Would you like to register your foal with the Holsteiner Verband and are wondering what options are available? Would you like to know what criteria a foal must meet to receive a coveted premium? The new ‘Holsteiner Guide’ series provides answers to these and other questions relating to Holsteiner horse breeding.
To register a foal with the Holsteiner Verband, the dam must already be entered in the Holsteiner Verband’s stud book at the time of the foal’s registration in Schleswig-Holstein. Following the birth of your foal, it must first be duly registered with the Holsteiner Verband’s office in Kiel: The birth must be reported by the mare’s owner within 28 days using the original birth notification card (the stallion owner’s covering card), either by post, by email or via the online foal registration system.
Once the birth notifications have been received, the premium cards, featuring the graphic template (marking diagram), are produced and sent to the mare owners. The documents required for a pedigree verification (hair sample) and the transponder needed for identification are also sent out with the premium assessment documents. Please ensure that your vet or an authorised person tags your foal with the transponder on the left side of the neck, in the area of the nape (third to fourth cervical vertebrae), a few days before the registration date.
There are various ways to register your foal with the Holsteiner Verband: by presenting it at a registration venue, during an on-farm appointment, or via digital registration.
From the end of June, foal registrations will take place at various venues in the respective licensing districts across Schleswig-Holstein. Outside Schleswig-Holstein, foal registration is combined with the option of mare registration. These traditional registration venues offer breeders many advantages and are regarded by the Holsteiner Verband as the most important form of foal registration, enabling direct contact with breeders and the preservation of time-honoured traditions in this digital age:
You come into direct contact with the assessment committee and the Holsteiner Verband team, providing opportunities for detailed information and advice. Your foal is assessed and evaluated by experienced judges, and you are provided with the best possible conditions for presenting your horses. Furthermore, this allows for comparison with other foals, enabling the ranking and selection of the best foals for the Foal Championship in the respective licensing district: the winning foals qualify for the R+V/VTV Foal Championship in the autumn at the State Show in Bad Segeberg. Cost: 75 euros per foal (an additional 20 euros per foal travel allowance for those outside Schleswig-Holstein)
Breeders from the extended breeding area are asked to register their foal for an assessment/registration appointment using the yellow form (enclosed with the assessment documents). For on-farm appointments in the extended breeding area, please register your foal using the registration form for on-farm inspections in the extended breeding area. Click here to register your foal for members from outside the region.
At the grading sessions, the foals are presented to the committee members at their dams’ sides for assessment. The foals are shown at a walk and a trot. The characteristics of conformation and movement are each awarded a mark. The conformation mark takes into account the correctness of the physique and the level of development appropriate for the foal’s age. The movement mark is determined primarily by the trot. It may also be influenced to some extent by the walk and canter assessments. A foal premium is awarded to foals that have received a mark of at least 7 in both criteria. Since 2010, a linear description has also been carried out at the foal premium assessment dates.
The premium card must be presented on site, and the foal should be at least four weeks old at the time of presentation. Following the presentation, the transponder is read at a collection point in your licensing district and cross-checked against the barcode on the registration card. This process also includes the legally required identification and verification of the foals’ colour and markings, as well as a check of the graphic. The data from the birth notification card also forms the basis for compiling the foal premium catalogue. The main catalogue includes all birth notifications received by the Association’s office in Kiel by 28 May 2021. Birth notifications received after this deadline will be published in the catalogue for the supplementary grading tour.
Here you will find all the registration dates for 2021:
If you do not wish to or are unable to travel from your farm with your foal and mare, you can choose between a face-to-face registration appointment (on-farm appointment) or digital registration. To arrange an on-farm appointment, please register here with the Kiel office by 30 June of each year at the latest. Requests are collated there and a tour is organised in the autumn. You will receive confirmation of your request for an on-farm appointment by the end of August.
An on-farm appointment means that you will be in direct contact with the assessment panel, so you can receive detailed information and advice. Your foal will be assessed and evaluated by experienced judges; the microchip can be fitted on the spot, and you will not need to transport the mare and foal. However, this means you will not be able to compare your foal with others or exchange views with other breeders, and the presentation conditions may not be ideal. Cost: 75 euros per foal plus a flat fee of 150 euros for the on-site appointment.
You also have the option of having your foal registered digitally: detailed information on this is available on request from the Kiel office (bergmann@holsteiner-verband.de or wolf@holsteiner-verband.de). Digital registration means that all necessary procedures are carried out digitally, so there is no need to transport the mare and foal. In this case, optimal presentation conditions, interaction with other breeders and the opportunity to compare your foal with others cannot be guaranteed. Cost: 75 euros per foal plus 50 euros per foal for digital registration.
Once all the necessary information (original birth registration card, results of the DNA parentage test, livestock keeper’s number, confirmation of transponder tagging) has been received by the administrative office in Kiel, the equine passport and certificate of ownership can be printed.
If you have any questions regarding the registration and premium assessment of foals, please feel free to contact the staff at the office in Kiel at any time:
Götz Hartmann: Telephone: 0431-305996 1, Email: hartmann@holsteiner-verband.de
Breeders outside Schleswig-Holstein should please contact Dr Stefanie Bergmann: Tel: 0431-305996 51, Email: bergmann@holsteiner-verband.de
Katarzyna Wolf: Tel: +49 431 305996 51, Email: wolf@holsteiner-verband.de
Photo: Janne Bugtrup
