Organization

The KWPN (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands) is an association with a democratic and transparent governance structure. The association is one of the largest sport horse studbooks in the world. Members form the foundation of the studbook and, through a representative structure, have influence on the policy and direction of the organization.

Within the KWPN, there is a clear separation between policy, supervision, and implementation. Establishing and monitoring policy is assigned to elected bodies, while the day-to-day implementation takes place within the office organization. This structure ensures member involvement, expert decision-making, and continuity within both the breeding program and the organization.

The Members’ Council is the highest governing body within the KWPN and consists of elected representatives from all KWPN regions. Among other responsibilities, the Members’ Council adopts the budget and annual accounts and supervises the policy of the Executive Board at a strategic level. Under the leadership of the management team, the staff at the KWPN office in Ermelo are responsible for implementing the policy as established by the Executive Board and the Members’ Council. The board evaluates the breeding technical recommendations and bases the association’s breeding policy on these recommendations. In breeding technical matters, the Executive Board is advised by the Breeding Council.

In breeding technical matters, the Executive Board receives both solicited and unsolicited advice from the Breeding Councils of the various breeding directions: dressage horse, jumping horse, harness horse, and Gelder horse. These councils consist of breeding specialists with diverse backgrounds, appointed by the Executive Board, and provide practical expertise from the field.

The stallion selection and evaluation process takes place under the responsibility of the Stallion Selection Committees.

The KWPN has a national regional structure, and each breeding direction has one or more regions. The jumping horse and dressage horse breeding directions together have twelve regions, one for each province. Each region may establish one or more departments. The Harness Horse breeding direction has four regions: North, East, South, and West. The Gelder horse breeding direction has one region. Regional inspectors play an important role in the implementation of the breeding policy and form the link between breeders and the studbook.

The youth division of the KWPN, JongKWPN, is a region within the KWPN.