THE AMERICAN HANOVERIAN SOCIETY A General Overview

T he American Hanoverian Society, Inc. (the Society) was incorporated in 1978 to establish, maintain and operate a nonprofit association of breeders, owners and friends for the promotion and preservation of the Hanoverian horse in the United States. It was established to maintain a public registry of Hanoverian horses, to recognize excellence of Hanoverian and Rhineland horses in competition, to brand approved stallions, mares and foals with the society’s registered brand and to disseminate information to breeders, owners and friends pertaining to the breeding and raising of Hanoverian horses. The Society promotes the performance of the Hanoverian horse in dressage, eventing, hunters, jumpers and driving to encourage a public understanding of the Hanoverian horse, its breeding and performance.

Although it is connected to the German Hannoveraner Verband, the Society is an American-based, independent, nonprofit corporation. Headquartered in Lexington, KY, at The Kentucky Horse Park, the Society office employs a full-time, experienced staff dedicated to supporting the membership. It is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by its U.S. membership and operates under by-laws voted upon by the membership. This self-governance is unique to European-affiliated registries.

The Society enjoys a strong bond and mutually beneficial working relationship with the Hannoveraner Verband (HV), including full studbook reciprocity. The Verband endorses the Society by-laws, breeding rules and the manner in which the Society conducts bloodstock inspections. The Society has representation and a vote on the Verband Board through our membership in Hannoveraner International.

In 2017, The American Hanoverian Society took over the management of the American Rhineland Studbook.

The Society now manages two independent and distinct warmblood breeding registries in the U.S.: the Hanoverian Studbook and the Rhineland Studbook. Both are well-respected warmblood breeding registries with their origins in Germany. Both follow typical warmblood protocols, including mare inspections, stallion licensing and approval, and foal registration.

The two studbooks differ in one key philosophical aspect: the Hanoverian Studbook tends to be more restrictive toward acceptance of outside (non-Hanoverian) breeding stock, while the Rhineland Studbook tends to be more open toward acceptance of outside (non-Rhineland) breeding stock.

In practice, this plays out as follows. The Hanoverian Studbook accepts breeding stock from fewer warmblood breeding registries than the Rhineland Studbook.

The Hanoverian Studbook only recognizes Thoroughbred, Arabian and Anglo-Arabian as “purebred” breeding stock. When grading breeding stock from these outside populations, only the best of such outside populations are accepted. In simple terms, a mare from an outside population can only enter the Hanoverian Studbook breeding program if she receives an inspection score equivalent to the “Premium Titled” Hanoverian mare requirements.

In effect, the Hanoverian Studbook has a built-in preference for its own breeding stock with a willingness to accept only the best from outside breeding populations.

The Rhineland Studbook generally accepts breeding stock from the majority of the registries that are members of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH). In addition to Thoroughbred, Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses, the Rhineland Studbook also accepts registered Pura Raza Española (PRE)/ Lusitano horses as well as most warmblood registries. Breeding stock from outside populations are graded on equal footing as Rhineland horses for purposes of entry into the Rhineland Studbook. This “open philosophy” with regard to outside populations is generally the philosophy employed by the majority of other warmblood registries. One other key difference between the two studbooks is the Rhineland Studbook accepts “colorful” horses, namely, dilutes and pintos.

The diverse philosophies of these two studbooks, under the common management and administration of the Society, provides significant flexibility to our breeders. One membership provides access to two distinct and diverse studbooks with shared inspection tours, familiar customer service and experienced management. Breeders wishing to utilize bloodlines and/or breeding populations restricted from the Hanoverian Studbook can seamlessly utilize the Rhineland Studbook without having to leave the Society or incur additional inspection costs.

For more information about the Hanoverian Studbook and Rhineland Studbook requirements, visit hanoverian.org or contact the Society’s office at (859) 255-4141.

Mission Statement

The Society is committed to adoption and adherence to the highly selective breeding standards practiced since 1735 in the Hannover breeding area of Germany. The aim is a noble, correctly built warmblood horse capable of superior performance, with natural impulsion, space-gaining elastic movements, and because of its temperament, character and willingness, is suited principally as an all-around riding horse.

Membership

The Society appreciates our members and dedication to the Hanoverian and Rhineland horse.

The Society offers four types of membership:

Active Membership

Required for members participating in the Society breeding program (registering a foal, presenting horses for inspection and/or performance testing or standing a stallion). Active members are eligible for Society awards, may hold office, serve on committees and vote. All Active Members receive complimentary copies of the Society’s Annual Stallion Directory and Awards Magazine.

Associate Membership

Recommended for those primarily interested in showing (not breeding) their Hanoverian or Rhineland horses. Associate members may not hold office, serve on committees or vote.

Junior Membership

Junior members, those who are under the age of 21 at the time of payment, enjoy the same benefit as Associate members. A Junior membership expires at the end of the calendar year in which the member reaches the age of 21.

Life Membership

Life members have full Society benefits as listed under the Active membership category. A Lifetime membership may not be an entity and may not be shared between individuals.

Member Benefits

Society member benefits are numerous and can be found on the Society website at https:// hanoverian.org/forms/join-renew/. A few of the most notable include:

• An annual inspection tour offering sites nationwide that include mare and foal inspections, mare performance tests, stallion licensing, education, futurities and an opportunity to meet fellow breeders. Both American and German judges conduct the inspections, giving perspectives and advice to all in attendance.

• The awards program is one of the most comprehensive offered to sport horse breeders and competitors in the U.S. The Society offers competition awards in dressage, jumpers, hunters and eventing, as well as awards for top mares at inspections, top foals at inspections, gold medal foals and futurity awards for yearling and 2-year-old horses.

• The annual Stallion Directory is produced and mailed to every Active member or is available for purchase.

• Monthly registry and industry updates are emailed to members via Hanoverian Happenings.

• An active Young Breeders’ Program encourages the next generation of breeders.

• An annual membership meeting allows current members to participate and engage with the Board of Directors.

• Both the Hanoverian Studbook and Rhineland Studbook are managed under one membership, allowing a wide range of breeding options, single inspections for both studbooks and one centralized office.

• Website advertising options including banner ads and free ads for selling a horse. For details, visit https://hanoverian.org/adverts/.

• An online library of webinars covering educational topics such as feeding performance horses, bit fitting, inspection preparation, equine genetics and inheritable diseases.