A member of the American Hanoverian Society’s inspection team, his impression of the youngstock and mares he saw was very positive, according to Robin Potter of the NZ Hanoverian Studbook.

“It was a lengthy tour around both islands – he kept saying that he looked but failed to find a single bad foal. He gave 30 ‘premium’ foal awards – which is unprecedented in the 40-year history of Hanoverian breeding in New Zealand.”

Of the 27 marespresented for inspection: 10 were Hanoverian, 10 Rhineland, one Thoroughbred and six PRE Studbook. These probably seem like negligible numbers in Northern Hemisphere terms, but they are big for this country! Hanoverians have only

been established here since 1977, when the first stallion, Winnebago (Winnetou x Wulf), arrived. Verband-approved Thoroughbred mares were used as foundation stock, but times have changed: There are plenty of pure-bred mares here now, and some of them have impressive international bloodlines.

Three Hanoverians and two Rhineland mares received scores of 8.00 from Ehlers, and were awarded ‘premium-aspirant’ status. The Hanoverians are the top-scoring Hann.Pr.A. Waimarie MH (Worldly - Remi London Attrac-tion x Londonderry) bred by Judith Matthews of Matthews Hanover-ians; Remi Fider-dancer (Fidertanz - EM Remi Destiny’s Child x De Niro) bred by Remi Stud in Australia and now owned by Matthews Hanoverians; and Devorow Estelle T (Holme Park Flute - Edeltanne x Falkensee) bred by Sacha Rowson and leased by Kirsty Moffat...