Pythagoras WK is ridden by Franka Loos for the Netherlands and competed at the 2026 WFBSH Breeding Young Horse World Championships.
His pedigree is All At Once / Vitalis/Negro/Krack C, and luckily for us he certainly has alot going on in six generations and can therefore be a great example for our readers.
First cab off the rank is Ferro at 4 x 4 sons only.
Flemmingh is 4 x 5 x 5 sex balanced with 2 sons and one daughter.
Jazz is 4 x 5 through daughters only, which is an important filly factor and also has the benefit of acting as a remote kind of sex balance for other lines which appear via sons only, such as Ferro.
Daughters of a sire are an important thing to watch out for as they have many special qualities.
Dam Italina Toanga is 5 x 5 to Contango daughters, another important filly factor, and another counterbalance to lines present through sons only.
The dam is also 4 x 4 to Krack C sex balanced.
Farn is at 6 x 6 x 6 and is also seen at 8 x 8 x 8 (beyond the range of our pedigree chart) and is sex balanced.
Amor is 5 x 8 x 7 x 7 x 7 and is sex balanced.
There are also five duplications of Pericles daughters throughout – another filly factor.
All up there are eight duplications of full brothers Furioso II and Mexico within eight generations, and this is where Vitalis comes into his own. One of his most important features is the Furioso II daughter he carries on his 6th generation. The other seven duplications of this line are all through sons and this is a heavy load for one daughter line to carry, another daughter would definitely be handy, but it still has the effect of opening up the power in the line and letting it flow on to benefit the horse and its progeny. These brothers are usually choked up in Dutch horses and they rely on other bloodlines such as the ubiquitous Pericles xx daughters to come in and counter balance the male factor.
In this instance there are two daughters of Jazz and two daughters of Contango which are helping the choked up male lines as well.
The Contango daughters on the dam line have another very important function also – he is by Contender and Contender carries a very valuable Ladykiller daughter and he has this twice as there are two crosses of Contender. With Flemmingh present three times and Krack C twice, this is providing a vital service, as both are very heavy on Ladykiller sons. Between the two of them there would be seven Ladykiller sons which clogs up the flow of this bloodline, and the two daughter lines in Contender are a god send here.
Overall this is a great pedigree, full of close up duplications and presents what is becoming a standard type of pattern similar to Franklin and Proud James, all having their own variations of course. It will be interesting to follow the progress of this horse.