The HHSA would like to congratulate the TWO Hanoverian horses (and their teams) selected for Australia – Dark Diamond and Exact! Dark Diamond is an Australian-bred Hanoverian, registered with the HHSA.
The FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championships for Young Horses (WBCYH) has been held in Europe for 25 years. It is a highly anticipated event that attracts worldwide attention. The general idea is to showcase dressage horses of ages 5, 6 and 7 bred in different countries across the world. Each NF (National Federation IE Australia) an allotted number of “slots” that the YH must qualify and then be selected for. Australia has been slotted one horse per age division. The FEI rules for this competition state that the nominated horses must be “home-bred”, ie- breed registered with a WBFSH (World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses) organisation based in the NF.
It is important for Australian breeders and owners to note that if they register with a European breed organisation NOT based in Australia (such as Oldenburg, KWPN, etc), then the horses are not considered “home-bred” as they are not registered with a studbook based in Australia.
The HHSA – Hanoverian and Rhineland studbooks – are Australian-based and comprise two of the four qualifying Australian studbooks. It is also important to note that the rules state the registration must be done at birth (as a foal, not years later).
This year Tayla Desmet has been selected on her “home-bred” HHSA Hanoverian Horse Dark Diamond to represent Australia in the 5YO division.
There are exceptions in place for instances where there are not any “home-bred” horses available or that qualify, or if they are unable to attend the competition, that a non-home bred may qualify and be selected to represent Australia with a rider from the NF. This is the case this year with the European bred Hanoverian Exact (Escamillo x Hohenstein) and Alex Vodermair being selected for the 6YO class.
However, “home-bred” horses will always have priority for this particular event.
Why does this matter? 👀👀Australian riders here and based overseas are starting to look for quality horses BRED in Australia in order to qualify and compete at this prestigious event. Competition for selection places is becoming stiff and having an Australian-bred horse is a BIG advantage for this particular competition.
How amazing is it that BOTH combinations selected are riding Hanoverian horses – we are cheering them on and wishing them the best of luck at the competition in early August.
5-YO Division:
Rider: Tayla Desmet
Horse Name: Dark Diamond
DOB: 26/10/2019
Sire: Diamond Hit
Dam: Zaubermaus
Dam Sire: Zonik
Studbook: Hannoverian Horse Society of Australia (HHSA)
Breeder & Owner: Philip Desmet
6YO Division:
Rider: Alexandra VodermairÂ
Horse Name:Â Exact
DOB: 02/01/2019Â
Sire:Â Escamillo
Dam: Hoffnung
Dam Sire:Â Hohenstein
Breeder: Thorsten Hogrefe
Studbook: Hannoveraner Verband e.V. (HANN)
Owner: Alexandra Vodermair
You can read the full rules here: https://inside.fei.org/sites/default/files/FEI_WBFSH_Rules_Effective_1_January_2025_Clean_Version.pdf
EA also has a list of its selection processes that can be found on their website.