The AES continues its development of an excellent modern and performance oriented stallion portfolio with successful stallion gradings this spring not only in the UK, but also in Europe. Another highlight in the series was the first grading event held in Italy, at Equieffe Equestrian Center in Gorla Minore, which attracted a number of excellent and exciting proven horses as well as promising new talent. Among the young stallions presented and licensed was the very beautiful young stallion  LIMITLESS by the outstanding Liberty Life. Liberty Life is by Lord Liberty out of a Zymbal x Wicht mare and convinces with beautiful looks and outstanding conformation. Lord Liberty’s dam line also produced the important stallion Fiorissimo, offering a genetic background of excellence across multiple generations. Another young talent licensed on the day was FLINTON by Clinton out of a Heartbreaker – Voltaire mare from the Dutch dam line of Nomana, an incredibly prolific mare family that produced multiple licensed stallions and Grand Prix horses in both show jumping and dressage which offer a highly valuable contribution to the AES portfolio. Another licensed stallion was the charismatic 4-year-old Clarimo Ask son GALEXUS E out of an Alexis Z mare who through her dam sire Abgar XX brings to the table that all important injection of thoroughbred blood so essential in a truly modern athletic performance horse. The list of licensed stallions concludes with the very striking HALOS KINTOS , bred and owned by Az. Agricola Cinzia Basso. Halos Kintos is by the Darco stallion Ogano Sitte whose mother goes back to the famous Jasper. His mother, Fenjce, is by Voltaire out of a Sultan mare from the Hanoverian dam line of Jahde, which also produced the stallions Godolphin and Don Index, who was the winner of his stallion performance test, making this line a fantastic addition for breeders looking for a proven dam line likely to produce future stars. Among the older stallions were a number of horses standing out in quality and proven performance, meriting the award of ‘Approved’ status. The first in this group was the beautiful grey stallion BOTERO , owned by Alessandro dell’Anna and bred by Noesar SRL. Botero  is by Cento out of a Le Tot de Semilly x Lysander mare from the Dutch dam line of Worona I, which also produced the famous Apache and Ulrich Z. Another stallion awarded Approved Status was the beautiful CANTURANO II (CANTURANO III DELLA CACCIA) , bred by Jürgen Strauss, by Canturano out of a Coriano – Ahorn Z mare from the Holsteiner Stamm 2067. This stallion has outstanding type and is still at the beginning of what is set to be a very promising competition career with already numerous successful performances at CSI2* and CSI3* level. One to watch for the future! The list of approved stallions concludes with the athletic ARHUACO NOESAR Z , bred and owned by Noesar Show Horses SAS. This stallion has an outstanding pedigree through his sire, Air Jordan who brings together the influential blood of Argentinus and Matador, which is matched in his dam who is by Contender out of a Lord Calando mare. We congratulate all the stallion owners and breeders who presented their beautiful horses at this successful and uplifting grading and look forward to watching these stallions progress in future. We would also like to thank our hosts at Equieffe Equestrian Center for supporting us with such a fabulous venue, with in particular Mr Alessandro Dell'anna.