History of the sport horse

The sport horse wasn’t the horse that we now know. The horse has changed enormous the past thousand years. It changed from workhorse to sport horse. A horse is originally a wild animal, but now tamed by human. Way back they were used for: farming, conduct war and transportation.

Use of horses

Farmer used the horses because of there great power. Horses ploughed the land. With hand this was almost impossible. In the forest the horses used to drag heavy trees. In 5000 before Christ Mongolian archers used horses. They were much quicker by using a horse. So people came up with the idea using it for war.

Before World War I horses were deployed for war. At that time it was winning or losing a war, depending on which party had the best horses and riders. Soldiers were so dependent on their horses that they treated the horses better than their wife and children. The soldiers were instructed to first take care of their horse and after for them self.

During the First Wold War, this changed. Because this was a trench war, horses were unusable. However horses were used for sending information and the transport of goods, like weapons, ammunition and food. Important message could be send real quick in times of need.

Cold and warmblood horses

Earlier you had already a lot of different horses. Only people were not really concerned with the appearance of horses. They bred horses only to get better and more horses. You had two different types, cold blood and warmblood horses. (Read here about Dutch warmblood horses) Warmblood horses mainly used to drive and cold blood were widely used for farming. That’s because cold blood horses are heavier and stronger.
But with the mechanization of agriculture and the materialization of the car the horse lost his practical function. As a result the function of the horse changed. First used for work and transportation and now only for the pleasure of human. A big history behind the sport horses that we know nowadays.

Show jumping horses for sale

Dutch show jumping horses for sale

We have quality show jumping horses for sale. WB Stables is a professional show jumping stable in Europe. We are located in the Netherlands, 90 minutes with the car from Amsterdam. We own a very large barn with 30 sport horses, 30 Friesian horses and 30 horses from clients.

Our stable is only selling warmblood horses with clean x-rays from famous, top quality bloodlines. We got a special selection of horses that are well mannered and potential for show jumping, eventing, hunting, equitation or dressage. The x-rays are from reliable international vets. And can be send to your equine veterinary on request.

Warmblood horses for sale

The Netherlands is the place to be if you want to buy a good sport horse. The Dutch KWPN dutch warmblood horses are leading the top ranking all over the world. We got the best warmblood horses in the area. Dutch KWPN warmblood horses, Belgian warmblood horses and German Hanoverian warmblood horses. We got top quality show jumping horses for sale. From amateur horses to horses for more experienced riders.

WB Stables – Dutch sport horses is selecting our warmblood horses on for there:

–       Soundness
–       Talent
–       Breeding
–       Character
–       Ride-ability

We are looking forward to create new relations with our clients. We have an honest communication with clients and realistic descriptions about our horses and are aiming for long-term relations. We are not an agent so we can directly connect with our clients and save the costs of a middleman. So we offer very good and honest prizes for our horses!

Best horse breeders in the world

Located in the North of the Netherlands, between the best breeders in the world. Did you know that the best horses in the world are breed just 15 minutes away from our stable! For example, “Totilas” from Edward gal (now Schockemohle and Ann-Katherin Linsenhoff) that won gold at the World Championship in 2010, the best dressage horse in the world. “Okidoki” one of the best show jumping horses in the world, is also breed just 15 minutes from here. That horse won with Albert Zoer the 5 Star Grand prix in Aachen and an International Horse Show in Olympia, London.

Find a horse that suits you

We got access to the best breeders in the world. We can find the best possible warmblood horse for you. You can be part of a process every step of the way. Look at our website to see a current list of horses. If you can’t find a horse that is suitable, please contact us. Sometimes we have horses in our stable that are not yet downloaded on our website.

See picture below, our stable. WB Stables located in the Netherlands, talented show jumping horses for sale.

Training tips: How to teach your horse backwards.

With moving your horse backwards it is very important that you stay in contact with your rein. And going strait backwards!

