DEU

             Prior to the inspection, blood or DNA verification of parentage of the horse must be complete. It is more common to use blood, instead of DNA, for the parentage test in Russia. This year is a first year when it was officially announced that the DNA test system is also available for verification! Second, all the young stock should be branded before weaning. As in many other countries, there are different horses brands are using now in Russia. To understand more about brands, please refer to the article “Russian Horse Brands”.

           Horses are evaluated by groups and are divided into three main groups: two-year olds, three-year olds and four-year olds and over. All stallions and mares of Warmblood breeds available in Russia such as Russian Riding Horses, Trakehners, Hanoverians, and Holsteiners of domestic or German origin are presented together at the same ring. TB sport horses that could be possibly used for Warmblood breeding can also be presented. Gelded horses are not allowed at the ring. All horses should be started under saddle, appropriate for their age group.

             The event usually lasts two or three days, depending on the quantity of horses to be inspected.

             Because Russia is such a large country, it is divided into several inspection zones. For 2006, there are following inspections scheduled in Central, Northwest, South zones; the Volga region and in Byelorussia (Belarus), which is actually outside of Russia but of great historical interest.

             Several highly qualified inspectors from Russia, Byelorussia, Lithuania and Germany will preside over inspections. Included are: Ninel Dorofeeva, Borislav Kamzolov, and others who judge rings. There should be not less then 3 inspectors per site. This year marked the first time a German judge joined the inspection team.

             The first stage of the inspection includes the exterior evaluation. All the horses should be groomed and presented in-hand. Bereiter (the same person for each horse during the whole inspection period) should present a horse to the inspectors so that the horse cane evaluated in: type, head, neck, line of back, legs etc. and overall impression. Every inspector marks independent scores on a scale of 1 to 10 and then scores are complied and the common average mark becomes final for a horse.

             The second part is an inspection of movement under saddle. When possible, this done on the same day as the exterior evaluation. There is a unique special Russian method of testing called “Shagometrija” which can be translated as Step Measurement. All horses starting from two-years old should be shown under saddle by their bereiters. The horse is ridden over 25 meters straight distance on good footing. All three basic gaits: starting from free walk, then extended trot and medium canter are demonstrated and the strides are measured. The purpose of Step Measurement is that the horse should move freely forward make the minimum number of steps to cover the distance. A rider with a horse is allowed three attempts at Shagometrija. The best measure for each gait for a horse is recorded as the final score.

           During the Step Measurement, inspectors give two marks: one objective mark for the number of strides for walk and trot with a 13 point maximum per gait, and that is self-evident. There is also a subjective mark for style of trot and canter, carrying a 5 point maximum per gait.

           Step Measurement method has perfectly recommended itself for many and many years. Thus well know Ulla Salzgeber’s dressage horse Rusty who was born in Latvia was inspected as a young horse by Ninel Dorofeeva and has received highest marks for movements! Ninel Dorofeeva has predicted a great future to this wonderful horse at a very early age!

           And the final part of the Inspection is free jumping. All horses should jump 100, 110, 120 and 130 cm. Prior to the inspection; every horse should have at least 3.5 months of jumping experience.  To earn the highest points, the horse should jump 130 cm absolutely clear two times. Before 2000, the final jump was 150 cm, but a lot of breeders did not meet the requirements and did not train there horse properly. This height was too dangerous for ill-prepared two-year old youngsters.  During the jumping inspection Judges also give two marks: one for technique of jump and one for style! An average point is a final for the horse. At the end of the current inspection tour, judges calculate average points for all three tests: evaluation, movements and jump and the horse that gets the highest mark becomes an absolute winner of the inspection site!

Two year old Russian Trakehner Stallion Parker, an absolute Champion of the Inspection 2006