You are a rider, or a breeder, you have decided that a Hanoverian is the horse for you, and you have had your application to become a member of the society approved by the committee.
Our charming and efficient secretary sends you a welcome package full of information, including a recent newsletter, some copies of the English supplement to “Der Hannoveraner” magazine, and probably one or two issues of the magazine itself. You are thirsting for knowledge and eagerly scan all this paper, trying to assimilate everything at once. It’s fun, but sometimes frustrating as you start to realise there are a few things you need to know to make it all easier to understand. Well, abbreviations are bad enough in one’s own language, but how on earth does one figure them out when they are German abbreviations? If you are a new member trying to make sense of it all, here are a few definitions that might help and a few sources for more information.
colours
B. Braun = Bay
Db. Dunkelbraun = Dark brown
F. Fuchs = Chestnut
Df. Dunkelfuchs = Liver chestnut
R. Rappe = Black
Sch. Schimmel = Grey
common words and abbreviations
Pferde = horse
Zuechter (Z) = breeder
Hengst = stallion
Stute = mare
Tochter = daughter
Sohn = son
Landgestuet = state stud
Landbeschaeler = state stud stallion
Dressur = dressage
Dressurpruefing = dressage test
leicht (L) = elementary
mittel (M) = medium
schwer (S) = advanced
Springen = jumping
Springpferd = jumping horse
St.Pr.St. (before a mare’s name) = state premium mare
St.Pr.A. = state premium mare candidate
HLP (Hengstleistungspruefing) = stallion performance test
Hengstkoerung = stallion licensing
Bundeschampionate = National Championships
Niedersachsenhalle
Purpose built marketing centre and headquarters of the Verband, attached to the Hannoversche Reit- und Farschule (Hanoverian riding and driving school) in Verden.
Opened in 1972, this impressive complex includes an auction hall, stabling, indoor schools and an administrative block, which was enlarged in 2002 to accommodate the society’s expanding workload and has recently (2010) undergone further development.
Verband
A short way of saying Verband Hannoverscher Warmblutzuechter (Hanoverian Warmblood Society), which was founded in 1922
FRH – Supporters’ Club for Hanoverian Sport Horses
supports highly gifted horses and riders in co-operation with breeders, owners and sponsors and , among other things, provides for constant contact between breeding and sport.
The following letters sometimes occur after a horse’s name-
PB- (Privatbeschaeler)- the stallion is privately owned
VA- the horse was bought/sold at a Verden auction
Z- the horse was bred at the Zangersheide stud
xx- the horse is a Thoroughbred
AA- the horse is an Anglo-Arab
ox- the horse is Arab
Trak. (sometimes /T)- the horse is a Trakehner
A very helpful little book is one of the Allen breed series, “The Hanoverian” by Christian Freiherr von Stenglin. The author comes from a family of horsemen and both his father and grandfather were managers of German state studs. He was himself manager of the Celle state stud from 1958-1979. The book is very readable and gives a clear account of the history and development of the breeding programme, the studbooks, the bloodlines and the organisation and traditions of the Hanoverian breeding area.
The Internet
There is a wealth of information out there, starting, of course, with our own website, the German website and the British and American Hanoverian websites, all of which can be reached via links from ours.
All of these sites have links to landgesteutcelle (the Celle state stud) and horse-gate.com Don’t be put off looking at foreign language sites. Many of them have English pages.
www.thehorsemagazine.com is the website for this most excellent Australian magazine, crammed with interesting, educational and informative articles about all equestrian sport, training of horse and rider, many in-depth interviews and great articles about breeding
www.hanoverian.org -the American Hanoverian website, is another site with masses of good information, including a lot about Mare Performance Testing.
Both these sites can also be reached via links from our own website.
Other sites well worth a look are
eurodressage.com – European and International results and news;
http://www.wbfsh.org – the website of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses;
fei.org – the website of the FEI and of course, not forgetting NZ’s own
Eventually you may find that you want the stallion registers, stallion videos, Stallion Year Book and then, what about the Breed Orientation Course…..?