Wednesday, September 28, 2016

RPSI Inspection

I've been planning on getting Jetta approved by the RPSI ever since I got her. Don't ask me why it's taken 8 years to finally get her there, but there was always one reason or another that I couldn't take her. She went through a terribly ugly 3-year-old year, I sprained both my MCL's, she was too skinny, I was too busy, I had no money, etc., etc.

This year there were no excuses, especially since she's gonna have a baby! The inspection was also super close to where I live, about 40 minutes away. I'd never heard of the barn before, but the host was incredibly nice responding to all of my questions. I researched it to death - how to present your horse, how to do the triangle, what my horse should wear, etc.



Luckily Jetta's mane is roached so I didn't have to worry about braiding. I trimmed her mohawk up a bit to make it look a little bit neater and not so floppy. I trimmed her tail, washed her legs and braided her forelock.

First off, all horses (except foals) are shown in a bridle. I didn't have a Newmarket lead (the Y-shaped lead chain with two clips) but luckily I own a leather lead so I found a cheap Y-connecter through Stateline tack (the actual leads are so expensive!) and used that. The reasoning being that you could keep your reins on the bridle, but you have to unhook them to let your horse go free, so it's a huge hassle if you don't have clips.



Jetta is very good in hand for the most part, so I didn't worry too much about working on that. She spent the night in her stall instead of out in her paddock due to the rain, which wasn't bad because she's supposed to be a little hot so she could show off her moves.

At the inspection, I finished filling out any paperwork that I hadn't submitted online beforehand. The North American RPSI manager was there and the judge from Germany. There were both incredibly nice. Seriously, everyone I met was so nice. I was kind of nervous my Thoroughbred was going to be looked down upon by the Warmblood people, but that was definitely not the case. Jetta was complemented on her manners because she stood tied to the trailer the entire time, I was congratulated when she passed her inspection, people discussed different stallions that would cross well with her in the future, etc. It was a very welcoming environment.

The first thing they did was explain a bit of what they're looking for. Horses are scored on a scale of 10 for 7 different areas. An average score of 7 is required for a horse to be considered "premium status" (basically they need a minimum score of 49). They explained the difference between books I and II, the German Riding Pony side, and the fact that now horses registered with RPSI is considered a Deutsch Sport Pferd (aka German Sport Horse or DSP). This is new because previously, every region of Germany had a different name for their warmbloods (for example, Zweibrucker), but now it's just DSP (there are still a few regions that don't conform to this, but over half of Germany agreed to the DSP change).

Getting her height measured




When it came my turn to go (single mares went first, then mares with foals), I stood Jetta up in front of the judge while he looked over her conformation. She was pretty impatient and while she stood nicely for the most part, she had to do her signature impatient head bob. The triangle portion went well, and then it was time to let her off the lead. I thought she was pretty good for the free portion, she did just kind of want to zoom around in the canter, but she did show off some nice trot, though I wish she had slowed down and gave a little springier trot instead of her Standardbred impression.

Love this one, she actually looks warmblood-like!


But she listened well and was easy to catch afterwards, which couldn't be said for some horses, so I was happy with her. And we passed!

Presenting my German Sport Horse... Mule


The judge's comments were that Jetta has good conformation, with nice size and good amount of bone. She had a good shoulder and fairly good neck. Her head was unfeminine (lol, she got a 6 on sex/breed type). He really liked her walk (7.5) and said she had good engagement in the trot (6.5) and canter (6), but could be more uphill. Quality of conformation, correctness and overall impression all got 6.5. She scored a total of 45.5, so not terrible, we were only 3.5 points from being premium! Her average score was a 6.5, so she was pretty close.


Overall it was a great experience and hopefully I'll be back next year with a little baby in tow!

17 comments:

  1. Congrats on her being approved. I've thought about having Annie inspected as I think she has some great qualities but for now I'm holding off :)

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  2. I did a lot of googling and I am still confused on how this works. Literally no offense meant, I just am curious by all this. So, questions; how can a TB be registered as a warmblood? Do they have to have specific bloodlines? Also, its german, right? So she has a GER passport now and is in their studbook? What is the point of that? Again, just curious. I had no idea this was a thing! Congrats on passing! She's gorgeous

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    1. I second this. No offense whatsoever, I'm just confused how a full-bred TB can be registered RPSI.

