BY JEAN LLEWELLYN / PRESS RELEASE
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY NZHS; ANA RATTRAY
New Zealand has a number of well-established Hanoverian and Rheinland studfarms and breeders, and the NZ Hanoverian Society’s annual inspection tour is always busy. This year was even busier, with new venues and breeders added to the mix, and newly introduced ‘eventing’ category for foals.
The weather played its usual role: kind in some areas and unkind in others – and in the north of the North Island, which is home to internationally respected Matthews Hanoverians stud, it was atrocious.
This year’s guest judge was Isabell Baesmann from the Celle State Stud. Isabell previously worked as studbook manager for the Hanoverian Association, and is no stranger to this country: she spent a year living here after finishing high school. She has been part of the team at Celle since 2022, and is now second in charge to stud manager Axel Brockmann, regularly serving as a judge at mare shows, performance tests, and foal inspections.
Fifty foals and 21 mares were inspected for the studbooks, the majority of the mares being Rheinland. “Only two mares scored eights this year and a handful scored mid-sevens,” said NZHS studbook keeper Robin Potter, adding that three things in particular stood out from the discussions aimed at helping breeders make good choices: movement (more through their bodies); type (more nobility); and limbs (stability from correct fetlocks; not soft or too straight or straight hind legs).
However, plenty of foals scored highly, with 17 achieving Premium status. Four of these were Hanoverian, four Rheinland, six jumping-bred and 10 were bred for eventing. “Most of the remainder scored 7.5 or more for silver sashes,” says Robin Potter. “The jumping foals’ Premium score was raised to eight after last year’s tour, due to the strength of and the number of the foals presented then achieving Premium at 7.5. “The eventing foals have jumping sires, for example, but with other breeds in the dam lines, hence the pedigree score would be lower than in straight jumping pedigrees. These foals fared well also, with almost 100% receiving a gold or silver sash.”...
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