The goal of going backwards:

Obedience
Bending joints of the back legs
Bending of back and loins
Loosening stiff horses
Promote closeness
Promote yield to the bit

The aids of going backwards:

The horse needs to be active, with impulse and on the leg. With on the leg I mean: if you give leg he or she needs to responds. Also the weight needs to be equal on every leg.

To go backwards the rider need to give resistance to the leg. So you give leg and the same time you hold it with your hand. The hand of the rider is not giving so the horse can only go backwards. Very important is when the horse is going backwards you/the rider relaxes in the hand. And if you do it properly the horse is going backwards on your leg, not on the hand. With young horses the rider can be a little bit in half seat. After backwards directly riding forwards.

With your horse backwards:

With going backwards, the horse need to change his weight to the back-legs. Also the horse needs to have enough forward impulse. To achieve this you can ride a lot of transitions. The criterion with going backwards is not necessary Standing Square but more that the horse is willing to put his weight on the back-legs.

Problems and solutions:

– Going not strait. The forehand needs to be corrected and again set on one line with the backhand. On the side where the horse is going with his backhand, places the rider his or her hand a little bit of the neck. The horse needs to be better on two rains.

– Horse comes to the hand and pushes back away. Important is that the horse yield enough to the bit and legs when standing still before backwards. If so the horse will put more weight on the back and yield more to the bit.

– To deep and to fast going backwards. The rider needs to put his or her hand higher and the horse more to the leg. Why? This is because the horse has so less opportunity to put his head down. When his head is more upwards the horse need to use more his back-legs and is going slower backwards.

– The horse blocks. (Is putting all joint on lock). The rider needs to let the horse do side passes. Every side some side passes alternately.

Show jumping horses: Training tips.

Al lot riders are having some problems with riding distances. If you want that you and your horse be in harmony when show jumping, you first need to understand some basic facts. To better analyse the jump and the relation between one jump and another.

At competitions mostly the best riders win. They have a correct distance/take-off points, nice rhythm between fences and turn nice and smooth. These are the most important elements to have success.

Riding your horse with a good rhythm is important because it is directly connected with balance. Good rhythm can break or make your balance. A horse with a good balance can jump relaxed/easy and make no stupid faults.

If you pull or lose your rains in turns you can never expect that a horse jump good after the turn. So turn nice and smooth and most of the time your distance is coming as we speak.

The understanding of distances

But all these things are just factors in the bigger picture. Every jump has his own take-off points. I want to discuss every jump separate.

Jumping a vertical:

A vertical is a fence that can be tricky. When you ride your distance too short on a vertical, it takes a lot of effort for a horse to jump clear. The take-off point of a vertical is further than an oxer. A horse jumps in an arc. If the horse jumps over the vertical the highest point is in the middle.

Jumping with your horse over an oxer:

The take-off point for an oxer is getting closer if the width of the oxer increases. So The middle of the fence is always the highest point.

Of course if the fence is getting higher the distance needs also be further
from the oxer. But like I sad, if the fence is getting more width the take-off point is smaller.

Jumping a triple bar:

Triple bars are three fences upwards directly after each other. The take-off point is the closest of all. So the arc is at his highest point at the last and highest bar. Maybe you notices. If you look at the pictures, the oxer and the vertical are the same distances before and after. The triple bar is al little bit different because the distance to the fence is shorter but after the same as the other two.

Thanks for reading,
Show jumping training tips.

Buying your dream/ perfect horse

Buying your dream/ perfect horse.

How to find the perfect horse?

So today someone asked me: “How to find the perfect horse?” My first reaction was “that depends”. It depends on different factors. Do you want a good horse for jumping, dressage, equitation or maybe you want a good hunter? Are you an amateur or a professional rider? Does the gender or colour matter? Do you want a young horse or a highly experienced horse? So you can learn something from your horse.

How to buy the perfect horse?

You see there are so many things. The best thing you could do is e-mail. Just e-mail is the best option. Like our stable, we have more than 35 horses for sale and not every horse is on the website. So e-mail your wishes and we probably have a horse that fits. If you have a very special wish and we don’t have that horse on the stable. We call or contacts in the Netherlands and we find your perfect horse. No matter what it takes, we get your perfect horse!