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    2. So replace "registration" with "approval". That's what I should have said. She is approved for breeding. Sorry!

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    3. So first off, Arabians and Thoroughbreds are also eligible besides warmbloods. Warmblood registeries are "type-based" instead of "bloodline-based" like most US registeries. This means that if they have the conformation and movement that that particular registry is looking for, then they can be approved for that breed of warmblood. (They will not accept draft or stock type horses though). I was still required to submit her pedigree so they can make sure she doesn't have any non-sporthorse blood in her and they will match her DNA to what's on file with the Jockey club.

      I opted for RPSI instead of other registries, such as Hanoverian due to the likelihood of Jetta being accepted, Hanoverian has a reputation for being a lot tougher, but another option I was considering was Oldenburg. She is now in the RPSI Mare Book I (there is also a Mare Book II for horses that don't quite meet their requirements in some way, but aren't disqualified from being registered). I don't think she receives a passport, only foals do.

      The point is that in the future if I ever choose to sell her, I can use her RPSI approval as a selling point, additionally it'll be easier to register her foal (from what I understand). All of the mares there that did not have a foal by their side were currently in foal.

      It is extremely confusing and I still don't really understand a lot of it. For instance Mirabeau, Jetta's baby daddy, is registered with the RPSI in Stallion Book II, so I'm not sure if my baby will get pink or yellow RPSI papers when registered. Not that I'm really sure that matters much unless you keep them a stallion? I guess we'll find out!

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    4. It's definitely all confusing. But as others have mentioned a mare can be approved in various stud books but that doesn't make them registered. So Jetta is a registered thoroughbred that is an approved mare in the RPSI book. If she has a foal out of an approved RPSI stallion the foal can be registered RPSI. I don't really know what it means that he is in the II book or how that affects the foals eligibility.

      I have been like obsessed with breeding lately and I am still confused by it all!

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  3. I love the caption for her last photo...she does look a little "mule like" there. Congratulations on her approval. I can't wait to watch her foal grow up!

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    1. I love referring to her as my dressage mule because of her big ears!

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  4. Maybe I can try to help clear this up....

    Presenting a mare (or stallion) for approval with a breed association is NOT the same thing as registering them with said association. This mare is still a registered Thoroughbred, however she is now APPROVED for breeding with the RPSI. This means that her foals (as long as they are by a stallion that is also RPSI approved) can be REGISTERED as German Sport Horse. So her foal will be registered/branded/passported, but the mare will not - she is simply a tb mare that is now officially eligible to produce German Sport Horse offspring.

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    1. Thank you! I was going to say that you probably knew way more about this than I do... That makes more sense than what I was trying to say.

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    2. Yes the way it was stated makes it sound like she was approved to be registered. Which I didn't understand, breeding makes total sense.

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    3. Approved and registered are two completely different terms. Glad it makes sense now! Warmbloods are so confusing, I'm so used to the more definitive registration of breeds like Thoroughbreds and QH's!

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  5. More information about Mirabeau's status with RPSI (since he is recorded in SBII, but not approved):

    As far as Stallion Book II: a stallion gets RECORDED (NOT APPROVED) in this book when:
    1. The sire is not in Book I or not eligible for this book.
    2. And/or the dam is not in Main Mare Book/Mare Book I or not eligible.
    3 The score at inspection is less than 60 points.

    Stallions also may be placed in Stud Book II if they have not yet completed their 30-day test, and while waiting for the completion of their performance requirements. These stallions are eligible for upgrading to Stud Book I upon final completion of performance requirements.

    So Mirabeau's offspring are eligible for half brand/white papers, which for the most part looks similar to full registration papers, but has different future implications if the foal will eventually become breeding stock.

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    1. Ok, thanks for the info! I assumed the foal wouldn't get full papers, but wasn't sure. That was one of the few "cons" I had with Mirabeau, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter too much to me since I plan on keeping the foal.

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  6. Congrats! Your explanation reminds me kind of the AQHA, where you can have crosses that get registered with restrictions, until they do so well at shows. For example, a Thoroughbred is an approved cross, so you can breed a Quarter Horse with a Thoroughbred and register it. However foals of that horse can only be registered if the horse gets a certain number of points at AQHA-approved shows.

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