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? 

To register a foal with the Holsteiner Verband, the dam must be entered in the Holsteiner Verband’s stud book in Schleswig-Holstein at the time of the foal’s registration (information on mare registration). Following the birth of your foal, the mare’s owner must report this within 28 days using the foaling notification form, either by post, by email (wessel@holsteiner-verband.de) or via the online foal registration form in the members’ area at the Holsteiner Verband’s head office in Kiel. 

Once the foaling notification has been received, the premium cards with the graphic template (marking diagram) will be produced and sent to the mare owners. The documents required for a pedigree verification (hair sample) and the transponder needed for identification will also be sent 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.

Traditional registration centres
From the beginning of July, foal registrations take place at various centres in the respective licensing districts across Schleswig-Holstein. Outside Schleswig-Holstein, foal registration is combined with the option of mare registration. These traditional registration centres offer breeders many advantages and are regarded by the Holsteiner Verband as the most important form of foal registration for maintaining direct contact with breeders and upholding time-honoured traditions in this digital age: You come into direct contact with the assessment committee and the Holsteiner Verband team, which allows for detailed information and advice to be provided. Your foal will be assessed and evaluated by experienced judges, and you will be provided with the ideal conditions for presenting your horses. Furthermore, comparison with other foals is possible, enabling the ranking and selection of the best foals for the Foal Championship in the respective licensing district: The winning foals will qualify for the R+V Holsteiner State Foal Championship during the Holsteiner Foal Days on 24 August 2025 in Elmshorn. 

Breeders from the extended breeding area are asked to register their foal online via the members’ area or using the registration form (enclosed with the selection documents) for a selection/registration appointment. Click here for the dates. For on-farm appointments in the extended breeding area, please register your foal using the registration form for on-farm appointments in the extended breeding area. Click here to register your foal via an on-farm appointment for non-local members.

The Foal Award
At the assessment sessions, the foals are presented to the committee members for evaluation whilst standing by their dam’s side. The foals are shown walking and trotting. 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 primarily determined 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.

Entries for the main catalogue must be submitted by 27 May 2025
. The premium card must be presented on site at the registration dates, and the foal should be at least four weeks old at the time of presentation. Following the presentation, the transponder will be scanned 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 foaling notification 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 27 May 2025. Birth notifications received after this deadline will be published in the catalogue for the supplementary grading tour.

Here you will find all the 2025 grading dates:

Foal Registration and Award Scheme 2025

On-site appointment
If you do not wish to, or are unable to, travel from your farm with your foal and mare, you may choose between a face-to-face registration appointment (on-site appointment) or digital registration. To arrange an on-site appointment, please register with the Kiel office by 30 June of the relevant year at the latest. Requests are collected 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 can engage directly with the assessment committee and receive detailed information and advice. Your foal will be assessed and evaluated by experienced judges; the microchip can be implanted on site, and you will not need to transport the mare and foal. However, 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.

Digital registration
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 the foal with others cannot be guaranteed.

Once all the necessary information (foaling notification, results of the DNA parentage test, animal keeper number, confirmation of transponder tagging) has been received by the Kiel office, the equine passport and certificate of ownership can be printed.

We’re happy to help!
If you have any questions regarding the registration and award of premiums for foals, please feel free to contact the staff at the Kiel office at any time.