NOVEMBER 1997 BACK ISSUE

Part of Horse Previews Magazine website. Posted on 11/1/97; 10:00:00 AM.

Northwest Bred Horses Excel at Inspection

On October 14th, the Kruger Ranch on the Rathdrum Prairie was the host of the annual American Warmblood Registry Inspection. Each year a team of judges from Europe visits different inspection sites all across the United States to take a critical look at the horses applying for registration with the AWR. Certain qualities must be met before a horse is given the privilege of becoming a registered American Warmblood. As the Kruger Ranch is the only approved inspection site in the Pacific and Inland Northwest, horses were hauled in from all over to get their approval.

In the morning a group of mares started with the presentation on hard ground. The judges got their impression on breed-type and conformation as well as correctness of movement. Then the same horses had to be shown in hand at a walk and trot alongside a sixty foot triangle in the arena. The triangle enables the judges to see the horse moving from different angles. The handlers had their hands full since the trot required is an extended trot - try to run with your horse, keep up and make the turns on that triangle. It's not that easy! The horses were then turned loose, one at a time, to show their movements at liberty.

Three of the mares participated in the performance test under saddle, where the riders show their horses' movements and, most importantly, their willingness to perform. The term used by the judges was "rideability." Raven, Chief's Storm, and Doc's Irish Luck performed well and then showed off their jumping talents when let loose in the jumping lane. The jumping lane consists of three fences that are blocked off higher on the sides so that the horses may jump them at liberty, without a rider. This allows the judges to assess the horses jumping ability without a rider possibly disturbing the horse on the fence.

Chief's Storm willingly cleared the fences. Raven was brilliant, but Doc's Irish Luck was very hesitant at first. This was a good exarmple for the numerous spectators to see that an inspection is not like a horse show. The judges' task is not to merely look at what a horse actually does or does not do, but to find out what the horse is capable of. In the case of Doc's Irish Luck, the fences were laid down and the handler was allowed to walk the mare through and familiarize her with the obstacles. Then she was turned loose again and tried over one little fence until she felt comfortable enough to jump the whole lane very nicely. This concluded the older horses performances, and after a short lunch break, the youngsters lined up for the presentation on hard ground and the triangle.

Two yearlings and seven weanlings, some of them still with their dams, went through the evaluation. Since all of them were approved with either a first or second premium score, they then received the AWR brand on the left flank. With different Warmblood breeds the brand is a sign of approval, and means the horse is fully registered. After the branding, all the horses had to line up for the final critique, in which the judges went over the main points for each horse to explain the final score they received. This was the interesting part, where the audience was able to pick up a lot of information on the goal of breeding a sport horse.

THE MARES RANKED AS FOLLOWS:

1. Raven (TB - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 8 - first premium)

2. Doc's Irish Luck (TB - owned by Sherrill Raab-Christian, score 7.5 - first premium)

3. Odiell (Warmblood - owned by Anne Fink, score 7.3 - first premium)

4. Babe's Secret (TB-owned by Bonnie Varner score - first premium

5. Chiefs Storm (APHA - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 6. 5 - second premium)

Raven and Doc's Irish Luck were placed Champion and Reserve Champion mare.

YEARLINGS:

1. Apollo (Warmblood - owned by Jill Seely, score 8.5 - first premium)

2. Lahaina (Warmblood - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 6.8 - second premium)

FOALS:

1. Weltmeyer's Yankee (Warmblood - owned by Sonja Lowenfish, score 8.5 - first premium)

2. Winifred (Warmblood - owned by Valerie Radtke, score 8 - first premium)

3. Weltskandal (Warmblood - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 8 - first premium)

4. Windsbraut (Warmblood - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 7.5 - first premium)

5. A Star on Fire (Warmblood - owned by Bonnie Varner, score 7.5 -- first premium)

6. Wunschtraum (Warmblood - owned by Marion O'Connor, score 7 - first premium)

7. Victoria (Warmblood - owned by Valerie Radtke, score 5.5)

The Overall Champion was the foal Weltmeyer's Yankee and the, yearling gelding Apollo was named as Reserve Overall Champion.

It was a long day for all of the participants, but the judges agreed that we had a super nice bunch of horses in the Northwest, so it was worth all the trouble!