German Oldenburg Verband Reschedules Stallion Licensing for November

Breeding

Oldenburg

The German Oldenburg Verband (GOV) has re-scheduled its annual main stallion licensing back to the month of November. This means that the breeding society will host its next licensing on 13 - 15 November 2025.

Guidelines for Animal Welfare in Equestrian Sport

In 2022 Oldenburg skipped hosting a main licensing in November and moved the date to January 2023 pursuant the new German animal welfare law in Germany.

At the time, the Oldenburg society stated on its website, "by moving the licensing date, the individual development of the stallions and the idea of animal welfare are given greater consideration. Since the young stallions must be at least 30 months old at the time of the licensing, according to the guidelines for animal welfare in equestrian sports, and the foaling season has been pushed further and further into May and June in recent years, the January date significantly increases the number of potential licensing candidates. Without this change, many promising young stallions would not get the chance to present themselves at the Oldenburg main licensing."

Remarkably Oldenburg became the only society brave and ethical enough to push back its licensing by two months, while the other major German breed societies moved theirs by a few weeks, or not at all (Hanover, Westfalen, Trakehner).

In The Netherlands and Denmark the annual licensing takes place in February and March, allowing the stallions more time to grow and develop before turning three years of age.

Competition Amongst Studbooks

The Oldenburg society has hosted its main licensing this year mid January 2025 but has also schedule the next licensing for November the same year.

„After careful consideration regarding the optimal promotion and evaluation of our stallions, the Oldenburg main licensing will once again take place in November in the future," Oldenburg's breeding director Peer Eitenmüller told Eurodressage.

He explained the situation as following:

"Unfortunately, our competitors have not been willing to follow this step and move their licensing dates to January or February. As a result, numerous Oldenburg stallions have already been presented at other licensing events in the fall. Our experience shows that a later licensing date does not automatically mean an improvement for the stallions. The stallions are trained at the same time as those being prepared for earlier licensings, and after the licensing, the pressure increases as the stallions are immediately started under saddle and then put into breeding service."

Eitenmüller continued, "scientific studies also support the finding that older horses are not necessarily less susceptible to stress than younger stallions at the start of training. We believe it is much more important to consider the individual developmental stage of the stallions as an admission criterion rather than adhering to rigid age requirements. Additionally, particularly youthful-looking stallions always have the option to participate in the saddle licensing in April. In this way, the association offers a flexible and horse-friendly solution that takes different stages of development into account.”