Insights into the National Riding Horse Championship—Here’s How the Associations Handle It

A few days ago, the FN issued another announcement clarifying the final details regarding the format of the riding horse and pony classes at the Bundeschampionat. The statement also addressed the selection process, as participants in the riding horse competitions are nominated by the associations. It states:

“The riding horse and riding pony competitions at the state and breeding association championships—some of which serve as qualifying competitions for the Al Shira‘aa National Championship—will be held in different formats depending on the association, due to the latest adjustments.”

We wondered how the tryouts actually work at the individual clubs, so we went through the announcements.

• The Holsteiner Verband’s State Championship took place in early June. The previous format for the riding horse competitions was maintained, including the inspection.


• From June 30 to July 5, the Oldenburg Association will crown its champions— for the first time in Höven, rather than in Rastede as usual. Here, as in Warendorf, the three-year-olds will compete in only one class. The four-year-olds can qualify for the finals in a riding horse class and a Class A dressage class, where the Class A 4/1 dressage class will be ridden.


• The Trakehner National Tournament is scheduled for July 16–19 in Münster-Handorf. The Trakehner Association is sticking to its established procedure—two classes for three-year-olds, a final for four-year-olds as part of a riding horse class, plus an evaluation of the horses by two outside riders, each of whom assigns a score. The scores for conformation and quality of build are carried over from the qualifying class.


• The German Sport Horse (DSP) Championships will take place from July 23 to 26 in Darmstadt/Kranichstein. The qualifying rounds will follow the same format as the new Bundeschampionat format, with the final decision made during a Class A dressage test featuring a flying start.


• The Westfalen Week, organized by the Westphalian Horse Stud Book, is scheduled for July 28 through August 2. Three-year-olds will continue to compete in two classes during this event. For the four-year-olds, the final qualification will be held as part of a riding horse class, but the final itself will be a Class A dressage class.


• The Hannoverian Association will hold its riding horse championships concurrently with the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses from August 4 to 9. The championships will be conducted in the same manner as planned for the Bundeschampionat.