Page 31 - ZUCHT Ausgabe 1

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Quite probably, after reading all this “smart” analysis, you will ask
yourself how on earth a judge within 10 long straights on the pace
track and 8 minutes of assessing the conformation of a horse will be
able to rate the true “spirit”.
That is a legitimate question, and I’d like to offer the following
options:

1. Exact observation of the horse’s body language during
the conformation part of a FIZO test already.
2. Maybe reintroduce a riding judge, if that is called for
(that would only make sense in a thorough assessment
spanning several days, though).
3. Don’t hold the factor (FIZO multiplier) of “spirit” too
high in the overall score, because the grounds to judge
this are too limited (this has, in fact, been done in
2010 by lowering its percentage).
4. Why not introduce protocols of daily training routines
which will be helpful judging the horse’s development
across many days/sessions.

Why don’t you take some time to think about these options and
variables. Then please don’t hesitate to talk to your regional or nati-
onal breeding representatives, or to the judges we have.
Maybe together we can learn to understand our horses a lot better
and to judge them more fairly – for all uses and purposes which the
Icelandic horse covers so beautifully.

Islandpferde Zucht | 029