 |
North American Jumper Program |
 |
North American approved stallions
Verband hannoverscher Warmblutzüchter (Hanoverian Verband, VhW) and the
American Hanoverian Society (AHS) are pleased to announce the Jumper Breeding
Program. A cooperative effort between the AHS, the VhW and the two regional
Hanoverian breeding clubs in Canada, the Jumper Breeding Program is intended
to promote the breeding of high quality Hanoverian show jumping horses
in North America. The Jumper Breeding Program is based in part on the
successful experience of the Programm Hannoveraner Springpferdezucht ("PHS")
in Germany.
By way of background, the PHS was created by the Hanoverian Verband in
1993 to recognize, promote, and market the breeding of Hanoverian show
jumpers. About 1700 mares have been selected to participate in the PHS.
These mares have been selected based on their pedigrees and their talent
as measured via competition or mare performance test. Mares in the PHS
are encouraged to be bred to stallions that have also been selected for
the program. The Hanoverian Verband annually publishes a list of mares
and stallions that have been selected to participate in the PHS.
The Hanoverian Verband showcases offspring from the PHS in a variety of
ways. In addition to the PHS designation, which can be seen, for example,
identifying certain horses in the auction catalogs, the Hanoverian Verband
offers a foal show specifically for PHS offspring as well as an annual
free jumping competition for three- and four-year olds. In 2005, nearly
150 horses were presented to a judges panel that included Toni Hassman
and Dr. Guenther Friemel who scored each of them on their scope, technique
and overall impression (which accounts for canter, type, etc.). Last year,
Lars Nieberg and Anja Rietbrock were on the panel.
In the US, a team of jumper breeders worked together over the past year
to initiate a plan and implement a similar program in North America. At
the Annual Meeting of the AHS in February 2005, the Board of Directors
approved the general concept and formed the Jumper Breeding Committee
to implement and administer the Jumper Breeding Program. The Board, with
input from Dr. Christmann, appointed the following Committee members:
Michael Boyd, Hanoverian Breeding Club of Eastern Canada; Dr. Ludwig Christmann,
VhW representative; Patricia Donahue, AHS Registrar; John Gillien, AHS
member; Judy Hedreen, AHS member; Albert Kley, the Hanoverian Breeding
Club of Western Canada; Edgar Schutte, AHS member and director, and Rick
Toering, AHS member. In addition, the Mare and Stallion Committee appointed
one of its members, Karin Himmelmayer, to act as a liaison to the Jumper
Breeding Committee.
Selection of Breeding Stock
The Committee’s first task has been to identify and select the mares and
the stallions here in North American that are most likely to produce high
quality show jumping horses. In simple terms, to be selected for the Program,
mares and stallions must have BOTH an appropriate jumping pedigree and
demonstrated jumping ability or offspring with demonstrated jumping ability.
While simple in principle, the task of identifying and selecting the mares
and the stallions for inclusion in the Program has been a difficult one.
The selection process is not perfect, and should be recognized as a work
in progress. The Committee looks forward to receiving additional information
from the membership that was either overlooked or unavailable so that
additional mares and stallions may be included in the Program.
The Committee has adopted the criteria used by the PHS for selecting the
stallions for the Program. In addition to having an appropriate jumping
pedigree, a stallion must meet one or more of the following criteria:
i) a score of at least 125 in the jumping index of the stallion performance
test; ii) a jumping score of 8.5 in the stallion performance test; iii)
a successful competition record; iv) offspring with successful competition
records; or v) a breeding value for jumping of at least 120. By way of
example, the stallion’s success in USEF level 8/9 jumping competitions,
Canadian jumper levels at 1,4 m or above, experience at international
levels of competition, or qualification to participate in the World Championships
for young show jumpers or the offspring’ s successes at Canadian jumper
levels of 1,3 m or above, resp. USEF level 7/8 jumping competitions would
be factors considered in favor of including a stallion in the Program.
However, successes in hunter competitions will not be considered.
Because competition records are not readily available in the U.S., the
Committee relied primarily on stallion performance tests and breeding
values for this initial list of stallions. The Committee encourages owners
of stallions not otherwise included in this initial list to provide us
with the competition records of the stallion or his offspring. The Committee
will evaluate these records and if sufficient, may include the stallion
into the Program. In addition to the stallions already selected for the
PHS, the initial list of North American stallions selected for the Program
is set forth below
Jumper
program requirements
North American
approved stallions
North American
approved mares
The Committee has also adopted similar criteria to that used by the PHS
for selecting the mares for the Program. In addition to an appropriate
jumping pedigree, mares selected for the Program must meet one or more
of the following criteria: i) a jumping score of at least 8.0 in a performance
test; ii) a successful competition record in show jumping or eventing;
iii) offspring with successful competition records; iv) relatives (full
siblings or offspring from the same dam) with successful competition records;
or v) other criteria. A breeding value for jumping may be considered as
well. Again, successes in hunter competitions will not be considered.
Because the Committee does not have access to competition records of many
of these mares or their offspring, we relied primarily on the mare performance
test data and competition records previously submitted to the Office.
The Committee recognizes that there may be mares not on this initial list
that have successful competition records, offspring with successful competition
records, or other factors that we have overlooked or not considered. Owners
of mares not otherwise included in this initial list are encouraged to
provide the Committee with the appropriate additional information so that
the mare may be considered for the Program.
Going Forward
The Committee will publish the list of stallions and mares selected for
the Program, and other details of the Program, on the AHS website. The
Committee will update these lists as additional mares and stallions are
added to the Program.
The Committee recognizes that, in North America, Hanoverians are primarily
associated with “ dressage horses” rather than “jumping horses.” One of
our goals is to change that perception over the coming years. We suspect
that many of the mares on this list have historically been breed to dressage
stallions (with the resulting offspring being exceptional horses, of course!).
However, in order to make this Program successful, the Committee encourages
owners of these mares to breed them to stallions also selected for the
Program with the hopes of producing some successful jumping horses!