Unexpected Trip to Holland

I can't believe I haven't written about this yet! So sorry. All summer long I'd wanted to get to Holland to see our horses and visit with friends, but just never got around to making it happen. Well, a good friend of mine asked me to help her shop for her next jumper prospect, and a week later we were in Holland horse-shopping and visiting friends. To top it off, the KWPN's new offspring inspection day almost coincided with our trip. We were scheduled to return to the US on Friday, and it was on Saturday. It took a lot of arm-twisting, like, maybe three minutes, but "one who will not be named" convinced us over dinner to change our flight and stay for the inaugural event. So glad we did! If you haven't heard about the new system for offspring inspections, let me fill you in. Previously, the KWPN required all owners of new stallions to hold an inspection of their offspring. 50% of the foals could be selected by the stallion owner, and 50% were randomly selected by the KWPN. Each year, the KWPN would schedule these inspections much like we schedule our keurings. They existed in different locations, two were normally held on the same day, and the jury members traveled from location to location over a two-week period. Now, KWPN has decided to hold all of the offspring inspections on the same day, at the same place, in Ermelo, at the new KWPN facility. Stallion owners are allowed to bring 6-10 selected foals. Prior to the event, the KWPN jury and its minions inspect a random sampling of each stallion's foals at their homes. On the day of the event, each stallion owner brings the selected foals and their dams to Ermelo. The offspring of the new jumper stallions were shown in the morning; the offspring of the new dressage stallions in the afternoon. At the end of each type, the five best foals (no more than one from each stallion) competed for the Championship of the inspection. This year, an Everdale son was Champion of the dressage foals, and an Etoulon son was Champion of the jumper foals. It was a fascinating day. We saw the offspring of almost all the E stallions, a number of the D stallions, and Connaisseur. At the end of each stallion's presentation, the jury read its report of the foals, including the ones that were inspected at home. I've had the good fortune to travel to Holland repeatedly over the years to attend shows, keurings, foal inspections, etc., so I knew how much information I was going to gain, yet I wasn't certain I was going to like this new format because stallion owners are obviously going to pick the best foals. I was concerned that this could skew the perception of a particular stallion's offspring, but I don't think so. It's a great format. The strengths and weaknesses of each stallion's contribution to the gene pool were clearly evident, plus it provided us with the opportunity to see those strengths and weaknesses juxtaposed with multiple other stallion's offspring. This may become another must-attend event for me, similar to the Stallion Show. Possibly, it's more important, because no matter how much I like a particular stallion, if he can't produce, I'm not interested in breeding to him. This was clearly evident to me after seeing the offspring of two different stallions that I've been crazy about. Now, there's no way I'd breed to them until I see older, under-saddle offspring. The opposite is also true--there are a couple of stallions I'd written off, but, after seeing their offspring in this format, I'm completely willing to reconsider. Of course, I was also relieved at the confirmation of most of my predicitions. At any rate, this event provided really beneficial and tangible information that I can apply immediately to my breeding program and future planning. Oh, and, yes! We found a jumper. Actually, we found two jumpers! Congrats, my friend. May many years of successful partnerships be ahead of you.