From Wednesday the 31st- Saturday the 3rd, the largest stallion show in the world will take place again: The KWPN Stallion Show in Den Bosch, The Netherlands!

To see some of the World’s best stallions all together in one place: a dream for any Dutch Warmblood breeder! Several North American KWPN breeders travel to the Netherlands to watch the Stallion Show each year.

The Stallion Show is built around the ‘Second Viewing’, which is the second round of the selection process for approval of the young stallions. For each breeding direction, Dressage, Jumping, Harness and Gelders, the selected stallions from the First Viewing that took place in December 2023, will be presented again. In Den Bosch, the Stallion Committee will select only the best stallions for the Performance test in the Spring or Fall of 2024 (and since this year, the owners can also decide to present them at the Performance test in 2o25). Traditionally, the Finals of the Stallion Competitions for approved stallions also take place in Den Bosch.

Several show blocks are organized around the Second Viewings and Stallion Competitions. We highlighted a couple of them for you to put on the calendar and watch on KWPN.tv.

The Stallion Show can be watched LIVE on kwpn.tv (click this link to go to the subscription page). 

Dressage Highlights

Several World Class KWPN Breeding Sires will make their appearance in a special Showblock called ‘The World’s Greatest’, of which Johnson, the no. 1 in the WBFSH ranking for dressage sires. Other Top Stallions that will be presented are: Vivaldi, Bordeaux, Dream Boy, Desperado & Indian Rock. Several sons of these famous sires will be shown under saddle in the same show block: All at Once, Le Formidable, Johnny Depp, I’m Perfect & Luxuriouzz. Dream Boy will also give a final presentation for retiring from Top Sport.

The World’s Greatest show block will take place on Friday, the 2nd of February.

Indian Rock- Picture credit: Dirk Caremans, KWPN

Another highlight for Dressage lovers is the show block with Dutch team coach Patrick van der Meer. He will present a clinic with KWPN stallions Kyton, Las Vegas, In Style, Livius, Lowlands and one of Charlotte Fry’s top talents. These talented stallions currently all compete at Small Tour level. The goal of the clinic is for Patrick to show the audience what talents he looks for to be able to compete at Grand Prix.

The clinic with Patrick van der Meer will take place on Saturday, the 3rd of February.

Jumping Highlights

Highway TN N.O.P. has been voted KWPN Jumping Horse of the Year 2023 and this Superstar will be in Den Bosch himself to receive his prize!

The prize ceremony for Highway TN will take place on Thursday, the 1st of February. 

Highway TN N.O.P. – Picture credit: Dirk Caremans, KWPN

Another highlight for the Jumping enthusiasts will be the VNO Trophy. This exhilarating competition is traditionally the last item of the evening on the last Jumping day. The stallions Ipsthar, Kentucky TMS Z, Je Suis Equus Tame, La Costa ES, Lambrusco, Lambada Shake AG, For the Moment, Jager, Jukebox, I Am Codex, Legend VDP and Cote D’Ore Z will give acte de présence.

The VNO Trophy will be ridden on Thursday, the 1st of February. 

Ipsthar – Picture credit: Dirk Caremans, KWPN

Harness Highlights

Famous Harness horses Cizandro, Idol and Jesse James will be presented for a special show block for older proven Harness stallions.

Adelinde Cornelissen will present a clinic about Harness horses that do well in dressage. Several Top level combinations will be riding in this clinic: Esra de Ruiter and Halloween (Intermediate II), Anouk Noordman and Zeronica (Grand Prix), Kelly Zuidervaart and Cadans M (Grand Prix), Harmina Holwerda and Gerbrandy (Intermediate II) and Alexandra van de Sande and Kentucky (4th level).

Cadans M – Picture credit: Dirk Caremans, KWPN

Marcel Ritsma and Harman ter Harmsel will present a clinic, in which they explain why Harness horses often perform well at Top levels of Combined Driving. Indiana, Kordaat, Erdball, Oberon and Positief. Later on in the evening, the International 4-in-hand drivers Glenn Geerts, Thor van de Berge and Antoine ter Harmsel will return in the ring, each driving four of their competition horses, for a demonstration of the skills needed for this exhilaration sport.

The Fine Harness and Driving presentations will take place on Saturday, the 3rd of February. 

For the full schedule in English, click here: Program KWPN Stallion Show 2024.