When speaking to other members the conversation invariably turns to the very successful Central Inspection in the third weekend of September. A good atmosphere, countless conversations between and with our members, the presentation of some 220 horses and ultimately far more than 2600 cheerful visitors who confirm the success of this event. Therefore I wish to use this space to thank all staff, Jury members and volunteers who have contributed to the success of the event. A special thank you also to the team of Manege Gaasterland in Harich for their excellent support and hospitality services.
This mutual success would certainly justify a short break, but time won’t allow it. The next important item on the calendar is a management day on October the 8th. This is the platform for renewed exchanges of opinion between the Member Council and the Board and to discuss future goals and how to reach them. We are also busy with the preparations for the regional meetings which are scheduled for November and the subsequent Meeting of the Member Council.
Everyday business carries on as usual in the background, which is inspections within and outside the Netherlands, IBOP- and ABFP Tests as well as a variety of courses and not to forget the Central Examination of the young stallions, which runs until November the 14th.
During the first weekend of September I was a guest at the anniversary celebration of the FFÖ in Stadl-Paura in Austria. It was nice to experience how this relatively small association works together and what their attitude is towards the Friesian horse and the KFPS. The weekend was wrapped up with a high-quality evening programme and a successful inspection round. It once again emphasises the significance of foreign associations when finding out that, on the basis of the number of registered horses, every Austrian member theoretically has eight Friesian horses in their stable!
Finally, the wonderful news that according to the planning as it is now, the Stallion Inspection can go ahead again as usual in 2022. Ticket sales, also for the two planned show evenings, will start on the 1st of November and obviously, initially for our members. We will keep you informed.
Detlef Elling
Interim Chairman KFPS
