KWPN-NA Annual Meeting is the Largest Ever!
Equestrian News Release

Sutherlin, OR—The Dutch Warmblood Studbook of North America (KWPN-NA)
reports that the 20th Annual Meeting held in Wellington, FL March 6-8,
2008 is one of the largest ever. The three-day event featured
equestrian sports’ luminaries, including John Madden, Geoff Teall and
Scott Hassler, who provided practical, interactive demonstrations with
top horses and riders. The result: take home information on how
breeders can market, care for, train and show their youngsters.

“The feedback for the event was really positive,” said Annual Meeting
organizer Silvia Monas. “We tried to cover several of the major
disciplines in order to offer all of our members useful information.”
Attendees came from the Netherlands and as well as states and provinces
throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The meeting began with committee reports, lectures and a reception, but
the fun really got started at the Palm Beach International Polo Club
where John Madden shared his philosophy on finding and preparing young
jumpers as the Young Jumper classes took place.

Madden, who’s known for locating and nurturing jumping talents like
Authentic, explained that he’s looking for “the freak” jumper, i.e. the
horse that has the talent, soundness and desire to make it to the
international ranks. In order to locate these special horses, Madden
scours Europe and North America. He looks at farms, shows and anywhere
else that talented horses might be presented. For him, the ideal age
for purchasing a prospect is five years old, but he considers horses in
a variety of age groups. At this age, Madden says the horses are the
most expensive as you are buying hope.

For those in the business of selling young horses, Madden’s
recommendations are simple: present a fit and well turned-out horse to
prospective buyers. “They have to be fit enough to evaluate,” he says.
For a five year old, this means the horse should work approximately
five days a week and be able to jump 20 fences. He stressed the
importance of proper grooming and presentation as they relay overall
the quality of care the horse receives.

On the training side, Madden likes to see a forward horse that accepts
the bit. He says simply, “They have to like being ridden. I like to see
a horse that is happy with his job.” He stressed the importance of not
over-working or over-jumping young horses and cautioned riders about
the result of trying to win every Young Jumper class. Madden doesn’t
mind if a youngster makes a mistake; it is the horse’s good character,
attitude and willingness to work that matter to him.

When he evaluates a horse for sale, lead changes or the ability to add
a stride within a line of jumps are not selling points, but it is
important for the horse to improve as he trains. Perhaps most important
to Madden, a top international jumper must be careful. He shared the
often-quoted Frank Chapot thought--the horse must be brave enough to
jump the jumps without fear, but chicken enough not to hit them.

While Madden carefully observes the horse’s front-end over the jump,
he’s more concerned with the technique of the hind-end because he
believes that the rider has very little influence over that. And while
the hunter trainers prefer high knees and a strong bascule, scope
combined with carefulness are more important to Madden.

Madden also inspects the horse’s conformation and admits that it can be
a deciding factor for him. While Madden appreciates that breed
organizations have standardized free jumping components of their
inspections, for him free jumping scores won’t influence his decision
in purchasing or not purchasing a horse.

And once he’s located a top prospect, he carefully vets the horse,
paying particular concern to the feet, ankles and stifles. An OCD
surgery isn’t cause for concern as long as the horse is sound.

Madden spotted Abigail Wexner’s Authentic as a three year old and loved
him! But not every trainer would have been able to see past the
Guidam-gelding’s propensity to hang a leg at every vertical. “With time
he came along,” Madden recalls. “But he could have gotten scared. He
needed time.” Fortunately for Authentic, he was handled with care and
expertise. In 2007 he won the Grand Prix of Aachen and the Budweiser
Invitational, in addition to team gold at the 2004 Olympics and
individual silver at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. Madden concedes
that preparing top international horses is expensive both financially
and time-wise, but encourages everyone to make the best decisions
possible for the well-being of the horse.

After Madden’s morning session, hunter trainers Geoff Teall and Louise
Serio shared their views of finding and assessing top hunters. Serio
and several other riders showed horses first over fences and then
stripped the tack for a conformation evaluation. Teall and Serio
discussed the rankings of those horses for the hunter sport and what
made each particular a good hunter.

