A new scheme aiming to revolutionise the registration and grading process for young horses has been launched.
The Elite Foals UK Registration Tour is the branchild of Elite Stallions director Lorna Wilson, who has recently established Elite Foals, an equine sales website specialising in broodmares, foals, youngstock, and embryos.
With a £40,000 prize fund, the tour, which will run for two weeks in August, will provide a simplified foal registration system, as well as a chance for foals to qualify for a national final in September, where a champion in each discipline will win £5,000.
“I recognise the frustration at the complexity of foal registration in the UK and the lack of a clear pathway for promising young horses,” said Lorna.
“Having enjoyed the well-established process in Europe, I believe it is vital to develop a unified approach in the UK. We have some fantastic breeders, mares, foals, and stallions in this country, and both the tour, and all of the studbooks involved, aim to give British breeders the support and structure they need to flourish.”
The tour, which is being launched and run independently of the British Equestrian Federation, will take in the UK’s largest breeding operations, from Devon to Scotland, with professional runners handling all mares and foals in order to ensure a level playing field by presenting every horse at its best.
It will be supported by studbooks including the Anglo-European Studbook, Sport Horse Breeding (GB), KWPN, British Hanoverian and British Rhineland, and will allow on-the-day registration for multiple foals, with an on-site vet providing microchipping, as well as foal branding facilities. It also aims to provide networking and marketing valuable opportunities for breeders, riders and trainers.
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“Unlike previous foal evaluation events, the tour will go one step further, by also completing the registration process for all the foals on one day, even if they are all to be registered in different studbooks,” said Lorna.
“The tour will provide each and every entrant, whether a professional, amateur or first-time breeder, with the support and advice they need to help them make the right choices for themselves and their foals.”
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