Geluk HVF
(Jazz PREF – Contango PREF – Roemer PREF)
On the heals of the 2024 Kentucky Three-Day Event, we are thrilled to share with you the story of a very special eventing stallion! Geluk HVF is a not just a top competitor, he is also a top sire, recognized by the USEA as the #1 eventing stallion for two years running! His story is impressive and endearing, demonstrating a personable and sweet side to this competitive stallion.
Read on to learn more, and click here to inquire for a breeding contract for your mare!
Geluk HVF is the eventing stallion of a lifetime, defining the next generation of modern sporthorse. This US-bred stallion was twice awarded USEF Eventing Stallion of the Year in 2022 and 2023 and boasts a pedigree that would make any discerning warmblood breeder drool! Geluk’s sire is the legendary Dutch Warmblood stallion Jazz PREF, and his dam hails from the incredibly productive bloodlines of Contango PREF and Roemer PREF. Does it get much better than that?
The Legacy Continues
Geluk HVF is a fourth-generation homebred offspring of Haven Valley Farms in Dryden, MI. Haven Valley Farms is, perhaps, the most appropriate place for this stallion to call his birthplace. The farm itself dates back to the 1800s and still stands many of the original structures. Over the years, the Haven Valley Farm was home to world renowned Shetland show ponies (some of you may recognize the name Captain Topper who claimed championships of his own). After the Shetland pony era, the farm then hosted a thoroughbred breeding farm before being purchased by Marian and Williams Hutchins in 1988. Since then, Haven Valley Farms, under the direction of Marian and daughter Bethany Hutchins-Kristen has continued its legacy as a top equine breeding facility with the enduring development and successes of the HVF Sporthorses Dutch Warmblood breeding program, focusing on dressage and three-day eventing.
Bethany was in college when she and Marian made the decision to breed their three-year-old KWPN mare Bronte HVF (Contango x Roemer) to the legendary and highly influential stallion, Jazz. Their intent was to breed a dressage horse, yet their minds quickly changed when they put Bronte HVF back under saddle after weaning Geluk HVF, to find that she was a fabulous jumper! Bethany remarks, “I’ve been an eventer since I was a a child. So then I realized with the jumping ability of Bronte, and the dressage lines coming from Jazz, I might have an eventing superstar someday.” The prophecy was yet to unfold!
Geluk HVF started life as a stellar foal. He was born and on his feet faster than any previous foals in the HVF breeding program. Within an hour of birth, he was galloping circles around his dam in the foaling stall. Bethany remembers thinking, “wow, this is a crazy athletic foal.” To add to his impressive early athletic qualities, Geluk HVF boasted a personality that was, and still is, extremely sweet and people-oriented, a trait that was apparent from his very first moments. Bethany notes, “If you walk into his stall or pasture to this day, he will always come over to greet you and hang out with you. Geluk has always had an exceptional amount of presence, from day one.”
A Standout from the Very Beginning
As a foal, Geluk HVF attending his KWPN-NA Keuring, where he handily earned Champion Young Dressage Horse, ultimately finishing top five in the United States that year, out of more than ninety foals presented. “When he went to his keuring as a foal, we kept thinking this looks like a really nice foal, but anyone can be biased of their own horses. We were validated when we presented him and received the highest praise”, notes Bethany.
As a three-year-old, Bethany presented Geluk HVF at the US Eventing Young Event Horse Symposium. There, he continued to receive strong accolades. As a four-year-old, he qualified for the Young Event Horse championships in his first Young Event Horse showing, where he finished seventh in the country in the championships.
Geluk HVF kept the momentum going through his six-year-old year, where he wont the CCI2-L National Championships as one of the youngest horses in the division, maintaining the lead from start to finish. Bethany remarks, “It is his personality type that keeps him in the ribbons. He is very business when the tack goes on. And what’s really cool is, unlike some stallions, he continues to take the pressure of being a high-performance competitions horse year after year. He never complains.”
Most impressively, Geluk has been eventing for over eight years and has successfully completed more than sixty competitions, most at the prelim level or higher. To his credit, he has only been eliminated once in his entire career. For Bethany, this “is just remarkable. Not many horses have the temperament to be in this sport this long, never mind a stallion.”
It is no surprise that Geluk HVF has earned the top USEA Eventing Stallion of the Year, two years running, earning the accolade in 2022 and 2023!
The Horse Behind the Accolades
Bethany fondly states, “The only time he is unhappy with me is when he doesn’t get ridden or doesn’t go on the trailer when the other horses go out. On those days, he will give me a little nip when I come to greet him. He gets very jealous that way.” Geluk HVF will stand at full attention when the trailer pulls up to the barn, and when it is his turn, he will shove his head into his halter and hop right on, ready to go. “He LOVES to go”, states Bethany. What a remarkable attribute underpinning a successful eventing personality-type!
When Geluk HVF gets to the shows, he stands tied to the trailer all day, happily munching down his hay. Overnight, he casually stands in his showground stall, hanging his head out and overserving all the activity. On tacking for the show, Bethany says, “when I come up to him with the saddle pad, he stops eating and gets in his zone. He puts all his focus on me, nudging me the whole time. And when the bridle comes, he grabs the bit in his mouth and is like ‘go time.’ He is just the best team mate ever.”
Geluk HVF is a serious competitor. In the ring, Bethany feels that he is sizing everyone up. “He wants to be the star,” remarks Bethany. “Then, when he gets home, he wants attention and treats. Carrots are his favorite. Green apples and the German muffin cookies are also favorites. He loves to eat, nap in his field, and watch his chestnut pony mare friends, Rosie, in the field next to him.” Rosie is his ready barn companion and gets stabled across the aisle from Geluk at night.
With the kids, Geluk HVF is an adoring friend to the young ones. When Bethany’s children visit Geluk in his field or stall, he expresses his interest with happy, forward ears, and is extra sweet and careful. Bethany believes, “He is just a higher thinker that way. He has life figured out and compartmentalizes things very well, whether it is being sweet with my kids, getting ready to compete, going for a leisurely hack, or giving me 100% in our day-to-day routines at home. He easily puts on his breeding hat when heading to the breeding shed, and switches between his roles each time.”
“Geluk is just such a sincere and kind horse that way. He is my horse of a lifetime.”
Bethany Hutchins-Kristen
