Which Breed Society for YOUR Foal?

It seems strange that at a time when we have more Warmblood Performance horse breeding societies in Australia than ever before, there seems to be a new one every month, more and more breeders – some of them quite large breeders – are not registering their foals anywhere! Or maybe, it is precisely the large number of studbooks, and their squabbling between themselves and within themselves, that is having this effect!
Let me first confess that I’m now one of the great unregistered. For many years I registered my foals with the AWHA, regarding it as the largest, longest lived Australian studbook, and therefore most appropriate to belong to. I was aware that a large dispute was happening within that organization, but the final straw was when I waited over two years before I got the papers for a colt I had bred. Enough.
I tried the Hanoverians for a while, but that group could only register half my horses, and the atmosphere was pretty claustrophobic with another big dispute looming. Following the example of some of my friends, I just dropped out of all of them, and saved a lot of money.
Strangely, it does not seem to have put off potential buyers of my young stock. If I tell them that the horse is by Wolkenstein, or Wenckstern or Weltmeyer, they seem to believe me. Certainly they pay prices that indicate they believe me.
It’s lucky for them I don’t tell lies but the world of horse dealers does not enjoy a huge reputation for honesty. It is really sad that all that work done in the past to build up proper records and pedigrees has gone to nothing.
So if you do want to register – what are the alternatives?

The AWHA does seem to be getting its act together, although the turnover at the state committee level still seems remarkably high. Bruce Williams is a good friend of mine and a serious breeder who is consistently upgrading his stock. Despite being the Victorian President of the AWHA, Bruce is refreshingly candid about the problems the association has had over the years but still feels it is the best alternative:
“The AWHA has the largest membership of any Australian Warmblood association and is the most recognized, in Australia and internationally. The Association embraces all recognized breeds of Warmblood and is a member of the WBSFH. It also allows registration of Warmblood horses – not eligible for the Studbook – in our Warmblood Identification Register.”
And have the problems with issuing papers been resolved – I don’t think I was the only person to leave because of delays with paperwork?
“The turnaround time has been greatly improved. Unfortunately things happened in the past that created quite a bit backlog. That has been addressed and the turnaround time is greatly reduced. We’ve found a lot of members have come back. Our membership is increasing.”
And some stability has come back?
“The Federal committee is a stable committee being well led by Keith Smith. Looking at our state, Victoria, we have a growing membership and a really good committee.”
And sure enough, Keith is confidently looking to the future: “As an ‘A’ class member of the WBFSH the AWHA studbook and classification system provides international recognition of the breeding standards embodied. As a National association, we cover all of Australia, but have state committees which provide the all important local contact for members. By running events which showcase the breed, classifying stock, and being on the ground where the members are, the Association also provides grass roots contact and support for members ranging from enthusiastic sporting competitors to serious breeders.”

Back in the dim dark days of the early 70’s the German Warmblood Horse Association seems to have split about three ways with one group setting up the AWSHA, another going on to form the AWHA, with yet another staying with the original German blood in Australia, the Holsteiner, and forming the Holsteiner Horse Association of Australia.
Jacqui Moon is currently the secretary, and she explains that of more recent times, the Holsteiner Association has widened to take in Warmbloods of non-Holsteiner breeding as well.
“We were formed by a group that included Norm Raphael, Trevor King and David Quick, back in the 70s. They went that way because of the influence of Flaneur. Now we have a studbook for Holsteiners, and Holstein Warmblood crosses, and another parallel studbook for other Warmbloods as well.”
How strict are your registration and identification procedures – this does seem to be a worry right now?
“It’s a hard tight-rope for each association to walk, from their viewpoint financially, it is probably better to take anything they can get. On the other hand you have no control on what you are letting in and out. We have registered stallions, and classified mares, and progeny out of those two go into the studbook. We also recognize stallions that are classified with the AWHA, and stallions that have done a performance test overseas.”
So what does your association have to offer?
“We do still basically cater for the Holsteiner horse, and the Holsteiner crosses, we are looking at performance of the Holsteiner world-wide, and we do push their rideability, their temperament and the way they perform.”
“We provide a registry, a classification system, we are expanding into New Zealand, so we are going a bit more global. We do all the normal things, newsletters, shows, classifications, gala days, the website – we offer a database of information with the emphasis on one of the most successful breeds in the world.”

