How to read a show jumping horse's pedigree

When evaluating a show jumping horse, the pedigree is one of the first things to read. But what do the names and abbreviations actually mean? This guide explains how to interpret it, what studbooks are, and why they matter.

How to read a pedigree

The pedigree is the horse's family tree. The three basic pieces of information are the sire (the father), the dam (the mother) and the damsire (the dam's father). It is often summarised as "Sire × Dam × Damsire", for example Cornet Obolensky × Belladonna × Lord Z.

Going up the tree you find grandparents and great-grandparents, usually across three or more generations. The dam line (the mother's family) is traditionally given great weight by breeders, as it passes on traits relevant to sport.

What studbooks and the WBFSH are

Every sport horse is registered with a studbook: the organisation that certifies the genealogy and selection criteria of a horse population. Internationally, studbooks are coordinated by the WBFSH (World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses), the umbrella organisation that connects studbooks with the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) [1][2].

The WBFSH publishes official rankings of both horses and studbooks. The studbook ranking is calculated by adding up the points of each studbook's best horses, based on validated FEI results [3]. In show jumping, according to the 2025 WBFSH rankings, the top-ranked studbook is the Selle Français [3].

The "Z" suffix and other abbreviations

You will often see horses with a letter after their name, such as "Z": it indicates registration with the Zangersheide studbook. Every registered horse receives the "Z" suffix, used as a quality label geared towards show jumping [4][5]. Other abbreviations (for example "PS" or "FZ") refer to specific breeders or studbooks.

Why pedigree matters (but isn't enough)

A strong pedigree signals genetic potential, but it does not guarantee results: actual competition performance, management and training matter too. That is why a serious evaluation always cross-references pedigree with competition history.

On HorseReport.ai you can explore the horses and browse them by sire, to see which ones share the same paternal line.