In the studio, chairman of the stallion selection committee dressage Bert Rutten and senior inspector Floor Dröge just evaluated the first dressage day of the stallion selection.

Host Annelou de Man asked them about the ins and outs and received some enthusiastic answers. 44 stallions were inspected today and 23 of them were invited to the performance test. Floor Dröge: “What stands out is that many stallions come out of a predicate dam and the sport performance-wise the damlines in general also check out. Multiple stallions were bred out of mares that were active in the ring themselves. Out of 23 appointed stallions, 22 possess a breeding value of 140 or above, which reflects that we have positive genetic information about them. Another positive aspect is that seven stallions have a very low degree of relatedness to the KWPN population and that is hopeful in light of genetic variation.”

And it turns out that Bert Rutten is equally pleased. “We have been able to appoint a range of well-modelled stallions that have a good dressage type and move with a powerful movement mechanism and great posture. For some stallions we took the positive information out of their damlines into account, because in our eyes, their excellent origins earn them a shot in our performance test. After all, that’s our major selection tool as the circumstances approach the intended purpose of these horses as much as possible.” Tomorrow, several young stallions are represented by offspring born after their first season at stud; and it therefore promises to be another interesting day. 

Photo HippoFoto