Buying your perfect horse.

Where to start with your search? You probably are wondering which country has the best horses? The big “horse countries”

1. The Netherlands

One of the biggest export products of the Netherlands are Dutch warmblood horses (okay, and cheese). This nation has sold many horses all over de world and is doing very well at international shows. Last Olympic we had several medals in jumping and dressage. The Netherlands had a very high placed famous studbook, called KWPN (Royal Dutch warmblood horses).

2. Germany

Germany is also one of the biggest. With the Netherlands this county has bring many very good international horses. Germany has also his own studbook. And they have so many good riders.

3. America

America import many horses from Germany and the Netherlands. The come to Europa to buy relative cheap horses. For jumping, dressage, equitation and a lot of hunters. They ship them over, ride the horses on competitions and sometimes sell them. And then it starts again, they go to Europa en buy new horses.

When we find your dream horse.

If you ordered us to find your perfect horse and we find him or her. We tell you, send you some videos or pictures and a lot of information. So you can decide “this is the horse I want!” Sometimes it is not the horse you’re looking for and then we then we look further. We don’t stop till our client is happy!

Show jumping: Jumping levels

Levels of jumping in different countries

In most countries they have there own horse system. I’ll discuss the four big horse nations in the world that have there own jumping levels. The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States.

The Netherlands

Jumping rules KNHS	Jumping levels in Holland (in meters) 1m=3ft. 1m=40 inch
Level	Name	Height	Width	Max. Liverpool	Min. Age*
B	Beginner	1.00	1.10	None	4 year
L	Beginner high	1.10	1.20	2.50	4 year
M	Medium	1.20	1.30	3.00	5 year
Z / D	Advanced	1.30	1.40	4.00	6 year
ZZ / C	Advanced	1.35	1.45	4.00	6 year
B	Expert	1.40	1.50	4.00	6 year
A	Expert	1.50	1.60	4.00	7 year
Top level	Expert	1.60	–	4.00+	7 year+

Note: Minimum age for every class, not the recommended age.

Germany

Show jumping	Show jumping levels in Germany
Class	Name	Height (m.)	Height (ft.)	Max. water/ Liverpool (m.)	Max. water/ Liverpool (ft.)
E	Preliminary Test	0.85	2’9’’	None	None
A*	Novice Test	0.95	3’1’’	None	None
A**	Novice Test	1.05	3’5’’	2.50	8’2’’
L	Elementary Test	1.15	3’9’’	3.00	9’9’’
M*	Medium Test	1.25	4’1’’	3.50	11’5’’
M**	Medium Test	1.35	4’5’’	4.00	13’1’’
S*	Advanced Test	1.40	4’7’’	4.10	13’5’’
S**	Advanced Test	1.45	4’9’’	4.30	14’1’’
S***	Advanced Test	1.50	4’11’’	4.50	14’8’’
S****	Advanced Test	1.55	5’1’’	4.50	14’8’’

Note: Deviations in height: +/- 5 cm (2’’), width -10 cm (4’’)/+20 cm (8”). These variations are permitted in Germany. In advanced test is any width permitted.

United States

USEF Jumping levels in feet-inch. U.S.	Show jumping levels in the United States
Level	Height fences	Width fences	Max. Triple bars	Max. Liverpool’s
0	2’6’’/2’9’’	2’9’’/3’0’’	3’9’’	3’9’’
1	2’9’’/3’0’’	3’0’’/3’6’’	4’0’’	4’0’’
2	3’0’’/3’3’’	3’3’’/3’9’’	4’3’’	4’3’’
3	3’3’’/3’6’’	3’6’’/4’0’’	4’6’’	4’6’’
4	3’6’’/3’9’’	3’9’’/4’3’’	4’9’’	8’
5	3’9’’/4’0’’	4’0’’/4’6’’	5’	9’
6	4’0’’/4’3’’	4’3’’/4’9’’	5’3’’	10’
7	4’3’’/4’6’’	4’6’’/5’0’’	5’6’’	12’
8	4’6’’/4’9’’	4’9’’/5’3’’	5’9’’	12’6’’
9	4’9’’/5’0’’	5’0’’/5’6’’	6’0’’	13’

For the people that want to know, I made also a list in meters: United States jumping levels in meters.

