Carthina Z ♀ †

About Carthina Z

Carthina Z is a (died 2024) chestnut Zangersheide showjumping broodmare foaled in 2000, by Carthago Z out of a Lys de Darmen dam.

Carthina Z is one of the most productive elite Belgian broodmares of the modern embryo-transfer era, and unusually her record combines exceptional direct sport production with enormous reproductive scale. Five direct offspring are verified at 1.60m or above: Ilusionata van 't Meulenhof (Lord Z), classified at 1.70m with result evidence at 1.65m; Emerald van 't Ruytershof (Diamant de Semilly); Diamanthina van 't Ruytershof (Diamant de Semilly); Nixon van 't Meulenhof (Denzel van 't Meulenhof); and Pepita van 't Meulenhof BR (El Torreo de Muze). L'Innocence van 't Meulenhof reached 1.55m, Fragile van 't Meulenhof 1.50m and Gucci van 't Meulenhof 1.45m. Emerald is the headline product and the reason her influence extends through the male line: runner-up in the 2016 FEI World Cup Final, a Rio 2016 Olympic finalist with Harrie Smolders, a five-star Grand Prix winner at Chantilly in 2017 and Bordeaux in 2018, a BWP Ambassador approved across BWP, Holsteiner, KWPN, Oldenburg, Selle Francais and SWB, and now a leading contemporary jumping sire. Nixon van 't Meulenhof extends her through a second, independent male line. Her daughters are producing in turn. Diamanthina, who died in 2023, is the strongest branch: 41 offspring and 13 sport horses in the current Hippomundo snapshot, five licensed sons, and top products in 1.70m Le Blue Diamond van 't Ruytershof and 1.60m Herald van 't Ruytershof. Ilusionata produced 1.60m L'Esmeralda from twelve offspring; L'Innocence shows nine sport horses from twelve offspring; and Jenna van 't Meulenhof is an exceptionally intensively used donor with 75 offspring and eleven sport horses, though less proven at the top levels than Diamanthina or Ilusionata. Lifetime totals for Carthina herself vary by source and date - 60 in a Hippomundo feature of November 2024, 67 in the January 2025 HQ Magazine obituary, and 63 to 64 with 16 sport horses in Hippomundo pages crawled in August 2026 - and should be stored as dated snapshots rather than a single figure. Honestly assessed, the Diamant de Semilly cross is her outstanding proven nick, producing both Emerald and Diamanthina, but heavy repetition of that blood in her descendants now warrants inbreeding review. Her very high offspring counts reflect intensive ET and ICSI use and do not prove uncomplicated natural fertility, and no Carthina-specific WFFS or disease-panel result, veterinary history or complete fertility file was located - the reported WFFS non-carrier status belongs to Emerald, not to her.

Own record: Carthina Z is classified at 1.45m international showjumping by HorseTelex, Hippomundo and multiple auction features, but a complete primary competition archive was not located: no rider chronology, result count, wins or prize record could be verified. Her own level should therefore be treated as specialist-database evidence of medium-high confidence, and no five-star, championship or Grand Prix achievement should be attributed to her. Her own sport record is by some distance the weakest part of her file; her standing rests on production. Sport does run in the direct female line - her maternal granddam Gesina van het Darohof is recorded at 1.45m in current specialist data, and her maternal half-siblings Diamanty di Magico Z and Licardo di Magico both reached 1.50m.

Van 't Ruytershof foundation; Emerald, Diamanthina, Nixon/Pepita/Ilusionata vt Meulenhof. Sport + stallion value.

Researched by the EquiWiki editorial desk · Publisher: Harriet Smith · Editor: Lee Smith · cross-checked by two independent AI models.

Her stamp — performance traits

Researched stamp — 5 = strongly passes the trait. Web-sourced; confirm with the stud.

Her conformation

Researched stamp — 5 = strongly passes the trait. Web-sourced; confirm with the stud.

Watch Carthina Z jump