This year the meeting of the Member Council went ahead two months later than usual. At a suitable distance of each other, 1½ metres to be precise. This distance was also felt in emotional respect. The Boet 516 dossier has been a concern for many breeders, as well as for the Member Council, the Management Team (MT) and the Board. Questions, discussions, exasperation; there has been a lot of commotion since the stallion’s approval. After all the talks that had already been going on back-and-forth, the meeting of the Member Council in early July was the right moment to take stock.
One thing is clear. The decision to approve the stallion cannot be revoked, even though that would have been appropriate from a breed-technical angle. The Jury operated autonomously as well as correctly in line with the Regulations. The Board monitors with the focus on Regulations and Statutes and the Member Council reacts from the breeding goal point of view and has strongly urged to develop an integral plan of action. That plan has become a fact thanks to the persistence of the Member Council, who have acted very proactively.
The stallion selection trajectory will be more widely monitored. The MT and the Board will be involved in crucial decision-taking moments during the trajectory. The Jury members report back to the MT and in the event of any controversial outcome the triangle MT, Jury and the Board shall convene and address the issue together, which includes seeking the advice from external parties. The decision will be taken only after this process has been completed. This procedure will already take effect at the start of the Central Examination that is on the agenda for next autumn. The Boet 516 offspring will be monitored for a lengthy period. The results will be analysed with various expert parties and transparently communicated. Roaring will be more strongly contextualised in the Stallion Inspection Regulations, the Stallion Inspection Jury will be reviewed in terms of composition and number of judges and communication too needs to be faster and more thorough. This guarantees that everybody gets the same information on the basis of which they can plan their own course in breeding.
Taking all the above in consideration we can conclude that we have worked hard on every front to improve the whole trajectory. All this was done with respect for everybody’s role and took place in an open and constructive meeting. Frictions and emotions are part of this, but we always have to respect the Code of Conduct we have agreed upon within the KFPS. This is how we can bridge the emotional gap, because in the end we all have the same goal: a healthy, beautiful and athletic Friesian horse.
Wiebe Wieling
Chairman KFPS
