The Royal Dutch Warmblood Studbook
(KWPN) has been the leading studbook
for the last seven years in the WBSFH ranking
for show jumpers. For a long
time it has been second (after the
Hanoverians) in the ranking of dressage
horses, but since 2009, this position has
been taken over by KWPN as well.
Success is also reflected in the recent
results from Edward Gal with Totilas
and Adelinde Cornelissen with Parzival.
What is the secret behind these
successes of KWPN? And what does it mean to the equine nz community?
figure 1. Morgenster. Dam of Sinaeda. Imported
from Holstein
The KWPN as a horse breeding
organization has been around for many
years. The studbook has its roots in a
large number of small breeding groups,
scattered across the Netherlands in the
early 1900’s, and focusing on an
agricultural horse with capabilities for
carriage riding.
figure 2. Camillus. Sire of Sinaeda. Groninger
studbook
Around 1920, many of these breeding
groups merged to larger studbooks, with
as an end result the Groninger and
Gelderlander studbooks. The breeding
objective was still the same, although
the Groninger horse was heavier built
than the Gelderlander, reflecting the
soil type of their respective areas of
breeding (clay versus sand).
After the second world war, the demand
for horses on the farms dropped
dramatically, as their role was taken
over by tractors, but the demand for
riding horses increased. This led to a
major change in the breeding objective
and a new type of horse emerged that
had better riding abilities. In order to
speed up the changes into a desirable
direction, stallions were imported from
other studbooks like Selle Francais,
Holstein (who were originally closely
related to Dutch breeding lines) and
later Trakehner and Hanoverian.
The Gelderlander and Groninger
studbooks merged to a new studbook
(WPN : Dutch Warmblood Studbook.
The prefix ‘Royal’ was added in 1988).
figure 3. Sinaeda, the most influential Dutch
Warmblood, played an important role in the
transformation to sport horse
As the horses were still heavy built, the
studbook allowed to mix with
thoroughbreds to add agility,
forwardness and elegance. Up until
today, the KWPN has a policy of
encouraging the use of thoroughbreds
on the heavier built mares.
figure 4. Farn, imported from Holstein, rejected
because of his old-fashioned type. Became very
influential when his jumping ability was
discovered. Sire of Nimmerdor. Even today still
a positive breeding index for jumping.
A scientific approach was adopted in
the late eighties, when dr. Huub
Huizinga explored the possibilities of
evaluating the genetic merit of
individual horses for different traits,
like ability for dressage and show
jumping, and for traits that can be
measured at young animals as a
predictor for later performance.
His work has resulted in the
establishment of breeding indexes
which are published every year and
which helps breeders to select the
stallions best suitable for their breeding
objective.
figure 5. Gondelier. First Gelderlander in
international jumping competitions. Jumped
2.20 m. Even today still a positive breeding
index for jumping.
An advantage that the KWPN has over
other studbooks is the size. Although
Germany has the largest total number
of sport horses, these are all registered
with smaller studbooks, each with their
own breeding objectives and policies
(see figure 11. which represents the
number of foals born per year per
studbook). Therefore, the KWPN has the
capability to apply a sharper selection in
the stallion population than other
studbooks, which results in a higher
rate of genetic gain in the sport-related
traits. In order to collect performance
data, the KWPN has a close working
relationship with KNHS, the Dutch
equivalent of Equestrian NZ.
figure 6. Waldo. Approved as ‘Agricultural
Riding Horse’.
As the KWPN has been very successful
over the last decades, it would be good
to try and learn from their approach.
Not as a model that should be directly
copied to New Zealand, but as a model
that may contain concepts that could
be translated to our situation. So what
are the differences, and what are the
similarities?
figure 7. Ulft. Dressage with Coby van Baalen.
Very influential through his son Ferro
In the first place, NZ has a much
smaller population of sport horses than
the Netherlands. This is a disadvantage,
as genetic progress can be easier made
in larger populations, because a sharper
selection can be made in the horses
used to produce the next generation.
Therefore, we will need the input from
oversees genetics (imported semen or
imported stallions) to improve our
sporthorses.
The KWPN is a very open studbook,
meaning that horses from other
studbooks can be registered as well, as
long as these studbooks meet certain
criteria regarding level of organisation
and similarity of breeding objective. This
is a very important successfactor, as it
has increased the genetic pool that
could be drawn from. Therefore, given
the size of the New Zealand sporthorse
population, all registrations should be
with one studbook only, representing
the interests of the sporthorse breeding
community. The New Zealand
Warmblood Horse Breeders Association
and the New Zealand Sporthorse
Register seem to be best prepared for
these tasks. It would be great if these
responsibilities could be accommodated
in one organization.
figure 9. Ferro. An impressive dressage career
with Coby van Baalen. Silver team-medal in
Sydney 2000, 5th individual. Seven approved
sons.
figure 10. Rousseau. Approved with KWPN,
Oldenburg, Hannover and Westphalia. Exported
to USA.
Finally, there is a large population of
thoroughbred mares in New Zealand.
Although they are not bred for dressage
and show jumping ability, there are
some mares who do show lovely
movements, and who appear to be
excellent jumpers. Many people have
already taken the approach to improve
the sporthorse qualities of these mares
by crossing them with European lines. A
very good approach, as long as we
select the most capable mares for this
purpose.
figure 11. Appleton. Imported in New Zealand
in 2005 as a foal. Approved by NZWHA
figure 12. Relative sizes of European studbooks. Number of foals born per year.