Giovanni was bred by C. Van Etten in the Netherlands and scouted by Gertjan Van Olst as a foal. Giovanni is a son from the first crop of the Van Olst stallion Chippendale (Lord Leatherdale x Negro). Chippendale is another example of the success of the proven cross of Lord Leatherdale – dressage horse producer par excellence – and famous preferent stallion Negro. Chippendale’s dam, the elite sport (dres) mare Ti Amo, is also well-known for being the full-sister of the successful Small Tour horse Straus and Isabelle Herter’s (FRA) International Grand Prix horse, Ushie.
Giovanni’s dam line is equally impressive with multiple generations of mares that have competed at the top levels of dressage and earned the prestigious KWPN Prestatie predicates- meaning they have produced top sport horses themselves. Giovanni’s dam Zarava is an Elite, IBOP, PROK, Preferent, Prestatie, Sport mare by the Olympic dressage horse and KWPN-stallion Scandic. Scandic is one of the best Grand Prix dressage horses in the world and in June 2011 he was the best stallion in the world rankings for dressage. Scandic won the bronze medal in the freestyle at the European Championships in Rotterdam in 2011 with Patrick Kittel. In 2013 he finished seventh in the World Cup finals for dressage. At his European Championship debut in Windsor in 2009 he finished eighth. In 2010 he finished fifth in the World Cup finals and Scandic represented Sweden at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. The duo has since broken two Swedish records. In Falsterbo in 2011 they won the freestyle with no less than 82.78%. Scandic has an original pedigree for a dressage horse. After Michelangelo we see Akteur, Lucky Boy xx and Le Faquin xx in the pedigree. Both his sire Solos Carex and his grandsire Amiral excelled at the highest level in dressage. Great-granddam Eljenohve is also the dam of Billy Twomey’s showjumping star Luidam.
Back to Giovanni’s dam Zarava and her female ancestors: after having completed a very good mare test, she competed at Small Tour-level. Besides Giovanni, she produced a 3rd and a 4th level horse and another 2nd viewing stallion by Chippendale. Her dam Tarava competed at ZZL/ 4th level and carries the Elite, PROK, Prestatie and Sport predicates. She is by the Preferent Negro and besides Zarava, she produced two 3rd level horses. Great-granddam Nendyrava (s.Romancier) is also Small Tour-level and has the predicates Elite, PROK, Preferent, Prestatie, Sport. This mare is very convincing in breeding too, with offspring by Negro (2x) and Monaco who are competing at ZZL, ZZZ and Z2-level respectively.