Former international showjumping rider, and well-known horse dealer, Breeding News exposes a fresh side to Gerhard Etter ... sport horse breeding. A new enterprise which carries his business across several frontiers to the Emerald Isle - Ireland..
Gerhard Etter is friendly, smiling, with an air of posterity ... he is everywhere. This is why he admits to his love affair with Ireland; “but not to live there because I would never want to move”. But he is constantly on the go in his quest for horses, this man who exhibits stability and authenticity with a look that is both soft yet determined, but with more than a hint of wisdom. When you are engaged in conversation with him, he is there 100%. Judge for yourself. Nothing was allowed to interrup our three hour interview. It was easy to be caught unawares about the time when talking to one of the world’s major horse dealers.
Q Do you consider yourself first as a rider, a breeder or a dealer?
I’m a horse dealer. That’s the way I earn my living. Of course, I have a special feeling for horses and I don’t think you can do this job without loving them.
Q You have been successful as a rider for the Swiss team. Did you ever think you could live only by riding?
No. I realised very quickly that the only way for me to earn my living with horses was to sell them. I won my first major class when I was 19, with a mare called Dorina. Then I had to wait until I was 24 to have horses (Fragola, Sportsman, etc.) to ride regularly at this level again. I had the chance to ride in the best shows in the world; Aachen, Rome, Hickstead, New York, Wash-ington, Toronto. I rode 22 Nations Cup with 11 different horses. That’s life ... of a horse dealer! My father was a farmer and a horse dealer. He was importing horses from Poland. I bought my first horses alone at the age of 18, with money lent to me by my father. That was at the Dublin Horse Show. The only important thing for me was that they weren’t Polish!
Q You bought your first horses in Ireland, you have now established your breeding at Belmont House Stud, do you have a special attachment to Ireland?
Ireland is a good country for horses. I think that it is one of the best and most appropriate for breeding along with Normandy and Holstein. So, when two friends of mine asked me, ten years ago, if I was interested in buying Belmont House, a big farm in the middle of the country, I thought it was a good opportunity to start breeding. I didn’t have enough space here in Switzerland, and the 71 hectares at Belmont House were ideal. Of course, it would be easier to have something nearer, especially as Switzerland doesn’t belong to the European Community.TO read more of this interview order back issue number 30