Belgian Federation announces changes to name variations to sports horses.

The Belgian Federation has taken a clear stance on name changes on passports.
Based on the decision by the Council in light of the continuous requests for name changes and the addition of prefixes/suffixes for commercial purposes, from now on ponies and horses registered in Belgium for sport purposes will have to keep their original name. It will be possible however to make additions (prefix/suffix) for commercial purposes through a compensation payment and these can then be used for registration on the FEI lists.
The decision protects above all the horse breeders, who quite rightly want the original name and the breeder to remain attached to the horse, especially if the horse is paired with important athletes. Often what you find is the original name of the horse replaced with the commercial partner or the sports association tied to the horse at that moment.
The solution has been met with agreement by the horse breeders but also by the national studbooks, including BWP.