Celebrating the Distaff Side of Breeding
In Germany, excellence in mares is honored at mare shows. The best mares are invited to compete in larger shows such as the Ratje-Neibuhr Hanoverian Mare Show. Mares are shown in age classes and as family groups--a mare with three daughters or a mare with her daughter and granddaughter. Family group champions are especially revered in Germany.
To our delight, Dr. Christmann had brought a video to show us of winners of the 2002 Ratje-Niebuhr Hanoverian Mare Show. Almost 19,000 mares are registered with the German Hanoverian Verband (compared with about 3,500 Hanoverian mares in the American Hanoverian Society), so the competition in Germany is fierce. The winner of the Young Mare Group (2 and 3 year olds) was an elegant black mare by Rotspon out of a mare by Lauries Crusador xx (xx denotes a Thoroughbred). This mare received the top score of 10 for her type and also a 10 for her trot. She had the strength, balance and suspension of a prima ballerina.
One trait we all noticed was that every mare moved with great energy and impulsion. Reserve Champion was the Weltmeyer daughter, Waitaki, also out of a Lauries Crusador xx mare.
The Middle Group--4 to 6 years old--Champion was SPS Fenjala by Fabriano and out of a Prince Orac mare. This graceful dark bay mare had an outstanding trot and came from a well-known motherline. The Older Group--7 year olds and up--Championship was won by another Weltmeyer mare, SPS Wiami out of a Bolero mare. The supple chestnut impressed us with the way she used her back, creating cadence and brilliance in her gaits. The prestigious Mare Family Champion was SPS Bodenfarsten, a regal chestnut mare with her Weltmeyer daughter, SPS Weltina, and her Rosentau granddaughter, Rose Dream.
We could plainly see how the Germans created such an incredible horse--they know how important their best mares are to producing world champion quality dressage and jumping horses, and they celebrate and reward those mares. We saw close to ideal mares, and now we have a better idea of what direction to go to achieve our own breeding goals.
The Breeding-Value System
A new and important tool for evaluating Hanoverian stallions utilizes the results of their daughters' Mare Inspections and Mare Performance Tests. Dr. Christmann developed this numerical-value system as part of his PhD thesis.
The first set of breeding values for Hanoverian stallions was published in 1997. Each year the values for each stallion are updated with the newest results from inspections and performance tests and published in the Hannoveraner Jahrbuch Hengste (Hanoverian Stallion Yearbook). Every stallion that has had at least 15 daughters complete the Mare Performance Test is included (15 is the number required for statistical significance). The book also includes information on the number of the stallion's offspring competing in dressage, jumping and eventing and at what level. Competition-based breeding values come from horses competing in dressage, jumping or eventing that have been selected for talent in that discipline.
All this information indicates important traits that a stallion tends to pass on to his daughters. I have found it invaluable in finding stallions that will improve my mare with traits such as a good walk or a strong hind leg. Breeding values can also be an early indicator of a stallion's prepotency, since mares are inspected and performance tested at 3 years old. Results from competition horses aren't usually available until they are at least 6 to 8 years old.
Grande's legendary contribution, for example, was only discovered late in his breeding career, when his offspring had proven themselves in the competition arena. If this system had been used when he was a young stallion, breeders might have noticed that his daughters scored higher than did those of other stallions in dressage qualities, jumping and rideability.
Gotthard, another Hanoverian legend, would have demonstrated that his daughters surpassed other mares in jumping, leading breeders with jumping programs to use the stallion and riders to seek out his offspring for jumping competition.
In every breed, great mares are coveted and celebrated. Desert dwellers zealously guarded their best mares. The Roman charioteer Ben-Hur drove a quartet of these white Arabian mares to win the legendary race. Thoroughbred breeders will not part with their "blue hen" mares--the mothers of their most successful racehorses and the basis of their breeding programs. The Northwest Hanoverian Club hopes, one day, to develop an equally successful program in America's Pacific Northwest.
This article first appeared in Dressage Today magazine.
Ready to look for a stallion for your mare? Search Stallions At Stud on Equine.com, the Equine Network's premier classifieds site.