USEF Jumping levels in meters U.S.	Show jumping levels in the US
Level	Height fences	Width fences	Max. Triple bars width	Max. Liverpool’s
0	0.76/0.84	0.84/0.91	1.14	1.14
1	0.84/0.91	0.91/1.07	1.22	1.22
2	0.91/0.99	0.99/1.14	1.30	1.30
3	0.99/1.07	1.07/1.22	1.37	1.37
4	1.07/1.14	1.14/1.30	1.45	2.44
5	1.14/1.22	1.22/1.37	1.52	2.74
6	1.22/1.30	1.30/1.45	1.60	3.05
7	1.30/1.37	1.37/1.52	1.68	3.66
8	1.37/1.45	1.45/1.60	1.75	3.81
9	1.45/1.52	1.52/1.68	1.83	3.96

United Kingdom

British Show jumping	Jumping levels in England
Class	Height (in meters)
British Novice Championship	0.90
Discovery Competition	1.00
Members cup	1.10
Members cup	1.20
Newcomers	1.10
Foxhunter	1.20

+ 10 cm in the jump off
If you get 4 double clears in a certain period you qualify for the regional second round. There is the first course most of the time 10 cm bigger.

best way to ride a jump-off with your horse

Show jumping: how to become a better rider.

Best way to ride a jump-off.

So you’re wondering how to ride a jump-off? Always wanted to ride that good solid round, and of course with a very short time? There is nothing like the feeling of a good jump-off. Being a team with your horse. Using a good technique with a happy confident horse. You don’t want to galloping a round and just being lucky. It’s possible in the lower classes but impossible in the higher classes (1.20m and more).

For those who are wondering how do I know? I’m rider by my self. Riding show jumpers for living. Every day I have the luck to ride 10 or 12 horses, young and experience horses.

So how to ride a good jump-off? First you need to have a clear round, if you want to know how you can ride a clear round in show jumping please read my other article. Some tips for you to be a better jump-off rider:

1. Before the first fence

So you’re clear and ready for the jump-off. Make sure you ride your horse well up into the bridle. Ride with leg to your hand. And have a nice powerful counter but make sure to keep in the same rhythm.

2. Start and Finish

Don’t forget to pass the start and finish lines. Sometimes you don’t have to cross the start to get by the jump. This means also for the finish line after the last jump. Try also to ride your distance forward to the first fence. It can safe you seconds!

3. Shorter lines

Before you walked the course, you probably walked also the jump-off. If you didn’t do, shame on you! Look for the shortest lines that are reasonable to do. Without risking too much. Maybe there is a line in the classic course on 5 strides back. In the jump-off you can make 4 strides forward. It is one less stride that can safe you a lot of time. But don’t forget; with riding forward you take a little more risk. With 4 strides forward your horse is also become longer and makes easier a fault on the fence, especially when it is a vertical.

4. Quick turns

Quick turns and angle a fence steeper. This part depends on the riders- and horse experience. If you didn’t do this before or practiced this, don’t do it. Why? A lot of inexperienced horses fail with a steep angle of approach. The last thing you want is that they refuse to jump. Keep them relaxed and practise it first at home. Best way to do is with a show jump trainer.

5. Gallop more

A normal horse gallop is 3,5 meters. If you make it 4 meters it takes less time to ride the course. But by doing this keep in mind that the horse need to be underneath you! So don’t make the horse longer but make your stride longer. If you have some problems with making your stride longer, try only to ride more forward after the jumps. Then in the corner you collect your horse again and ride normal. Riding your horse forward into your hands. Don’t forget to support your horse in the corners.