Linda Mayer was one of the pioneers of Warmblood breeding, importing the hugely influential Cor de la Bryère son, Contact back in 1976. Even then she was the victim of a concerted campaign by the local stallion owning mafia to blacken the name of her horse, so she has seen her share of breed society shannanigans. She registers with the Australian Warmblood Sport Horse Association, for the simple reason that “they are very strict about identifying the parents of the foal and that is what I want, papers that really do give the assurance that the foal is by who it says he is by and out of. I like the fact that sometimes they make it hard for me – that means that the papers do carry some weight.”
This is a view echoed by Peter Powles, the chairman, and chief mover and shaker (along with wife, Jan) behind the AWSHA:
“Accuracy of the records is the absolute starting point from which the studbook should grow. You must be sure that the horses are as the paper says they are. What our association has done is stick with very fundamental things. At the moment we are working on an identification process and a microchip – which is done by the vet. Even that could be subject to manipulation, but the alternative is to introduce DNA testing for all horses which is hellishly expsensive as the Warmblood associations have to pay the laboratory a lot more than the fee negotiated by the ASB for the Thoroughbred breeders. What we are trying to do is have a verification process that is relatively simple and can be conducted right throughout Australia. If we were using classifiers who have to come out and brand a horse on the property, that is fine, but it is hard to do that in Katherine or Oodanadatta. The system we have introduced requires an equine vet to do the verification. It is probably a compromise between the system the Thoroughbred people use and what is possible. We have tried to establish a stud book that is fairly similar in principle to the Studbook for the pure bred Arabs or the Thoroughbred.”
“Rather than having lots of levels within the studbook, we have set down a classification system which is the basic one that is used throughout the world, and the classifiers are registered equine veterinarians - it is a system that can be operated anywhere in Australia. We do that for both mares and stallions. We’ve tried to establish a minimum standard and height and a verification system and basically left it at that.”
“We don’t go into all those other things, like promoting the breed or trying to sell the horse through the breed society. We are a bit like the Thoroughbreds, we’ll register the horse, give you a rock solid studbook which people can have faith in, but what you do from that point on is your business – the horse will sell itself on its merits. I’m sure if we had the capacity it would be ideal to be running foal shows and all that, but we don’t.”
“I think there are 38 associations at last count, that are all registering horses that are bred for the same purpose – jumping, dressage and eventing. It seems to me a big problem especially as some societies don’t have any verification and that can be a big problem down the track when it comes to registering the horse elsewhere. We do have an option where owners can use blood tests of the mare and stallion to establish parentage, but all that established was that a lot of the Warmbloods weren’t by the stallion they were supposed to be by!”
“I really do think it is important for breeders to register their horses. That there is a paper trail. In our history we have had so many sires whose influence exists even today in the bloodlines, but there are no papers to verify that they were in fact the relevant sire. What the Australian Warmblood Sporthorse does is recognize legitimate breed societies who actually keep stringent records. If someone wants to register a foal with us, and the father was registered with the Holsteiners, and the mother with the Australian Warmblood Association, we would register the foal because we would recognize both parents, as long as the paper work was in order. We do that because we believe that every horse should have registration papers, and they should be verifiable. That is the starting point because one day, Australia may want to become an exporter of horses, and we have to establish a base.”
“We have moved further away from that base over the last twenty years. There was a chance twenty years ago that people could have cooperated – now there’s 38 associations, and there is no way people are going to cooperate. Still if all those associations kept strict records, then one day, if they will was there, they could all get together a create one association. That is why we would like to encourage people to register their horses – it doesn’t matter who they register with, as long as they keep good records.”

ISSA – the International Sporthorse Studbook of Australia – was born out of one of those violent upheavals that seem to happen in breed societies. ISSA was formed in January 2000, when the Federal AWHA expelled the executive of the Victorian branch! Terry Cubley, the ISSA chairman is happy with the way the ‘new’ association is shaping up.
“There are quite a few breeders who are not registered with any association, and a few who just go along with the association they have always been with, so it’s a good idea to look at where we are different, and what we have to offer. We are a little different in that we are not a specific breed association. We will register any horse that is bred for any of the Olympic disciplines. We have two parts – a register of horses, and a studbook. The register applies to any horse, and we’ve got quite a few showjumpers who have come with us.”
“I guess the service we offer there is that our registration system is very efficient and effective. You can download the form from the web, and you will get a very quick response – two to three weeks and you will actually have the papers in your hand. We’ve got Thoroughbred horses, we’ve got Clydesdale crosses, Cleveland Bay crosses, Warmbloods and Australian Sporthorses. So that picks up quite a few of the horses that have been bred specifically for the sport without the breeder following a particular breed. That is quite a big register and it is growing all the time. We’ve got over 100 members and most of them are renewing, which is great.”
“We’ve also got the Studbook, and again, you register the particular breed, again there’s very fast response in terms of the registration process. We also run an assessment, which is very similar to a classification, except we don’t have a pass or fail mark – although the horse has to get at least five to get through. If there was a major defect in the horse’s conformation then it wouldn’t go into the studbook but other than that the horses go in, but we also publish the results, so a breeder thinking about using that stallion can look and see that he scored well in say the walk and trot, but not so well in the canter – or it scored very well in jumping, even though its walk may not be what you want. They can pick and chose the stallions to find what suits there mares.”
“We also find that we might assess a horse as a three or four year old, and get lowish marks in some areas, but when they are trained and looked after well, they are out competing and winning. We don’t think it is up to us to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a particular horse as long as it satisfies basic requirements. We leave the choice to the breeders.”