For Teall and Serio, a top hunter must look the part—good manners,
attractive, great expression along with scope and movement suited for
the ring. This means knees high and even, a lower head and neck with
good uphill balance, and a great bascule over the jump. A large part of
Teall’s evaluation process hinges on the natural lead change. And both
Serio and Teall emphasized the importance of a great brain in today’s
competitive show hunter environment.

Teall and Serio identified conformation and bloodlines as factors in
their evaluation of hunters, but not as important as the individual’s
overall quality, soundness and temperament. Teall likes the blood of
Voltaire and Ramiro Z, while Serio likes Cassini, Sandro and Sandro
Hit. Teall and Serio look for horses in Europe as well as North
America, but say that breeding in the U.S. is going in the right
direction. Teall believes that one of the benefits of horse shopping in
Europe is the ability to see a larger number of horses within a shorter
period of time. He also mentioned that he is more likely to look at
horses in North America if breeders/owners can get a group of horses
together at one or more locations in close proximity.

While Madden, Teall and Serio covered the hunter/jumper market,
National Young Horse Coach Scott Hassler provided information on the
dressage market. Utilizing six horses and riders, Hassler explained how
to prepare young dressage horses to be successful competitors. He
credited the breeders for making his job possible; “It’s an emotional,
financially difficult road. You’re overlooked so many times,” he said.
Hassler explained that North American breeders are producing quality
horses, although in smaller numbers than Europe. He estimated that
50,000 sport horses are produced in Germany, 11,000 in the Netherlands
and 5,000 in North America each year.

Hassler reviewed the three ways for dressage horses to progress up the
horse show levels: the young horse classes, the traditional training,
first, second, etc. levels, and the non-showing horse that debuts at
the FEI levels. Hassler does not believe that any particular way is the
best way, but told breeders to let each horse tell them how to train
and show it.

With each of the demonstration riders, Hassler insisted that they get
the relaxation of the horse’s topline and the energy moving from the
hind legs to the bit before any movements or figures were attempted.
“Every ride on a young horses is the chance for a good experience. Show
him how to use his body—that will make him an athlete,” he explained.

Throughout the day, Hassler reminded each rider of the virtue of
patience and positive rewards. “Teach them to respond to an aid. We
have to show him how to become an athlete—show them, not force them,
show them.” While dressage is a discipline that seems to demand
seriousness and concentration, Hassler encouraged the riders to not get
caught up in being perfect. When questioned as to who should ride young
horses, Hassler answered that brave and playful riders were best suited
to working with youngsters. “You have to ask [the horses] to go forward
and be prepared to accept the consequences,” he said.

Throughout the day, Hassler used exercises that asked the horses for
forwardness, suppleness and expression. He encouraged riders to balance
challenge with less pressure. He explained, “This is a really hard
sport on the horses. This sport is so intense. Kids in school need
recess. ” He encouraged trainers to let their charges have an opinion
and he differentiated having an opinion versus resistance. Hassler told
the riders to “coach” their horses through the training session. And
for those who question the validity of the young horse classes to
produce grand prix stars, Hassler said that his office was doing
research on this subject and he believes that horses that are brought
through the young horse program are going on to successful FEI-level
careers.

After the inspiration from Hassler, the meeting attendees headed over
to Tuny Page’s Stillpoint Farm to visit with Grand Prix riders Liz
Austin and Karin Reid Offield who showcased their horses, including
Lingh and the Idocus’ son Olivier. The event capped off with the awards
banquet. Merijane Malouin was the Member of the Year. Siegi Belz-Frye
received the Breeder of the Year Award and Idocus was named the Horse
of the Year.

About the KWPN-NA

In 1983, the Dutch Warmblood Studbook in North America was established
as the North American Department of the Royal Warmblood Studbook of the
Netherlands (KWPN) in order to promote breeding and enjoyment of the
KWPN horse in North America.
To learn more about KWPN-NA membership, stallions and breeding, visit
http://www.kwpn-na.org.