6. Let your horse jump

Keep your hands and body as still as possible. How stiller you are the better your horse can jump. If you pull with your hands or moving to much with your body, you disturb your horse. Look at the jump to the next jump. Most of the time your horse lands on the correct lead. And that saves time because you don’t have to do a flying change.

One thing more I want you to know. Most of the time if I ride the young horses I try to school them. There are 4,5 or 6 years old and need to learn a lot. They need to jump correct and relaxed. If they are older, we can cut corners and ride shorter lines. Don’t rush it too much, first it need to be correct and then you can ride fast!

Good luck with your jump-off!

Show jumping horses Olympic Games (London 2012) (Part 2)

Then I want to talk about the show jumpers. Again the KWPN (Dutch warmblood horses) are on top of the list with show jumping. They had a massive number of jumping horses on the games. Very impressive is the second place of the relative small BWP (Belgium warmblood), between the big studbooks. The big SF (Selle Francais) finishes third, with 9 horses. With a total of 660 points 1st KWPN (Dutch warmblood), followed by BWP (Belgium warmblood) with 405 points and 3th Selle Francais with 355 points.

Show jumping
	Studbook	Number of horses	Total score
1	KWPN (Dutch)	20	660
2	BWP (Belgium)	12	405
3	SF (France)	9	355
4	Holstein	7	276
5	Oldenburg	3	189
6	Hanoverian	5	164
7	sBs (Belgium)	2	135
8	ISH (Irish)	2	127
9	AES (Europe)	3	123
10	La Silla	2	110
11	Zangersheide	2	97
12	Westfalen	3	84
13	SWB (Swedish)	2	83
14	Baden-Wurttemberg	1	47
15	Brandenburg	1	33
16	Bayern	1	13

Individual show jumping riders

The ‘weighted’ ranked list with show jumping is a little bit different than the list of dressage. The small studbooks seize power now. The individual 10^th place of Ben Maher with Triple X (v. Namelus), the performance of Sultan (v. Irco Mena) and Tinka’s Serenade (v. Tinka’s boy) deliver AES (Anglo European Studbook) the golden medal. They displace the sBs (Belgium sport horse) to the second place. SBs delivered the horse Hello Sanctos (v. Quasimodo van de Molendreef) with rider Scott Brash, and Rahmannshof’s Bogeno (v. Baloubet du Rouet) with rider Alvaro de Miranda. Subsequently takes BWP (Belgium warmblood horses) the bronze medal.

Statistic notes

With a yearly number of 700/800 foals and two or three Olympic horses plays coincidence also a big role. For instance if breeder Lei Berben the mare Calve B (Zangersheide) (pregnant of Triple X) not pregnant sold, then AES would not be listed.

The biggest victim is Selle Francais. Because of his big size they finish on the bottom of the page. Just like Hanoverian in dressage, had the French Selle Francais earn more points with show jumping for there studbook in Greenwich Park London.

Show jumping
	Studbook	Total score	Avg. foals/year	Calc. score
1	AES (Europe)	123	711	0,1730
2	sBs (Belgium)	135	806	0,1675
3	BWP (Belgium)	405	2911	0,1391
4	Oldenburg	186	1489	0,1269
5	Holstein	276	2662	0,1037
6	KWPN (Dutch)	660	6473	0,1020
7	Zangersheide	97	1017	0,0954
8	Baden-Wurttemberg	47	532	0,0883
9	Hanoverian	164	2330	0,0704
10	ISH (Irish)	127	2732	0,0465
11	SWB (Swedish)	83	1795	0,0462
12	SF (French)	355	8006	0,0443
13	Westfalen	84	2025	0,0415
14	Bayern	13	1089	0,0119

Final result horse studbooks

Who is eventually the winner of the genetic Olympic games? Qualitatively and quantitatively has the KWPN (Dutch warmblood horses) doing it very well. But seen to the effectiveness from the population and the reliability of big numbers weight, go’s the golden medal the the Belgium warmblood horses with jumping and Danish warmblood horses with dressage.

