Disclaimer: I’m not a breeder but I am trying to learn.
I’m in France where the main registry is Selle Francais and I was a bit surprised to learn that for 3 year old stallions there is a mounted jump part of the selection process along with the mounted flat work. For the jumping part, the rules state it can be trot or canter in to a line with the final jump being a max of 1.10m. For the eventing division, the championships for 3 year olds includes a short course of 4 jumps with a max of 1.10m.
After for the age classes it’s:
4 + 5 year olds - jumps up to 1.15m
5 + 6 year olds - 1.25 m
6 year olds - 1.35m
For the championships, the jump height can be increased by 5 cm and there are “open” classes at shorter heights (4 year olds start at .95 cm).
I know in Europe jumps are higher in general but this all seems a bit overwhelming for such a young growing horse, especially if he’s campaigning to be bred or sold.
Of course the age of starting a horse can be a touchy subject so that’s not why I’m here, but I’d like to know: do other registries follow the same idea? I believe for Hanoverian stallion testing there is a 70-day onsite test but from what I understand that is at 4 years old (?). Basically I’d like to know how the Selle Francais licensing process compares to other European breed registries.
