Finnick

Finnick is a 2020 black Hanoverian stallion, approximately 1.75 m, bred specifically for dressage. His pedigree is:

Finnigan – Don Index – Lauries Crusador xx, with Floriscount, Don Schufro, Donnerhall, Rubinstein I, Wolkentanz I and Weltmeyer appearing close behind.

What makes this pedigree particularly interesting is that it is not simply a collection of fashionable dressage names. There is a fairly clear breeding structure: Floriscount/Florencio supplies expression and movement; the Donnerhall–Don Schufro–Rubinstein concentration reinforces rideability and dressage aptitude; and the maternal Lauries Crusador xx branch introduces Thoroughbred blood and refinement.

Finnick’s sire Finnigan is a 2013 Premium Hanoverian by Floriscount out of Donna Rubina, by Don Schufro–Rubinstein I. Finnigan was licensed in Hanover in 2015 and subsequently produced strong performance-test results. He received the Weltmeyer Prize in 2019, an award connected to the performance testing of young Hanoverian stallions.

His breeding is particularly concentrated in established German dressage blood:

Finnigan
→ Floriscount × Don Schufro × Rubinstein I

This is an important part of understanding Finnick, because Finnigan’s maternal half of the pedigree is at least as significant as his paternal line.

Finnigan’s dam Stare Premium Mare Donna Rubina is by Don Schufro, while her dam Feine is by Rubinstein I. Consequently, Finnick receives the Donnerhall influence through more than one route rather than having it appear only once in the background.

Finnigan’s sire Floriscount is by Florencio I out of Arkona, by Donnerhall. Floriscount’s pedigree therefore reads:

Florencio I – Donnerhall – Walldorf

Floriscount completed his performance test with a reported dressage index of 147.49, and FEI records show international Prix St Georges/Intermediate I results with Oliver Oelrich, including scores above 70%.

His sire Florencio I combines Florestan I with Weltmeyer through his dam Walessa. Florencio was World Champion for Young Dressage Horses at five and again at six years old.

That gives Finnick an upper sire pathway of:

Finnigan
→ Floriscount
→ Florencio I
→ Florestan I

with Weltmeyer sitting behind Florencio’s dam.

On Floriscount’s maternal side is Arkona by Donnerhall, and Arkona was a particularly productive breeding mare: sources record her as the dam of several licensed sons. Her dam Arwaldis was the 1991 Oldenburg Reserve Champion Mare.

So the Floriscount contribution is actually a combination of two major dressage streams:

Florestan/Florencio + Weltmeyer + Donnerhall.

Finnigan’s dam line — Don Schufro and Rubinstein

This is one of the strongest features immediately behind Finnick’s sire.

Finnigan’s dam introduces Donnerhall again through Don Schufro, while Rubinstein adds another major German dressage line. The published pedigree confirms Donna Rubina as Don Schufro × Rubinstein I.

From a pedigree-analysis standpoint, therefore, Finnigan isn’t simply a “Floriscount son.” He represents a deliberate-looking blend of Floriscount/Florencio/Florestan with Don Schufro and Rubinstein.

Finnick’s dam is the State premium mare Desdemona by Don Index × Lady Crusador

Desdemona brings another substantial concentration of Donnerhall/Weltmeyer dressage blood but then adds Lauries Crusador xx, one of the influential Thoroughbred sources used in Hanoverian breeding.

Don Index was a black Hanoverian stallion born in 2007, by Don Crusador out of Wera by Wolkentanz I. Independent pedigree databases confirm the Don Crusador–Wolkentanz I–Salvano pedigree.

He was particularly notable in performance testing. At the 2010 Adelheidsdorf stallion performance test he reportedly finished first overall with 135.46, including a 144.76 dressage index.

His pedigree is:

Don Index
→ Don Crusador
→ Don Bosco
→ Donnerhall

while his dam is:

Wera
→ Wolkentanz I
→ Weltmeyer

So Desdemona contributes both another Donnerhall branch and another Weltmeyer branch.

This produces a notable pattern in Finnick’s pedigree: some of the same foundational dressage influences occur through different ancestors on both sides.

Don Index’s sire Don Crusador was by Don Bosco (Donnerhall) out of Larissa by Lauries Crusador xx.

Don Crusador was champion of the 2000 Verden licensing according to published stallion information and later recorded a dressage index of 133.06 in performance testing.

