Clear Lake Farm Icelandic Horse Blog

I personally like to differentiate between a breeder and a producer. I refer to someone as a “breeder” who is very conscious of the responsibilities that come with reproduction. Someone who is just multiplying without any concerns or goals I like to refer to as a “producer”.

 

Someone who intends to breed horses, be it for his / her own use or for business purposes, takes on alot of responsibility for the breed and to his future customers.

 

In order to meet these expectations / responsibilities one needs to educate oneself before starting a breeding program. We are fortunate that people dedicated to the Icelandic Horse have created tools which are available to support / educate future breeders and to determine the quality of animals.

 

One of these tools is the evaluation of breeding stock in:

 

Breeding Evaluations                           

 

At breeding evaluations, each horse is assessed according to a breeding standard (the “perfect” Icelandic Horse) with the help of evaluation guidelines.

 

When horse evaluations were first considered, each country involved set up its own system. Many years of experience in breeding and determining market suitability shaped these standards and guidelines.

 

In order to unify assessments and to make results more comparable, FEIF (The International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations) has worked out an International Breeding standard / guideline that is now used in all affiliated countries, including Canada.

 

However some FEIF member countries were reluctant to completely get rid of their National Evaluation system since it had proved a trustworthy and successful tool for several decades. So there were debates – sometimes very heated -between breeders in favour of using only the International Evaluation system and those opposed to this limitation.

 

The international system is naturally a compromise of the several national systems. Of course each country was convinced that its national system was the best. Yet FEIF managed to determine an International Breeding standard and has developed a system of assessing specific conformation and movement traits of individual horses according to a numerical scale.

 

In an international evaluation scores from 5 – 10 (including half points) with different weight factors (which occasionally are changed) are given for the following:

 

Conformation (which makes 40% of the overall score):

head, neck/withers/shoulders, back and croup, proportions, leg quality, leg joints, hooves, mane and tail

 

When evaluating conformation, the judges examine the physical structure of the horse. Several measurements (height withers, height lowest point of back, height croup, circumference of “knee” and canon bone, and some others) are taken. In order to determine the correctness of joints, the horse has to be trotted straight away from and then back to the judges. A score of 5 cannot be given in conformation evaluation because it means “non-existent”.

 

Then the horse is evaluated under saddle for:

 

Rideability / riding traits (which makes 60% of the overall score)

 

Walk, trot, tölt, slow tölt, gallop, canter, and pace as well as spirit, and form under rider – this basically reflects the general impression of the horse

 

During the assessment of rideability, the judges are watching the rider present the horse performing the different gaits at the required speed. If a gait is not shown, the horse will receive a score of 5.

 

You can also choose to have your horse evaluated for conformation only.

 

FYI: a score of 7.5 means “average”. The term “average” is unfortunately often mistakenly regarded to be a negative adjective. A 7.5 implies that there is nothing really wrong with the horse, but it could of course be better.  Reaching a 7.5 in an International Breeding Evaluation is an accomplishment since it is a demanding assessment, and this overall evaluation score qualifies a horse for breeding purposes.

 

You can find the current FEIF rules for Icelandic Horse Breeding under: www.feif.org.

 

I would like to point out that horses are often evaluated repeatedly over several years.

There is usually not much change in their conformation scores if they have been presented in very good physical shape each time. Often there is an improvement in their rideability score because the horse is more mature and has received more training, so will present itself steadier and stronger.

 

It is important when reading evaluation scores that you do not look at total points only. Take time to see where the horse’s strengths and weaknesses lie. Also take into consideration how old the horse was at the time it was evaluated. An older horse has most likely had more training. The assessment form usually also names the rider of the horse at the evaluation. A horse reaching high scores ridden by someone who is not a professional trainer always catches my attention.

 

The evaluation systems (International or National) have been developed to help the owner / breeder answer questions such as

§         what stallion to use for a certain mare,

§         whether to use the particular animal for breeding at all,

§         if he / she should continue with the combination of sire and dam,

§         what needs to be improved in his / her breeding stock.

 

For example, if you have your breeding stock evaluated, it is easier to choose breeding matches which will compliment your horses.

 

To assess the quality of a horse even sooner, FEIF is currently running a trial to implement an international evaluation system for foals and horses up to 4 years of age. It has been developed from a system which has been successfully used in Germany for a very long time.

 

This assessment is a fantastic opportunity for horse owners and breeders to become involved and get a comment on the quality of their breeding results early on. During the evaluation of young horses, the horses are first shown in hand in order to assess conformation, and then are assessed for gaits while running loose in a confined area. Helpers keep the horses moving. The young horses receive a score for exterior (conformation), interior (general impression like temperament, character, charisma, confidence, etc.), and gaits.

 

Hopefully this form of assessment will become a permanent part of the FEIF evaluation system. It would allow beginning breeders who are aiming for quality horses to have their youngsters evaluated and so evaluate their breeding program without needing the expertise required to train and show a horse for an International or National Breeding Evaluation under saddle as previously outlined.

 

The results of this young horse evaluation are already entered in World Fengur but are not yet taken into consideration for BLUP.

 

One might say ‘I don’t need to have my horses evaluated - I am just breeding family horses’. Well, family horses have to be the best horses – high expectations are to be met when turning out horses for this market. These horses are often wanted by inexperienced people and/or where one horse has to suit different riders (mother, father and children) and purposes.  In their “career” these horses might have to make up for their owner’s lack of experience, lack of physical strength, or the rider’s fear, . . . . .

 

Therefore if you are interested in breeding, take advantage of  all available tools to educate yourself so that you are able to more accurately assess the quality of your breeding stock and / or the results of your breeding program.

 

By Kordula Reinhartz

CIHF National Breeding Judge