Brooke Major - Artiste peintre - Sculptures vivantes

Dada Sport Horses

The breeding adventure started from childhood. Brooke has always loved horses and has started riding at three. She developed her interest in breeding with her first pony, Foxy at the age of 6. At the age of ten, she discovered the Selle Francais breed and became passionate and fascinated with the French standard of horses: robust, brave and true warriors.

She rode the hunters throughout her childhood and progessively moved towards the jumper ring.

Following her passion for French horses, she moved to Paris after finishing high school for her undergraduate studies in International Relations. There she underwent her tests to obtain the French national competitors licence at the National School of Veterinarian studies of Paris.

After finishing university, Brooke headed to the only suitable place to get to know the roots of the Selle Francais breed she was passionate about: Normandy, birthplace and breeding grounds for the French sport horse. There, Brooke was lucky enough to ride with many world renowned riders and trainers, from France's top young horse riders to olympic medallists.

After living with breeders circles who created the Selle Francais breed, Brooke took the initiative to start a lineage that was comparable to no other. Hired to work at a stud near Cherbourg, Brooke bred, raised, broke, trained and sold horses that today are competitors at the highest level. The theory behind the training is engaging all horses to compete in the hunter ring at 4-5 and 6 yo, creating a well trained horse that is not overjumped, allowing the correct formation of it's articulations, ligaments and joints.

Dada Sport Horses is a philosophy and theory that stems from the dadaists, an art movement developed during World War One of naming objects as artworks, chosen by the artist. It got its name, according to Richard Huelsenbeck, a German artist living in Zurich, when he and Ball came upon the word in a French-German dictionary. To Ball, it fit. “Dada is ‘yes, yes’ in Rumanian, ‘rocking horse’ and ‘hobby horse’ in French,” he noted in his diary. “For Germans it is a sign of foolish naiveté, joy in procreation, and preoccupation with the baby carriage.” In the case of Brooke's artworks, the lineage is chosen by Brooke and a living sculpture is created which can not only be considered a sport horse but also a living sculpture.

Horses that have excelled at this type of training are names such as : Seringat (Jumping Index 180: Winners Nations Cup, World Cup placings, Hermes placings: Cian O'Connor and Eduardo Alvarez) Urzo d'Iso ( 150 GP with Steve Guerdat) Ultimate d'Iso: 5yo French Champion hunters, Salvia (Jumping index 136, now a broodmare for Dada Sport Horses), Deesse d'Iso (Winner at European championship tours: GP 145) Dali d'Iso, (numerous placings in France GP 140 ) etc...

Today, Brooke has her own farm and has had the excellent opportunity to breed to top sires that have strengthened the breed by adding blood to the Selle Francais lineage that has stagnated at the heavy horse since the late nineties. Stallions used today offered by the Zangersheide studbook have proved to throw chic and bloody horses that have courage and heart from the French lineages. Many products by her favorite Air Jordan Z one Chellano Z and one Columbus Z to offer to the most discerning of riders for the highest level of competition one can imagine.