Canada is host to the World!
The WBFSH International Young Breeders World Championships are coming to Alberta July 20-22, 2017!
This internationally acclaimed event, sponsored by the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH), is dedicated towards inspiring our breeders of the future to recognize and pursue excellence in sport horse breeding.
The year 2017, Canada’s 150th anniversary, will be the first time the competition has been held outside of Europe. Hosted by the Canadian Warmblood Horse Breeders Association (CWHBA), the event is to be held at the prestigious Spruce Meadows facility in Calgary. The event is typically host to close to 20 different studbooks from around the world. We are eager to welcome close to 200 youth participants to this exciting event, and look forward to being able to share our beautiful country with everyone.
The International Young Breeders (IYB) is a program that is sanctioned and supported by the WBFSH and is dedicated toward bringing together youth participants from across the world. The original idea for the program was developed in Germany, and the first competition was hosted by the Hanoverian studbook and held in Verden, Germany in 2001. Each participating breed association, or studbook, is able to send two teams to compete in the international championships; one junior team (ages 16-19) and on senior team (ages 20-25).
The overall guiding objective of the Young Breeders Program is to provide the young members (between the ages of 16-25) of breed organizations with a means to get involved and educate themselves on the breeding practices of the sport horse industry, and to connect with fellow owners and breeders, both on the national and international stages.
The program strives to provide the youth of each association with educational opportunities that are held in a fun environment and encourages participants to become active and engaged members of the equine community.
Every participant is required to compete in four sections during the competition; ability to present Warmblood horses in hand, ability to evaluate equine conformation, ability to evaluate loose gaits and free jumping, and a written exam.
Canada joined in the fun and sent our first teams to compete internationally in 2003, when Belgium hosted the championships in Minderhout. Since then, the championships have been hosted every second year in many different countries, including Denmark, Ireland, France, Sweden and Great Britain.
