Today all horses still in the race for a coveted starting place at the Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses were asked to perform a dressage test at the Zilfia’s Hoeve in Houten. Johan Hamminga speaks of a valuable day that gained the selection committee a lot of additional information. 

“The day went very well, what a great location at the Zilfia’s Hoeve in Houten. The arena was beautifully decorated and the adjacent terrace and the grass surrounding the ring ensured it all looked perfect. In other words, there was plenty to see for the horses, but the majority behaved very well, plus that gave us some insights, too”, begins Johan Hamminga. 

Competition day

“Today was purely a competition day and that is a valuable aspect in the selection procedure. Janine van Twist judged all the tests today and we will take that into consideration in our selection later. We, as the selection committee, have observed from the sidelines how the horses have developed themselves, how they handled the training and whether we could see any improvements. This day has given us some useful information”, explains Hamminga.

Harmonious, unforced, and effortless

The 10th of August the last observation is followed by the final selection and the pillars on which said selection is based are clear: “We still have plenty combinations to choose from and that’s a good thing, because one horse may develop more or faster than the other. We were discussing this with Janine who had just returned from judging a competition abroad: if you cannot get the neck and head at length, you can no longer play a relevant role nowadays. Harmonious, unforced, and effortless are crucial aspects. And we will prioritize on those parts, because in addition to natural aptitude, length is an important issue”, underlines Johan Hamminga on behalf of the selection committee.

Schematic overview selection procedure

Photo Andreas Helgstrand & Jovian at the WC in Ermelo - (C) Dirk Caremans