2024 Inspection Schedule for North America

We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Inspection schedule is posted on the Inspection tab of the Friesian Horse Association’s website. For background, Inspection applications from potential Site Hosts are due October 15 for the following calendar year. These Site Host Applications can be found on the Inspection page; the website has applications for public venues and for private venues. The following outlines the review and approval process that was conducted following the Site Host application due date.

o   Site Host applications were reviewed by the Inspection Committee following October 15. The Inspection Committee reviewed:

§  The geographical area of the proposed Inspection site;

§  The proximity of other Inspections in that geographical region;

§  And the projected number of horses anticipated at the site.

·         Note – Up to last year twenty horses were needed to cover the costs of the Inspection logistics including judges’ flights, ground travel, hotels, meals and the like in the past. Now, due to inflation and the high costs of travel, this benchmark had to be increased in 2024 to twenty-four horses in order for a site to be financially feasible.

§  If there was an Inspection held in that area in prior years, past entries are also reviewed for trends to determine if there is a pattern of the entry numbers.

• o   Participants’ feedback if the applicant hosted Inspections in the past;
• o   Cost (fees) for attending the Inspection;
• o   And the feedback from the KFPS as it relates to the judges’ availability to travel to and tour across North America.
• o   The Finance Committee reviewed the anticipated Circuit costs along with the projected Inspection revenue to predict if the Circuits are financially feasible.
• o   The Board of Director reviewed the proposed Inspection sites and Circuits, made recommendations to the Inspection Committee when adjustments were needed, and approved the final Inspection plan for North America.

This year, sixteen sites were approved based on projections to meet the twenty-four horse threshold, historical entry trends, and members’ feedback. Reducing the number of sites approved in 2024 was a very difficult decision for the Inspection Committee and the Board of Directors. However, we need to be responsible stewards of our association’s finite funds. We are sincerely sorry for any inconvenience or frustration these decisions has caused our members affected by this decision.

Moving forward we do encourage members to apply in 2025. For those not meeting the twenty-four horse threshold, having one year off may lead to a larger number of entries in the 2025 Inspection cycle. The Inspection Committee and the Board are also considering other options for hosting and as these are developed, we will provide periodic updates to our membership. This includes but is not limited to consolidation of adjacent sites or approving Inspections at a low volume location every other year. While the Inspection Committee and the Board has historically approved low volume sites on a every other year rotation (or three year), these sites are considered solely on the fact that they are very remotely located from other Inspection sites.

The Inspection Committee and the Board of Directors would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of our hardworking Inspection site hosts and volunteers, our generous sponsors and donors, all of our Inspection participants and attendees, and  we would like to extend our gratitude to the KFPS Judges and Jury who make these events possible.

Inspection Committee Members:  Marq Laude, Chair, Tiffany van der Kooi, Rick Butts, Annie Muilwijk, Carrie Blair, Julie Karpus, Annette Carpenter, Jason Tice, Executive Director, and Jo Clough, Board Liaison.