Cottage Son

Many years have gone by since the English thoroughbred Cottage Son xx placed his hooves on German soil. He was born in 1944 and bred by M.H.Moxon in England.

Even before Cottage Son xx was stationed in Holstein at the age of 15 in 1959 he had been an outstanding sire in England. At the 1960 Olympics in Rome, several of his British born progeny were at the start in three day eventing
 

After the Thoroughbred Anblick xx, Cottage Son xx was the second up-grader in Holstein following the Second World War. Upgrading of the horse populations was desperately necessary if German horse breeders wanted to keep abreast.

For quite some time, it looked as though the paternal line could not be maintained. Capitol I, whose younger brother began his siring career at the age of fourteen in 1992 was later to be the only representative of this lineage in the male line. Capitol I was not easy to mate: Frequently his progeny were too heavy, some even to say it bluntly, too cumbersome and lazy. The Holstein horse Breeders Association therefore developed a whole host of requirements and conditions for the mating of mares with Capitol I (thoroughbred content etc.) for the maintenance of this bloodline, which at first glance appeared somewhat hard to comprehend, but ultimately bore fruit. Meanwhile, the legacy of Cottage Son xx has been placed on a broad basis once again by numerous Capitol I sons, so that the maintenance of the bloodline in the male line is no longer threatened.

Despite this, the genotype of Cottage Son xx is very much sought after on the maternal side. Different to his English period, where Cottage Son xx produced overriding sports horses, this was not so much the case in the F I Holstein generation. Notwithstanding this however, his influence is still very much appreciated and in Holstein one can occasionally find people who meticulously count how many times a horse is inbred to this marvellous thoroughbred.

Cottage son passed away in 1964 at the age of 20.