Back at the Hanoverian Society, a major upheaval saw the departure of long time president, Holger Schmorl, and a new president, Queensland breeder, Cheryl O’Brien (who just has to be the wonder witch of getting mares in foal with frozen semen – her hit rate is just incredible!) seems to have the HSA up and motoring but still drawing on the incredible wealth of knowledge and experience that is the Hannoverian Verband in Verden, Germany:
“I think that is something we really have to offer, the largest breeding association in the world, formed in 1735. We are established on the world stage, the Hanoverians have won the World Breeding Rankings several times in jumping and dressage. We also offer international papers, all our progeny are registered with the Verband. We also run mare performance tests to keep the standards high for our mares as well as our stallions.”
“In Australia, the Hanoverian Society is well organized, well managed and financially sound. We have breeders from all states of Australia. We are helped by the Hannoverian Verband, even though we make our own decisions, we are supported by the Verband and have to abide by their rules. They send us out highly qualified classifiers and we are hoping that they will also send out one of their dressage trainers in the near future.”
And according to Cheryl the Hanoverian Society is not such an exclusive club, all you really need to get started is a good Thoroughbred mare:
“As long as we have a four generation Thoroughbred pedigree from the AJC, and the mare is well conformed and moves to the standard, as assessed by one of the independent classifiers who comes out from Germany, then you can start breeding that mare to local stallions or imported frozen semen. We are getting feedback now that we have become a more friendly society and the membership is certainly increasing since we’ve had the new committee on board. We are making the society, more user friendly.”
There was some speculation as to how the German Hanoverian Verband would take an Aussie (Kiwi if we are being real picky) at the top, but it seems that the authorities in Verden have welcomed the new administration:
“I went to Germany in March / April and had a meeting with the Hanoverian Board, and it was very fruitful – I was also invited to their AGM, there is no doubt that the future of the Hanoverian Breed is in very good hands.”
In the meantime, it is best to take with a grain of salt, some of the papers that are floating around. Even in strictly regulated Europe, things are not always as they seem. There is good reason to believe that one of the most influential dressage stallions of them all, Romadour II is by Dulft not by Romulus as his pedigree claims. Most recently evidence has been produced that seems to show that the great showjumping sire, Grannus’ maternal grandsire, was not the Trakehner, Ernest but the Holsteiner, Lohengrin – and of course, Grannus was himself the cause of the greatest breeding scandal of recent times when it was proven that over 40 of ‘his foals’ were by another stallion and the Klatte family were convicted of deliberate deception in the case.
It seems that when in doubt, the fashion is to add an xx (x marks the spot or are these little kisses?). But I suggest that if you get a pedigree with Paleface Adios Pete xx, or Doc’s Hollywood Cutabar xx, you just go quietly type that name into the excellent ASB website studbook, and see if such a horse exists. Okay, some Thoroughbreds don’t get registered, but their parents or even grandparents should be there – and in some cases, this is not the case. Try as I have, I just cannot find any of the horses on the pedigree of the enormously influential Souvenir on the ASB data base – which is not to say that the pedigree is not correct, just that it is difficult to verify.
I really think the only way forward is for all the breeding societies to come together under one umbrella. That doesn’t mean that within that overarching organization they can’t have their own little sub-groups. In my ideal world, what we would have would be the Australian Sporthorse, a studbook run and maintained by the EFA (this must be structured so it actually makes money for the EFA) and this organization would issue papers of varying degrees of quality. At the most basic there would be papers issued on the breeders say so. But these papers would clearly be marked ‘this pedigree is as supplied and not verified’. But papers could also be issued for horses that were blood and DNA tested, this would cost more, but would also appear prominently on the papers.

Horses bred say along the lines of the Hanoverian Association, would be allowed to have papers endorsed by the Hanoverian breeders group, or the AWHA or the AWSHA or ISSA, whatever. It would mean the creation of an independent studbook that would not be subject to the feuds and personality clashes that seem to be part of all our breeding groups – and since those groups would continue to exist within the umbrella of the EFA studbook, people could still have fun plotting coups and counter coups, and occasionally thinking creatively about how we could breed better horses…