use all the techniques,” Luc points out. “I cannot change the rules, but what everyone can do is believe in the ethical value of their decisions – and that is something deeply personal.”

What everyone can do is believe in the ethical value of their decisions – and that is something deeply personal

“Not having limitations has its pros and cons,” Luc continues. “The covering fees are not so expensive in the sport horse breeding industry, and a stallion can cover hundreds of mares each year. Is that good or is that not good, I don't know. However, only what is rare or special can be expensive. Is it good to have one of 500 foals out of the same sire or one of 10 foals out of the same dam? It is a question of breeding management."

"The reality with embryo and foal auctions is that they are selling pedigrees and pedigrees are dreams, they're not selling horses," Luc says. "They're not selling an individual, only a pedigree with potential – which in my opinion is incredibly risky if you are not a true horseman. How many of these horses are going to perform at the highest level if they are not raised by true horse people? However, there is a market for this, and I understand that people are making money this way. Buying an embryo or a foal is much easier than building a relationship with a horse and managing to create a superstar or a super performing horse.”

“You don't need to follow a wave, you need to create the wave,” Luc points out. “That's what I did with my breeding program; I went my own way; I was not following others."

I went my own way; I was not following others

"For me, breeding exceptional individuals is not easy, but it's also not too difficult. You have to be a super observer, understand what kind of quality you need, and understand the balance of different qualities in an individual. Also, you should only be observing reality, not dream. I believe results are a combination of focusing on the best progenitors, having the right management and creating a balanced situation for the horses.”

“One of the most important things in my life is to share my experience,” Luc concludes.  “My mistakes have taught me everything I know – and to understand that you have made an error is to stay humble, be self-aware and observant.”

7.4.2026 No reproduction of any of the content in this article will be accepted without a written permission, all rights reserved © World of Showjumping.com. If copyright violations occur, a penalty fee will apply.