Don Philino had an outstanding performance record in Germany.  He was champion of his 30 day stallion performance test in Neustadt Dosse with a dream overall score of 8.77.  This made Don Philino a Premium stallion and this is still among the highest 30 day test scores for German Riding Ponies.

 

In 2005 he was awarded Reserve Bundeschampion of the 3 year old Dressage Ponies.  The Bundeschampionate is a very prestigious German  National event for young horses and ponies, for which they need to qualify in order to compete. 

 

In 2006 he placed 7th in the dressage division of the Bundeschampionate and was the overall Bundeschampion of the Carriage Driving Ponies which is a great tribute to his character.  In 2007 he qualified again for the driving division of the Bundeschampionate with a score of 9 and also qualified for the dressage section with a score of 8.2.  He placed 8th in the finals and was ridden by a 14 year old girl.  Don Philino also placed in several open dressage tests against warmbloods and has wins and places in jumping classes and other young horse classes during his competition career in Germany.

 

Since Don Philino arrived in Perth in January 2008 he has performed at several public displays and proven that he has a fantastic temperament and rideability.  He was chosen to perform in a Masterclass with Micheal Schmidt and Janina Kletke of Germany.  Janina, who was the bereiter for Carola Koppelmann chose Don Philino as the one horse she would ride in the Masterclass.  Michael and Janina were most impressed with Don Philino's rideabilty and movement and commented that he was a top class stallion.

 

Don Philino competed in his first dressage test in Australia at the Swan Valley Dressage Association competition in November 2008 and won the open Elementary.

 

He was selected to perform in the Christoph Hess Masterclass in November 2008 with Christoph commenting during the Masterclass that Don Philino could be a top dressage horse for WA and possibly in Australia.

 

He continued his success in 2009 and placed in every Elementary test that he competed in.  Don Philino had performed in an enormous amount of  competitions and various disciplines for a horse his age.

 

During 2010 we decided to consolidate his work at home, with the exception of travelling to Equitana 2010 in Melbourne.  Don Philino earned himself many more fans after his Equitana trip.

 

Don Philino had his first Open Medium level dressage start at the  Yalambi Dressage Classic in the South Western Town of Margaret River in 2011.  He was awarded a 3rd and a 5th place. At the State Dressage Championships, Don Philino earned himself a 5th in a large strong field of Medium horses. Towards the end of the 2011 dressage season he placed 2nd and 5th in Open Medium dressage at the FoSEC Dressage Challenge at the State Equestrian Centre.

 

In 2012 Don Philino made his first start at Open Advanced level.  He continued to gain places in both open Medium and Advanced Dressage throughout the year.

 

At the Serpentine Dressage Series Finals he placed 2nd in the Advanced  and 3rd in the Medium. At the Finals of the Swan River Dressage held at Brookleigh Estate he placed 3rd in the Advanced. Don Philino also placed  3rd in the Medium at the State Championships.

 

In 2013 Don Philino has placed in all his Open Advanced tests to date with a 3rd at the DAWA Dressage Championship Day and a 4th place at the SEC ACRES dressage.  At the Serpentine Dressage Jill Stanton Memorial Dressage, Don Philino placed 1st and 2nd in the Open Advanced tests.

 

In his training at FEI level, he has a real talent in passage and piaffe and he really enjoys it.  In 2013 he was being prepared to compete at PSG and Inter I when we noticed that there was a problem with Don Philino.  The sad news for the team at Dynamik Stallions was that our super foundation stallion, has been diagnosed with Equine Recurrent Uveitis. All indications and advice pointed to him becoming blind over time.

 

The Veterinary Eye Specialist has confirmed that this is not in any way a genetic condition and is not a condition that he can pass onto his foals.  The two veterinary specialists that work with Don Philino feel that the likely cause of the ERU in Don Philino’s case was that he was over vaccinated before import to Australia.  He was purchased in Germany at the time Equine Influenza broke out in Australia and Australian Quarantine stated that horses had to receive three extra EI vaccinations three weeks apart in order to be allowed into the country.  He had already been fully vaccinated before being given the extra vaccines which then sent his immune system into a spin and potentially caused the immune mediated disorder ERU which has now sent him completely blind.

 

We are devastated by this turn of events as I was looking forward to starting Don Philino at FEI.  His training has been sensational and his piaffe and passage had really developed.  He tried and tried, even though for some time he must have been in quite a bit of pain and worried with his perceived changes in his environment.  He was still winning and placing at Advanced level dressage in Open classes despite losing a lot of his vision.

 

Just a few weeks after losing his vision completely, and only a week after having surgery, Don Philino allowed me to present him in hand on the lunge at our 2014 Dynamik Stallions Open Day and there was not a dry eye in the crowd.  He was truly amazing and presented himself as a proud stallion with the most outstanding character.

 

Still, we are glad to have this beautiful boy in our stables and his excellent character is a credit to him with his ability to cope as a blind breeding stallion.  Due to further complications from this immune mediated disorder and the surgeries he has undergone as a result, he has been completely retired from being ridden as of early 2015.

 

Don Philino’s four year old son, ‘Don Peppino’ (Don Philino/ Diskus) not only qualified for the Bundeschampionate 2011, he became a finalist.  He has inherited his sire’s amazing temperament and movement.  He scored a 9.5 for his walk in the first round, with a total score of 8.33 to gain himself a place in the finals where he placed equal seventh.  This is a really great

tribute to Don Philino as a sire.

 

Don Philino’s Australian progeny are also having success in breed shows with many his youngsters winning Champions and Reserve Champion titles.

 

His progeny in both Germany and Australia are proving themselves to be easily ridden by children and small adults.  It is very exciting that there are young Don Philino progeny under saddle in Australia.  Owners in both Australia and Germany report that his progeny have exceptional temperaments and present at their first outing as if they have been out many time before.  His progeny in Australia have already had success with wins and places in show hunter, eventing, dressage and pony club.  His son was the 2014 Pony Champion of Champions at the Autumn Dressage Festival in WA and at the same show he had another son who placed 4th in the strong competitive Open Preliminary Dressage Classes.

 

A junior rider was awarded the highest percentage test score of all Junior Riders at the 2015 WA State Dressage Championships on board a son of our very only Don Philino.  The success of his progeny has continued through 2015 with many having great success in all disciplines.  They are

all renowned for being easily ridden by children, even as green breakers. 

 

A Don Phlino son also qualified and placed at the 2015 Dressage Festival (Victorian State Championships) and has now qualified for the 2016 Dressage With The Stars (Australian Young Horse/Pony Championships).  His progeny in both Australia and Germany have achieved outstanding successes.

 

Don Philino carries the sabino gene which can help foals inherit more bling.  He has been successfully crossed with pony and warmblood mares and he passes on his compact and excellent pony type. He has also been successfully crossed with Thoroughbred mares to produce a compact and more leggy version of himself.