evaluate the stallions during the final testing days. The training director assigns scores between 1 and 10
to each stallion for character, constitution, temperament, willingness to work, rideability, athletic ability, dressage (walk, trot, canter), free jumping and stadium jumping (scope and technique), and cross country (canter, scope, technique). The outside test riders and judges give the stallions scores for gaits (walk, trot, and canter), rideability, and jumping ability. Individual scores are then multiplied by a weighting
factor that varies depending on the category. Rideability, for example, is ‘weighted’ at 15x (think of the coefficient system on a dressage score sheet). So stallions scoring just one point apart in rideability from both the training director and the test judges can see a difference of 30 points (or more) between their final scores. Now for the tricky part. Once all the stallions have been assigned individual scores, the final result, or index, is calculated using a fairly complicated (and secret) mathematical formula developed by the German FN (Federation Nationale). Individual scores from all stallions completing the test are entered into the program, and voila! Out pops a number aligning the stallion’s results with the index average score of 100, showing how far above or below the norm this stallion performed. Stallions older than five are given a deduction of 5% from the average. In order to ‘pass’ the test, a stallion must receive an index score of 80 or above, or he may pass with a 70 if his dressage or jumping score is 100 or above. Some registries require an overall score of 90 or above to grant permanent licensing. This system of indexes has functioned for years in
Germany, and on a smaller scale, for North America as well. What critics of the index system are most vocal about on this continent is the accuracy, given the small statistical numbers. While many German testings host between 25–40 stallions, those in North America number in the teens. Barbara Sikkink, manager of the host venue Silver
Creek Farms, points out, however, that there are small test sites in Germany too, and their results conform to the norm as well. “The stallion tests in Germany, as well as here, all follow the same rules. They have to, for the results to be meaningful,” says Barbara. “Stallions can earn disappointing indexes in Germany too.” “A stallion can be lower than the average of the other stallions in his group, yet still have a decent individual score,” Barbara explains. “Our own stallion Autobahn placed 38th of 39 at his 70-day test in Schlieckau, Germany.
From top: Colorado Skrodstrup (scored 109.75) and pony stallion Belafonte d’Avalon of Avalon Equine. Photos by Angela Pritchard
In a group of stallions scoring 6’s, 7’s, and 8’s, Autobahn would have been solidly in the middle, but put him in a group of stallions scoring 8’s, 9’s, and 10’s, and he was absolutely at the bottom.” And therein lies one of the true challenges of hosting a stallion inspection. Not every stallion will pass causing disappointment to his owners. Sparks flew across forums and chat rooms as well as barn aisles when the results from the testing were announced. “There’s never an easy way to tell a stallion owner that his or her stallion didn’t score as well as she would have liked,” says Summer Stoffel, owner of Silver Creek Farms. “But this is the nature of the test—this is not a show, not a competition. This is a test. These stallions are being asked questions by the training director, the test riders, the guest riders and judges. How they answer those challenges is what the testing is all about.”
Warmbloods Today 67
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