KWPN Dutch warmblood horses dominate on Olympic games (London 2012). (Part 1)

The performances of the Olympic horses in London are a good indicator to measure the success of the studbooks. We all know which famous riders and top horses did get Olympic medals. But which studbooks get a bronze, silver and gold medal? Is it KWPN or maybe another one? You can read it all.

KWPN horses number one dressage?

It is no news. The number one according to WBFSH-ranking in jumping and dressage is the Dutch studbook KWPN. Also in London the horses did a very good job. If you take all the placement points from every KWPN horse in Greenwich Park and put them together. The KWPN horses won with jumping and dressage.

But it is not completely fair. A studbook with every year 8.000 foals has more change to bring more horses to the Olympic games than a studbook with 1.000 foals. That’s why I made a list of number horses preform at the Olympic games and the score.

It’s all about horses

The power of the big numbers is also working on the Olympic games. The big studbooks delivered the most dressage horses for the Olympic games. Hanoverian horses are with 10 dressage horses the leader. Followed by KWPN horses with 9. Notable is that the small Danish warmblood (DWB) showed up with 8 horses at the Olympic games.

The KWPN studbook scores not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively. With the golden Valegro (v. Negro), the silver Parzival (v. Jazz) and the high placed Uthopia (v. Metall) they collected 602 points. Hanoverian had 10 horses but collected only 402 points. DWB comes with 8 horses on a total of 297 points.

Dressage
	Studbook	Number of horses	Total score
1	KWPN	9	602
2	Hanoverian	10	403
3	DWB (Danish)	8	297
4	Oldenburg	6	173
5	Westfalen	4	151
6	PRE (Spanish)	2	88
7	UNIRE (Italian)	1	61
8	FWB (Finnish)	1	57
9	Lusit	2	56
10	PZHK (Polish)	3	34
11	Bayern	1	18
12	SWB (Swedish)	1	10
13	Holstein	1	9

Size of the studbook

Absolute numbers so far so good. When we watch the Olympic scores from a studbook in relation with the size of the studbook, a lot of things change. The DWB (Danish warmblood) conquers gold in the dressage. If you take the placement points and divides it by the average number of foals each year.

In these ‘weighted’ calculations from the Olympic breeding success, wins the big KWPN (Dutch warmblood) the silver and Westfalen bronze. Hanoverian falls of the stage and takes the 4^th position.

Dressage
	Studbook	Total score	Avg. foals/year	Calc. Score
1	DWB (Danish)	297	1708	0,1739
2	KWPN (Dutch)	602	4315	0,1395
3	Westfalen	151	2025	0,0746
4	Hanoverian	403	5438	0,0741
5	Oldenburg	173	2766	0,0625
6	Bayern	18	586	0,0307
7	Holstein	9	665	0,0135
8	SWB (Swedish)	10	1196	0,0084
Avg. foals, year 1995 to 2002

Part 2 of the story

Are you ready for part 2 of the story? In the next story you find also the final result of the best studbook in the world. Hurry up and read about show jumping at the Olympic games, the genetic part.

Official jumping course

For those who are interested in a official jumping course. This
course was used at a 1.35m course. 4 feet and 5 inches(4’5”).

The length of the course is 460meters(503 yards). Time allowed: 79 seconds. With a speed of 350meters per minut. Ten fences and twelve jumps. Competition against the clock.

Line two to three, eight strides. Distance between four-A and four-B 7.40meters(24.3 feet). Line six to seven, six strides normal riding. Same distance for the eight-A and B dubbel as dubbel four.

Last line nine to ten, five strides. In this line you need to close your horse a little otherwise you get a pole on ten.

If you ride your horse with a normal tempo you should easy ride within the maximum time.

FEI

The FEI (federation equestrian international) has a special education system for official jumping course builders. If you wanna know more about this visite the website: FEI Officials