Two days before the world's best young dressage horses compete in their World Championships in Verden, selected mares will gather for the Herwart von der Decken Show. For the three- and four-year-old Hannoveraer and Rhineland premium mares, this show is just as much a highlight of the year as the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses candidates.
There will also be a very special highlight in the 2025 World Championship year: the Herwart von der Decken Prize, awarded as a bronze miniature “Dieta with foal”. This prize is the highest breeding award of the Hannoveraner Verband and is only awarded every four years to the winners of the family competition. In 2025, it will be time again! The Herwart von der Decken Show begins at 9 a.m. with the inspection of the jumping mares on the triangular course. Afterwards, at 9:40 a.m., the mares will show their skills in free jumping in the open air. The family competition will take place at the same time, before the triangular course belongs to the dressage mares from 1:10 p.m. The event will be broadcast live on the Internet.
World Championship titles, top mares, breeding moments – the week from 4 to 10 August in Verden will be a highlight week for horses and horse breeding. The horse24 World Championship Arena will be surrounded by almost 80 selected exhibitors on the topics of horses, lifestyle and cuisine.
Verden visitor tip: To give as many breeding enthusiasts and interested parties as possible the opportunity to experience this special week up close, admission to the Herwart von der Decken Show on Monday, 4 August, is free of charge. For the World Championship days (6 to 10 August), promenade tickets have also been made available at a price of 10 euros per day.
Ladies' choice in Verden
Four questions for breeding director Ulrich Hahne about the Herwart von der Decken Show 2025:
Kurz vor dem Startschuss – wie blicken Sie auf die Herwart von der Decken-Schau in diesem Jahr?
Ulrich Hahne: You can sense the ambition of many breeders to be there with a mare and, as every year, there is a great deal of interest in this show among many people interested in breeding. We always have a high standard at this show; after all, it features the best of our age groups, and based on the mares I have already seen at the regional mare shows, I am really looking forward to this year's Herwart von der Decken Show. I think what will be particularly special this year is the family competition. We will get to see some very high-quality families.
Since last year, four-year-old mares have also been included in the show programme again – why is that?
Ulrich Hahne: There are mares that develop a little later, that perhaps weren't quite ready at three years of age, but that should also have their chance to shine in this big showcase. That was the trigger, and I believe we are on the right track.
What are the most important criteria for you when judging the mares?
Ulrich Hahne: We focus on athleticism. We are also the only studbook, if I'm not mistaken, that shows the jumping mares over jumps at its mare show. No other studbook does that. I think that's also a sign of how important athleticism is to us.
What else makes this year's Herwart von der Decken show special?
Ulrich Hahne: Definitely our two guest judges from the Netherlands, Wiebe Yde van de Lageweg and Gertjan van Olst. Both are stallion owners, have a strong connection to sport and both have had stallions compete in the Olympic Games.
I think horse breeding in our neighbouring country is on a par with ours, both are proven horse experts and we always like to have outside experts look at our mares.
Tickets for the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship for Young Horses from 6 to 10 August at the show grounds on Lindhooper Straße in Verden are available from Ticketmaster at:
> Ticketmaster
