Legendary stallion Sandro Hit has passed away

Legendary stallion Sandro Hit (Sandro Song x Ramino) has passed away at the age of 28 following a serious infection.

Schockemöhle Stud released the following statement:

“At the blessed age of 28, the stamp stallion and line founder had to be put to sleep with heavy hearts. As a result of a short infection, his general condition deteriorated,” reads the statement, explaining that the treatment required would have been unlikely to succeed, and they didn’t want to put the stallion through unnecessary pain.

“Sandro Hit was especially close to my heart. He was something very special and the real founder of my stallion station. We are very affected by his loss,” explains Paul Schockemöhle from Mühlen, Germany, where the stallion he purchased as foal in Vechta, 1993, spent his whole life. He was licensed in 1995 at the Oldenburg Stallion Licensing.

Sandro Hit was bred by Reinhold Harder by Sandro Song out of Loretta (Ramino). The elite mare also produced Diamond Hit (by Don Schufro) and Royal Hit (by Royal Dance).

Sandro Hit first entered the competition arena in 1999 with Dr. Ulf Möller, winning the six-year-old class at the World Young Horse Dressage Championships in Arnheim, the Netherlands, and also won at the Bundeschampionate (German National Young Horse Championships) in Warendorf the same year.

From that point forward, breeding took priority as the demand was huge; his last competition was in 2000.

Type, charisma, ground-covering movement, rideability — Sandro Hit passed on his distinctive traits to his offspring. Most studs in Germany and abroad used his genetics.

In 2011, he was retired from making appearances under saddle, and by 2012 he was considered one of the world’s best dressage sires. In 2017 and 2018, he held second place on the WBFSH ranking of the most successful dressage stallions, and since 2019 he has been in third place.

At the Tokyo Olympics alone, he set a record, having eight offspring competing, including team gold medal winner Showtime FRH under Dorothee Schneider for Germany, and team silver medal winner Salvino with Adrienne Lyle for the USA. Many more, such as fellow team silver medal winners Suppenkasper for Steffen Peters, and Sanceo for Sabine Schut-Kery, featured Sandro Hit in their bloodlines.

Of course, the stallion has influenced Australian dressage, siring horses such as Lyndal Oatley’s Sandro Boy 9 and more recently Matthew Dowsley’s Santiago. He is also the grandsire of Mary Hanna’s Syriana, and Kelly Layne’s Tokyo horse, Samhitas. And of course, there are many, many more.

The stallion also sired eleven Bundeschampions, most recently in 2016 with Sisters Act MT OLD, who then won at the World Young Horse Dressage Championships and Burg-Pokal with Dorothee Schneider. Other legendary offspring to enjoy success at the World Young Horse Dressage Championships include Poetin (2003, gold 5yo), Polka Hit Nexen (2008, silver 6yo), Soliere (2010, silver 6yo) and St. Emilion (2011, bronze 6yo).

Sandro Hit has over 200 licensed sons, including numerous licensing winners and premium stallions. Two of them, Sir Donnerhall I and San Amour, stand at Schockemöhle Stud in Mühlen.

“I’m very happy to have quality sons of Sandro Hit, who will secure his wonderful genes. It’s a very difficult farewell,” Paul Schockemöhle continues.

The team at Hof Kasselmann / P.S.I, like many, were saddened by the loss. “We are saddened to hear about the loss of Sandro Hit, one of the true great sires and producer of so many top P.S.I. graduates and successful sport horses,” reads their statement.

An influential sire of dressage horses, his presence has been felt here in Australia and around the world — a presence that will no doubt continue through his talented offspring.

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