KWPN MARES
he decision to breed a mare is an important one and involves a well-considered approach. To begin, a breeder needs specific information about the prospective broodmare and her immediate family. Knaap: “For this purpose, the KWPN offers regular mare selections to provide breeders with professional evaluations of their horses. Although most mare selections are held at designated locations, breeders may request an inspection at their property. Trained KWPN judges evaluate mares on conformation and movement, with jumper mares undergoing an additional free-jumping assessment. A special score form is used to evaluate a number of traits individually, thus creating a detailed description of each mare relative to the KWPN population. In addition, judges award scores for the primary traits of conformation, movement, and jumping (jumper mares only). The evaluation as a whole yields important information about a mare’s conformation and functionality, and therefore about her overall quality. In addition, the information gathered is used in calculating breeding values. Available data on a mare’s sire, dam, and offspring, if any, is also used to calculate breeding values. Of course, a mare’s immediate relatives weigh more heavily in these calculations than do her distant relatives. Other important data includes performance test scores and show results of the mare or her relatives. All applicable data is converted into breeding values, which provide breeders with key information.”
KWPN stamboekkeuring Wanssum dressuurpaarden merries 2013: