The Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN) and the Warmblood Studbook of Ireland (WSI) have partnered to work with Irish showjumping and eventing breeders to produce and sell highquality horses. An important goal of the partnership is to encourage the exchange of information between Irish and Dutch breeders and between Irish breeders and WSI. A reception to celebrate the new partnership will be held on Monday 12 September from 7 - 9 PM at the Osprey Hotel in Naas, Co. Kildare. All sport horse breeders, riders, producers and owners are invited to attend and meet the new KWPN partners, and to learn about the opportunities being created to advance breeding, sport, and sales in Ireland. The KWPN is the world’s #1 sport horse studbook in terms of size, quality, global impact, technical capabilities, and sport performance. At the Rio Olympics KWPN horses won nine medals including the Individual Gold Medals in Showjumping and Dressage. While in recent years the KWPN has begun to have an impact on the sport of eventing, its strengths are in showjumping and dressage. “We believe there is a great fit between the KWPN and WSI,” said Johan Knaap, Director of the KWPN. “The Irish can teach the Dutch a lot about breeding and producing eventing horses, while the Dutch can help the Irish develop showjumping breeding, which will make Irish dominance of eventing even stronger.” The new partnership will create many exciting opportunities for Irish breeders. WSI members will have access to KWPN inspectors and officials, along with the Dutch studbook’s extensive breeding resources such as the Horse Database, the Stallion Database, the genetic index, and digital KWPN Magazine. A new homepage will be created for WSI and Irish Warmblood horses will be entered into the databases and indices. All these services will be accessed through My WSI, a gateway on the new homepage that will provide easy access to the entire array of digital KWPN resources that will be made available to WSI members. In September the new partners will tour around Ireland and Northern Ireland to meet with breeders, stallion owners, mare owners, riders, and producers; to assess mares and young stock; and to preselect stallions for the stallion inspections.
