One of the strengths I have to offer fellow Dutch breeders is years of
experience and tons of contacts. If I don't know an answer to a
bloodline/stallion/breeding question, I know how to find out. I also
have a few trusted people who will be willing to participate in a
conformation evaluation. From nearly the beginning of my involvement
with the KWPN-NA and Dutch breeding, I have had a vision for an
organization that reaches out and offers educational opportunities in
a safe and supportive environment for the betterment of the individual
breeder, as well as for the organization itself. I want to provide an
educational opportunity for people who have questions about Dutch
horses and breeding. So, if you have a question or want a horse's
conformation evaluated, drop me an email. I will be as honest as I
can be--believe it or not, there will be some situations in which I
will practice restraint; I'm not going to bash someone else's
stallion. All questions are anonymous.

---

Question:

1. "When you are selecting a horse for breeding stock and you look at
movement, what are you looking at?"

Answer:

First, when I'm looking at breeding stock, movement is secondary—maybe
even tertiary. First, I'm looking at pedigree, in particular, the dam
line. Second, I'm looking at conformation and type. Third, I'm
looking at movement. When I get to movement, I always have to remind
myself not to be swayed by "Wow" movers or too quickly unimpressed by
"ordinary" movers. The longer I buy and breed, the easier it is to
see through the flash and look for the balance and tact. My big thing
is to look for bending of the joints throughout the body. I want to
see a horse sit in the hind end—not just drop, but "sit". I want to
see the muscles flex and the angles move closer together and the
wither lift. See the horse actively transferring weight to the
hindquarters. I also want to see the hind leg come quickly under the
horse's center of gravity (basically, just below where a rider would
sit)—one of the first things that will negate a horse for me is "out
behind." I'm a little more lenient about this with stallion selection
for my mares, because my mares have such good use of the hind leg.
But, if I'm buying a foal or a mare for breeding stock, and he or she
has made it through the pedigree and conformation analysis, out behind
can stop the deal. Probably most important is my overall impression
of a horse's athleticism/use of his or her body in movement. There
has to be self-carriage/lift (bending and good use of the hind leg),
but, ideally, the horse has power, clear moments of suspension,
suppleness, and a regularity to the movement. I have to be able to
imagine the horse going through a passage piaffe tour. I have to be
able to imagine the horse doing a pirouette or changes. In answering
this person's question, I realize just how complex evaluating movement
can be. Try this, the next time you are at a horse show, a friend's
farm, or looking at your own horses moving, look at one thing at a
time in the entire population you have in front of you. Say, in the
next 20 horses you see, you're just going to look at the horses'
withers as they begin to move. Can you see the wither lift? Break
down movement into the components that are important to the proposed
function of the horse, and look at one at a time. It's really the
best way to train your eye. Not that we're on the topic, but the same
is true for conformation. I've taken my kids out to the barn on more
than one occasion and said, "OK. We're going stall to stall and
looking just at loin connections." Or, "we're just looking at bone
density in the front leg."


2. How do you decide which foals, yearlings, etc., to take to the
annual keuring? What criteria do you use when determining which
animals to present?

This is a great question. The answer really lies in what you're
trying to accomplish and learn in your own program. For me, after
nearly 20 years of breeding, I don't need to take as many horses to a
keuring as I did when the learning curve was much steeper. A breeder
just starting out should be taking a larger percentage of his or her
horses because he or she needs the feedback. At this point in time,
as foals, I take only the exceptional ones (evaluated on movement and
type--a foal is judged 50% on movement and 50% on conformation and
type). We don't do a lot of showing, so keurings are a marketing
opportunity for me. If I have a super foal, he or she might as well
score some points for the home team. For the most part, though, we're
talking about foals; repeatedly, I've seen the top foal in the country
become a second premium adult. I don't put much stock in how a foal
does. As yearlings, I leave them home. At two, I only take the boys
we've kept as stallion prospects. If the jury isn't going to be
interested in a colt into whom I'm putting time and money, then I want
to know. My mares all go at either three or four years old, depending
on their development. As far as I'm concerned, and there are those
who will vehemently disagree with me, the studbook/ster/keur eligible
presentation is the most important day in a young mare's breeding
career. I want my mares to look they're very best—we spend months
preparing our mares for this presentation.

I am a fan of keurings. There are those people in the breeding and
sport worlds that put no stock in them at all (no pun intended).
Personally, I learn something at every keuring I attend, even after
nearly two decades. As long as I choose to breed KWPN horses, then I
need to be participating in keurings. They give me direction and I
trust the jury is giving me a fair evaluation of my horses. It's
really rare that I disagree with the jury. As I've said before, the
only two times that I can think of involved my own horses, both of
which were foals, and in both of which I was probably too emotionally
invested.

3.  You've mentioned that you spend months preparing your mares for a keuring.  Can you elaborate on what you do?
 
Preparing mares:  I do start months ahead of time.  First, and most importantly, I evaluate whether or not the mare should even be presented as a three year old.  Some mares need to wait a year.  It doesn't do your mare or your program any good to take horses that aren't ready to a keuring.  Second, I send them off to be backed for at least two months. I try to time it so I get the mare back for at least a month or two so I can get a few extra pounds and a super looking coat on the mare. Training barns rarely feed as much as I do--I want any horse going to a keuring to have super condition--not too fat, but I want flesh so the mares have the depth and width to the top line that I want.  Of course, if they're not in good muscle before you add the extra layer of "condition", then you just get a fat top line, and that doesn't work either.  The last month, I try to do no undersaddle work with the mares--only ground work, either ground driving, longlining and/or lungeing and free jumping, regardless if the mare has to free jump at the keuring or not.  If I can't do all of this myself, due to school or other time commitments, I send them to Zaz Putnam, in Keene.  She's done wonderful working getting my mares into the kind of final topline condition I want.  I don't do any work in hand with the mares in preparation for the linear scoring.  The final step is the day or two before the keuring.  I grew up in the 4H and Morgan systems of preparing horses for shows--that means they are clipped, bathed, polished, oiled, and braided.