The GOV, along with the other German-parent
organizations, must follow the German rules for stallion licensing. This stipulates that a stallion must either complete a 70-day test successfully, or a combination of a 30-day test and performance results, such as qualifying for the Bundeschampionat as a 5 or 6 year old, or earning five placings of 1st -3rd at S-level dressage or 1.4 meter jumpers, in order to become fully licensed. In too many cases horses come to the test not well prepared. This makes it very difficult to fix the problems and guide them forward at the same time,” Holly remarks. The GOV, as well as the RPSI, and the Belgian Stud Book
sBs registry, operating for the first time in North America, were the only three registries to attend and license stallions at the testing. The Oldenburg/ISR, while accepting results from the 70-day test, also promotes the option of their 10-day stallion performance test. However this shorter testing option is not acceptable to the European- based registries. “I was disappointed that more registries didn’t take
this seriously and show up for the testing,” says Ronda Stavisky. “I looked around and said, ‘Who’s here? These are the registries I’m going to support, as these are the registries supporting me.’ It’s a two-way street.” “Several of
the European- based registries had representatives there,” Ronda
reports. “The Belgian sBs sent two of their officials from Belgium, and they watched every stallion, even the video of the stadium jumping held earlier in the test. They were very impressed.” “These days, stallion owners need to get their stallions
licensed by multiple registries just to survive,” Ronda continues. “My stallion (Figaro B) was all fit, braided, and ready to go. He was accepted by every registry he was presented to after the testing. The registries that weren’t there aren’t going to get him in their books, since he’s a competition stallion and won’t necessarily be available for an inspection during the show year.”
HIGHS AND LOWS Kc Kelley of Branscomb Farm of Woodside, California, brought her two young Holsteiner stallions Contiano BF and Calatino B to the 70-day test with high hopes and expectations. She came home with one stallion, Contiano BF, winning the test, and the other not completing the final testing. “Calatino B did outstandingly well for 67 of the 70 days,
earning high scores along the way. But we all felt he could not take the pressure of the final dressage test after 67 days of grueling training and a sore back,” Kc reports.“It’s intense for a four-year-old stallion, never off the farm,” Kc says. “It’s like dropping your kindergartener off at college.” “From the beginning, Contiano had this wisdom, this
maturity, beyond his age,” Kc says of the new champion. “I think this really helped him succeed in the test. My daughter used to play with him in the field as a little girl, throwing her arms up around his neck, and he would take care of her. She named him Friendly, and that’s what we called him until he was presented for licensing.” Then she adds, “You combine this attitude with his loose, fluid movement and phenomenal jump—and no, I’m not surprised he won.” “I think the test was fair, conducted properly, and
the training director was appropriately reserved about allowing owners unlimited access to their horses,” Kc continues. “It’s a test. They don’t allow you to hold your kid’s hand when he’s taking the SAT either.” “But overall, I think it’s a remarkable achievement,
what they are doing at Silver Creek Farms. The quality of the horses and training and the level of intensity and expectation is very comparable to what any of these stallion owners would have experienced in Warendorf or Adelheidsdorf,” says Kc. And in the end, that is the true value of the 70-day
Both pictures: Contiano BF of Branscomb Farm, champion of the 2010 70-Day Test scoring 126.86. Photos by Angela Pritchard
70 March/April 2011
test: to allow North American breeders to compare and evaluate their stallions against a global standard. It follows in the sometimes painful, always difficult, but ultimately useful tradition laid down by generations of breeders who have been down this road before.
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