A Message from the President
Dear Members
This Newsletter will tell you all you need to know about the 2021 "Virtual Tour" and National Foal Championships.
Despite all of the challenges that the Covid Pandemic has put our way, we are able to run the 2021 Classification Tour as planned, but this time it will be a "Virtual Tour" which may actually suit some of our members more. For the first time ever, living in a more remote area of New Zealand will pose no barrier. Also you will have until the end of March to submit your videos for assessment so you can enter your foal when it is looking at its very best. There are more prizes to be presented to the top foals than ever before and also a chance to market your foal to the NZ public via the NZWA facebook page.
Best wishes,
Jody Hartstone
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2021 Virtual Tour and Foal Championship
The NZWA Classification Tour has for many years provided New Zealand breeders with valuable feedback from internationally based experts in sport horse breeding.The Tour provides breeders with an unbiased assessment of their foal’s movement and conformation. Knowledge gained from the international assessors can help guide future breeding directions and decisions to improve the overall quality of your breeding programme. It is also useful to see how your foal ranks against New Zealand’s best foals with the competition aspect of the tour always being hotly contested.
The NZWA Committee would like to thank you for your interest in presenting your warmblood foal for the 2021 NZWA Virtual Classification Tour. Due to restrictions imposed by the COVID 19 pandemic, we are unable to fly in an international assessor to judge this season’s crop of foals. However, we are delighted to announce that the popular German assessor Matthias Werner has agreed to assess this year’s foals via video footage to allow our popular Classification Tour and foal competition to go ahead as planned.
One of the benefits of the 2021 classification tour being held virtually is that it will allow breeders in remote areas to be able to showcase their foals.It also means you can present your foal at a stage of growth where it is looking at it’s very best.
The assessment will be done via video footage which the breeder will upload onto their own You Tube channel (for those breeders without a You Tube channel we will be able to assist with this).The link for this can be private or you may wish to make it public.Simply send the link in to the following email secretary@nzwarmbloods.com and we will take care of the rest.
Marks awarded to the foals during the virtual tour will be scored using the regular NZWA score sheets with Merit and Excellence awards given to the foals that score highly. All foals will receive their score sheets with the assessor’s marks and comments as per usual.
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AWARDS AND PRIZES
All scores will be recorded in the foal’s passports and foals will be eligible for the following awards:
- Champion & Reserve Warmblood Foal
- Champion & Reserve Derivative Foal
- Champion & Reserve Dressage-bred Foal
- Champion & Reserve Jumping-bred Foal
- Champion & Reserve Eventing-bred Foal
- Rosettes given to foals gaining Merit or Excellence
Plus, trophies given for:
- Champion Filly Foal of the Tour
- Champion Colt Foal of the Tour
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Marketing
There is also an opportunity to market any foals that have participated in the Classification Tour on the NZWA Facebook page. Breeders are to provide high quality photos and video for this purpose and an additional cost of $20 per foal will be applied.
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Conditions of Entry
1. Entry Fees are $50 per foal plus GST for foals out of Studbook Mares and $60 plus GST for foals out of Non-Studbook Mares.
2. Entries open 15th November and close 31st March.
3. All foals must have applied and paid for a NZWA passport as a condition of entry.
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Video Checklist –
the following video footage will be required:
Part 1:Evaluation of conformation
1. Static from left side on hard level surface, including side on of all four limbs of knees and hocks downwards
2. Static from right side on hard level surface, including side on of all four limbs of knees and hocks downwards
3. Static from in front on hard level surface, including front on of both fore limbs from the knees downwards
4. Static from behind of hard level surface, including hind view of all four limbs of hocks and knees downwards
Part 2 : Evaluation of frame and gaits
For this part please show one continuous video of up to 5 minutes showing:
1. For the walk assessment, a handler will lead the mare on a triangle of approximately 30 meters with the foal on the inside of the triangle either walking free or being lead on a loose rein by a second handler. The video needs to show the foal walking away, side on and back towards the camera. This can be repeated several times for a maximum of one minute.
2. For the trot assessment, the foal will be presented loose with either the dam running free or being led, please show the trot on both reins between 1-2 minutes of footage with no editing.
3. For the canter assessment, the foal will be presented loose with either the dam running free or being led, please show canter on both reins between 1-2 minutes of footage with no editing. You can also use the hold back and release method where the foal is restrained, and the mare is lead away for the foal to catch up to.
NB: The aim is to show the foals natural gaits, with the foal as relaxed as possible, exaggerated paces with the foals tail up will not be marked.
The NZWA will provide some educational videos to help show what footage is needed
Your submitted videos do not have to be broken down into these individual elements but must contain them all in whatever order is most convenient.
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Basic Filming Tips
1. Please film all shots in landscape ie. with your phone held horizontally.
2. Fill the frame and get as close to the horse as is safe to do so, only using the zoom facility when absolutely necessary, as zooming in tends to reduce the video quality.
3. Be aware of light and shade, especially when filming black legs and feet, as detail becomes lost in shadow.
4. Try to capture as much footage as possible side on, going with the foal or youngster when showing movement.
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Presentation tips:
1. All foals are to be presented in hand along-side their dams.
2. Foals should be presented for the static assessment in a halter and lead if they will not stand quietly beside the dam. The halter should be removed for the free moving assessment.
3. Plaiting is optional, but it will look smarter if the video was to be used for sale purposes.
4. Hooves must be unpainted
5. Handlers are advised to wear appropriate safety gear, ie. Helmet and gloves
6. For side views the foal’s legs should be positioned apart so each leg can be seen. When videoing the near-side the near fore and near hind should be open, vice versa for the off- side. Please refer to the video for instructions.
7. For hind and front views, the legs must be square and the foal’s neck straight.
8. When walking towards and away from the camera the foal must move in a straight line. If you can steadily and safely follow behind the foal, this will help
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Here is the link to the Video Guide - a how to of how to present your foal for the 2021 NZWA Foal Championship and Virtual Tour.
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