KWPN-NA Annual Meeting

 Susanne Manz, Manz Dressage Horses
Twin Cities area, Minnesota

​I attended the KWPN – North America Annual General Meeting in Lexington, Kentucky last week.  It was a fun and educational event, offering the chance to meet and network with other breeders.  It’s always fun to hear what other breeders are doing and to share experiences with them.  Some of the more experienced breeders shared their experiences during a panel discussion. 
 
Bert Rutten from the Netherlands was a special guest and provided insights on selecting, breeding, and developing dressage horses.  As a member of the 1984 Olympic team and current head of the KWPN Stallion Selection Committee, Bert had excellent perspectives on dressage horse breeding and development at all levels.  Bart Henstra from the Netherlands also attended and gave a clinic on linear scoring of KWPN horses as well as a presentation on the new OCD genome testing that the KWPN is doing.    Dr. Scott Harper from Rood and Riddle discussed pre-purchase examinations and Dr. Debbie Harrison gave an update on the latest breeding information form AAEP.
 
We had a field trip to Spy Coast Farm where we watched horses in the jumping chute.   Then on to the Kentucky Horse Park where we had some time to wander through the Horse Museum and visit the KWPN–NA office.  On the second day we had a field trip to Valley View Farms.  Willy Arts coached the Young KWPN–NA members on in-hand handling and presentation.  It was fun to watch but I was glad I did not have to run the horses!  We also had fun getting to see a harness horse presentation and discussion from Wim Cazemier and Sterling Graburn.  Wim showed us his beautiful harness stallion, Colonist.
 
Thanks to the presenters but also to the owners of the beautiful demonstration horses!  It takes a team effort to put together such an educational meeting.  Having demonstration horses available makes a huge difference.  It’s nice to see how other breeders share their knowledge and contribute resources to newer breeders like me.    It was a warm, supportive environment.  The KWPN–NA Board of Directors did an awesome job.
 
A couple of interesting points –

• Some people outside the KWPN association don’t know that a KWPN horse is a Dutch Warmblood.  KWPN means the Royal Dutch Sport Horse.  There is a KWPN association in the Netherlands as well as the North American association, KWPN-NA.
• USSHBA donated a gift basket to the silent auction and we got some questions about what USSHBA is.  I was pleased to let people know more about our organization.

 
So, to my USSHBA friends and colleagues, meet the KWPN North American Association.  And KWPN friends, please meet the USSHBA.  Please visit the USSHBA booth at the FEI World Cup in Omaha at the end of March.