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Colts in Germany are normally presented for licensing at the age of 2½ years. Older colts of four years of age may be presented but must be ridden as well as undertaking the same evaluation procedures as the younger colts. In Australia young colts or stallions from 2½ years may be presented for Pre-Licensing where an evaluation of their suitability for breeding stallions will be assessed. Stallions may not be presented for Licensing in Australia until they have met the Performance requirement through sport.
The Committee decides where the licensing shall be held and who the classifiers who comprise the Evaluation Committee shall be. The Evaluation Commission decides on the provisional licensing of the colts.
The colt to be licensed should be presented prior to the actual licensing to the Registrar of the Society who will confirm the identity of the horse when compared with its original pedigree papers. The horse will also be measured.
Both the handler and the whip assistant must wear gold Hanoverian polo shirts which are available from the Society. There is only one whip assistant allowed per stallion.
The following areas are evaluated at the licensing:
- Free running with evaluation of the canter.
- Free jumping with three jumps – both technique and ability (scope)
- Evaluation of the walk in hand over half a long side of the arena at the completion of the free jumping.
- Presentation on a hard surface. On this occasion, conformation marks are given and the correctness of the legs is judged.
- Presentation of the individual colt at the trot on the triangle.
- Walking the colts/stallions in a group of up to ten stallions on a large circle around the triangle.
In addition to the above steps, four year old stallions should be presented under saddle in groups of four horses. Gaits and rideability will then be assessed. The impression under saddle will be included in the scores for the individual gaits, the impression of rideability will be included in the score “overall impression”. On a voluntary basis, the stallions may also be shown over four jumps under saddle.
The stallion will be considered to be licensed if has been awarded an overall mark of at least 7 (7.5 if non Hanoverian) and in each of the criteria receives no score lower than 5. The criteria are as follows:-
| Breed and Sex Type | Head |
| Conformation | Neck |
| Correctness of Gaits | Saddle Position |
| Swing & Elasticity of Trot | Frame |
| Canter | Forelegs |
| Walk | |
| Free jumping – Scope
Technique |
|
| Total Impression and Development | |
Stallions licensed at a licensing of the Verband or its daughter Societies will have this result recognised by the Society in Australia.
In order for a colt to be accepted for licensing, the following conditions are to be fulfilled.
He must be at least two (2) years old.
His ancestry must correspond to the conditions for registration in the Stallion Book.
Original pedigree papers must be forwarded to the Society.
The horse must be DNA.
A satisfactory veterinary report must be furnished by the owners of the colt.