The International Sporthorse Registry (ISR) and Oldenburg Registry North America (OL NA) was founded in 1983 in order to provide high quality service to breeders of modern sport horses in North America. The Registry is not a branch of an European breed organization but has adopted the successful breeding philosophy and politics of the German Oldenburg Sport Horse.

The secret of success of the Oldenburg Sport Horse is an "open book" that accepts the best sport horses (stallions and mares) from different sport horse bloodlines - including thoroughbreds - into its breeding program.

The ISR - Oldenburg Registry North America brought this philosophy to North America and offers breeders to cross the borders of bloodline restriction for the benefit of improvement of American bred sport horses. The success of the first twenty years of the Oldenburg Registry North America can prove this breeding policy!

The difference to other registries is:

• The ISR - Oldenburg Registry North America has open books for mares and stallions which means breeding stock is accepted from various sport horse breeds and bloodlines (e.g. Hanoverian, Holstein, Dutch, Westphalian, Trakehner, Thoroughbred - and of course Oldenburgs) only based on individual quality. This guarantees that the best possible genetic sources are accessible for the breeders of ISR - Oldenburg Sport Horses in North America.
• The Registry is the only North American breed organization whose high standards require the physical inspection and evaluation of all stallions and mares as well for all foals. All inspections are conducted by approved (licensed) and independent breeding judges.
• The Registry has made the successful completion of a performance test according to the high German standards mandatory for all breeding stallions. The Registry requires stallions to either pass the 10-Day Stallion Test (Advanced Stallion Performance Test) or the 70 Day Stallion Test or the Sport Test (superior performance records at FEI levels, for details check under Inspections/Tests).

Due to the given circumstances in North America the ISR also still provides approval for mares that do not have official registration documents or proper documentation of their pedigree. Since they are - according to international standards - not eligible for the Main Mare Book, ISR maintains a Mare Book and a Pre Mare Book and provides registration and branding for their foals. For many good mares (e.g. unregistered thoroughbred mares or TB-warmblood crosses) this opens a road into the sport horse breeding on an international level and to papers for their foals.

In addition to the Pre Mare Book and the Mare Book for sport horses the ISR maintains the Sport Pony Division which provides approval and registration for sport pony stallions, mares and foals on the international level.