This means Lauries Crusador xx already appears once inside Don Index through Don Crusador’s dam Larissa.

That becomes especially interesting when we move one generation further down Finnick’s direct female side.

Lady Crusador (HANN)
by Lauries Crusador xx
out of Wencke (HANN)

This is important because Finnick therefore receives Lauries Crusador xx through more than one route on his maternal side:

Desdemona → Don Index → Don Crusador → Larissa → Lauries Crusador xx

and more directly:

Desdemona → Lady Crusador → Lauries Crusador xx

So Lauries Crusador xx is deliberately reinforced in the maternal half of the pedigree.

Lauries Crusador was a Thoroughbred, and the pedigree shown for him goes through Welsh Pageant xx and Square Note xx. That Thoroughbred component provides an outcross from the otherwise strongly concentrated continental dressage breeding.

This is significant structurally. Finnick is not simply saturated with Donnerhall/Weltmeyer blood: the repeated Lauries Crusador xx presence introduces a meaningful Thoroughbred element into the dam side.

The direct female family

The actual mare line should be distinguished from the stallions appearing as damsires.

Finnick’s direct female chain, from the pedigree supplied, is:

Finnick
← Desdemona
← Lady Crusador
← Wencke
← Wanja

with the stallions entering that female family being:

Don Index – Lauries Crusador xx – Wolkenstein II

That direct female sequence is valuable because it shows that underneath all the famous stallion names sits a Hanoverian maternal foundation.

In other words, Don Index is the sire of Desdemona, but Desdemona’s female family actually continues through Lady Crusador → Wencke → Wanja.

That distinction matters when assessing a breeding pedigree: the sire stack tells us which stallions were selected generation after generation, while the mare family tells us which female family repeatedly produced the resulting horses.

Concentration of the major bloodlines

Finnick has several important repetitions.

Donnerhall is particularly prominent. He appears through Floriscount’s dam Arkona, through Don Schufro on Finnigan’s maternal side, and again through the Don Bosco/Don Crusador branch behind Don Index. The exact genetic contribution depends on each occurrence’s generational position, but pedigree-wise this represents a substantial concentration of the Donnerhall influence.

Weltmeyer also enters from separate directions. Florencio’s dam Walessa is by Weltmeyer, while Don Index’s maternal grandsire Wolkentanz I is himself by Weltmeyer.

Lauries Crusador xx is reinforced within Desdemona’s half of the pedigree, appearing through Don Crusador’s maternal ancestry and again directly as the sire of Lady Crusador.

So, in simplified form, Finnick’s pedigree is built around:

Florestan / Florencio — upper sire line
Donnerhall / Don Schufro — repeated dressage foundation
Rubinstein I — Finnigan’s maternal side
Weltmeyer / Wolkentanz I — repeated movement/dressage line
Lauries Crusador xx — repeated Thoroughbred influence on the dam side

On paper, Finnick represents a strongly dressage-oriented Hanoverian pedigree with purposeful line concentration rather than a simple outcross pedigree.

The sire Finnigan brings the Floriscount–Florencio–Florestan line over a Don Schufro–Rubinstein mare. The dam Desdemona brings Don Index, combining Donnerhall through Don Crusador with Weltmeyer through Wolkentanz I. Beneath that, Lady Crusador adds Lauries Crusador xx directly, while that same Thoroughbred stallion is already present farther back through Don Crusador.

The resulting pedigree therefore combines considerable German dressage consolidation with strategically placed Thoroughbred blood. The most striking pedigree feature is probably the balance between concentration and refinement: Donnerhall and Weltmeyer recur through separate branches, while Lauries Crusador xx prevents the maternal side from being composed solely of closely related dressage warmblood lines.

It is also worth separating what the pedigree establishes from what it merely suggests. A pedigree can support expectations about type, movement, rideability and dressage aptitude at the population/family level, but it cannot establish Finnick’s individual temperament, soundness, trainability, collection ability or Grand Prix potential. Those need to be judged from Finnick himself and, increasingly as he produces offspring, from his progeny.

For a stallion/breeding profile, however, the pedigree is quite rich: Finnick = Finnigan (Floriscount–Don Schufro–Rubinstein) × Desdemona (Don Index–Lauries Crusador xx–Wolkenstein II), bringing together several of the major German dressage families while maintaining a significant Thoroughbred component through the dam line.