The Holsteiner mare tests traditionally take place in spring. Either as a station test or as a so-called field test. This year, a station test will take place in Elmshorn, where the mares will take their final test on Thursday, 2 May 2024. There are also two dates for one-day field tests in the Holsteiner calendar. You can still register your mare(s) for these now.
The station test
At a station test, the mares are stabled for 14 days in Elmshorn on the Holsteiner Verband's premises. Since 2021, four-year-olds can also be registered in addition to three-year-olds. On the day of delivery, the mares must be ridden by their own rider to the test director. During the 14-day training period, the horses are trained further by a competent team of riders and trainers until their final test is due. In addition to the assessment of basic gaits, rideability and free jumping, the test also includes interior traits, which are summarised as a score for the "willingness and handling" trait.
The fees for the entire round amount to around 750 euros per mare.This includes all the costs (accommodation and care of the mares, riding and testing fees). Mare owners who register their horses for the station test have the advantage that they are trained and tested for 14 days under standardised conditions. A completed station test not only provides an overview of the mare's strengths and weaknesses for an upcoming sport career or stallion selection, a good result also makes it easier to market the offspring later on. The next station test is scheduled for May in Elmshorn.
Date
02.05.2024 Elmshorn (final test)
The field test
The one-day field test is organised by the Holsteiner Verband in cooperation with the Pferdestammbuch Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg. It begins with the assessment of the free jumping by two judges. The mare is then presented to the jury again under her own rider in a section of up to four horses to check the basic gaits and rideability. This is followed by the external rider test to assess rideability. The mares should be able to mount their rider without any problems and be ridden in the three basic gaits in a remontematic manner in the arena. The preparation guidelines are published here. Since 2021, five-year-old mares have also been able to take the test. "At the request of some breeders, we are happy to make this possible," explains breeding manager Stephan Haarhoff, "for those mares that still have some time until the start of their training or have already had a foal."
In order to be able to better assess the suitability of each mare, the assessment can be dressage- or jumping-orientated - depending on what the mare's applicant has indicated on the entry form. For dressage mares, for example, the basic gaits and rideability are weighted higher, for jumping mares the free jumping is weighted higher.The final score of the field test results from the weighting of the grading of the individual traits.
The Holsteiner Verband in Kiel is accepting registrations for the field test (see PFERD+SPORT 03/2024 or online registration). If you have any questions about the field test, please contact Marja-Liisa Solterbeck (Kiel office) at any time:
Phone: +49 431-305996 2, Mail: solterbeck@holsteiner-verband.de
Dates
08.05.2024 Elmshorn
19.06.2024 Elmshorn
Registration
Only during the first field test in Elmshorn (8 May) is it possible to register the tested mares in the Holsteiner Verband studbook. Please indicate in the entry form whether your mare is to be entered in the studbook.
To the online entry form for the field test
Holsteiner mares that are descended from a young stallion (1st or 2nd year of breeding) or a thoroughbred stallion and have passed a mare performance test in Schleswig-Holstein will also receive a subsidy of approx. 500.00 € in 2024. Owners of the mares in question who are members of the Holsteiner Verband will be contacted by the breeding department following the last field test (19 June 2024).
Photo: Janne Bugtrup
