North American Hanoverian Jumper Program 
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!
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