BEF Futurity Evaluations Announced for 2013

Breeding

British Warmblood Breeding News

The BEF Futurity Evaluation series aims to identify British bred young potential sport horses and ponies destined for careers in dressage, eventing, show-jumping or endurance. British bred horses and ponies from foals to three year old’s are eligible to take part.

The series is aimed at both amateur and professional breeders alike and the Futurity is the fastest growing young horse evaluation programme in the UK. 2013 is set to be very busy with potential for well over 900 entries at 16 or more venues.

The BEF Futurity started in 2005 with 100 young horses to be evaluated and will see over 900 in 2013.

The Futurity evaluations which take place throughout July and August provide a valuable assessment of youngsters for their chosen discipline by both experienced evaluators and a Futurity vet. Not only are these experts on hand to assess the horse they see in front of them, they also provide helpful advice and feedback.

How To Prepare for the Futurity:

The first part of the Futurity evaluation is the vet assessment, the vet will expect to see the youngster standing up, and in walk and trot. It is advisable to practise this in advance of the Futurity. Once the vet has assessed the youngster, it’s on to the main evaluation which takes place in an indoor school. Again, the youngster will be expected to stand up before the evaluators and then walk and trot around a triangle approximately 25m x 25m x 25m. Subsequently, they will be loosed so the evaluators can see the canter and athleticism in all paces. Three year olds that are being assessed for Show Jumping and Eventing will be expected to jump loose down a lane. Again, horses should have practised this before the evaluation so they can show themselves off to the best of their ability. Once the evaluators have fully considered the young horse, they will explain their reasoning for the premium or grade given and participants take their comments sheet home at the end.

Ideally, horses should be plaited, mainly so that the evaluators can see the shape of the neck and withers. Horses are not allowed to wear any boots, bandages, hoof oil or any other dressing on their legs. A hard hat is strongly recommended for both vetting and evaluation phases. Handlers should wear white or cream trousers and white tops, along with suitable footwear for trotting horses up. Broodmares should be shown in snaffle bridle and lead rein or reins and foals in a leather foal slip/headcollar and lead rein with a clip that is easy and quick to undo. Yearlings and two year-olds are presented in an in hand bridle and lead rein. Two year-old colts and all three year-olds must wear a snaffle bridle. All horses must wear a bridle number with their competitor number on it.

Futurity Factsheets are available at www.bef.co.uk in the British Breeding section and entries are made at www.britishbreeding.org and open on the 1st June 2013. Participants are advised to enter early as some venues fill up very quickly.

As soon as the dates and venues for 2013 are confirmed they will be widely circulated and will also be available on the above websites.

The BEF Futurity Evaluations are held at 16 or more venues throughout the UK and young horses go home with a BEF Premium (grade), a stylish rosette and a detailed, informative score sheet. An attractive certificate to keep and frame follows on after the event. Photographers are present at all venues to record your assessment. All results are published on the fully searchable British Breeding website. www.britishbreeding.org.