Quick Star (Galoubet A x Nithard) was a small stallion by stature, but he could and would jump everything! He had a successful sporting career under the saddles of Nick Skelton and Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, racking up over 500.000 euros of prize money and many fantastic results at the highest level. After the finish of his sporting career this bay SF stallion became one of the most sought after sires, approved in more than 20 different studbooks.
His last owner, French film distributor Alain Katz describes him: “Quick Star has inherited the best of both his sire and dam lines. From Galoubet, his force, his energy and his courage; from Stella, her elegance, her intelligence and her technique.” Quick Star’s sire, Galoubet A (Alme Z x Nystag), was an impressive show jumper. Ridden by the French rider Gilles-Bertran de Ballanda, he won 19 International Grand Prix's and was on the French Gold Medal winning team at the 1982 Show Jumping World Championships in Dublin, Ireland. His dam, Stella, 7/8th Anglo-Arab, by Nithard, jumped internationally with Nelson Pessoa and recorded 32 Grand Prix wins during her career. As a brood mare, apart from Quick star she produced other high quality horses, such as Olisco, Phalor and Megag.
Quick star, who launched international career of Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, was described by her as a “freak of nature, with springs in hind legs”. Others described this little rounded stallion, standing at just 1.59m, as being a “genius over the bars”.
In the beginning of his career as a sire, he was a subject of some controversy among the breeders, some of whom ridiculed the stallion due to his size, while others were so interested in the stallion that they went to court over him. One of the previous American owners of Quick Star took legendary Paul Schockemöhle to court over stud exploitation from 1991 to 1994, while the horse was stationed at Schockemöhle stables and allegedly used by the latter for his own breeding purposes, covering around 400 mares. As a result he is significantly represented in Oldenburg breeding. He produces mostly bay colored horses with spirit, but easy character. Most of them share the following traits: they are quick, talented, with short backs and powerful hind quarters. He best suits mares with enough frame that are lacking blood and strength. Quick Star offspring include many top level horses, such as Quick Study, Qualandro, Obos Quality, La Stella, but the best known are two Championship medalists: Orient Express HDC (Quick Star x Le Tot de Semilly) who with Patrice Delaveau became both individual and team vice champion for France at WEG in 2014 and in NC finals in 2013 and Nick Skelton’s Big Star (Quick Star x Nimmerdor), who led British to team gold at London Olympics 2012 and then proceeded to become an individual Olympic champion at Rio games in 2016.