A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a limited geographic region, or even feral "breeds" that are naturally selected. Depending on definition, hundreds of "breeds" exist today, developed for many different uses. Horse breeds are loosely divided into three categories based on general temperament: spirited "hot bloods" with speed and endurance; "cold bloods," such as draft horses and some ponies, suitable for slow, heavy work; and "warmbloods," developed from crosses between hot bloods and cold bloods, often focusing on creating breeds for specific riding purposes, particularly in Europe.
The Groninger or Groningen is a Dutch horse breed developed for light draft and agricultural work. It is closely related to heavy warmblood breeds like the East Friesian and Alt-Oldenburger. The breed was nearly lost in the mid-20th century because a significant number of mares were used for crossbreeding to create the Dutch Warmblood, leaving few purebreds.
The Hanoverian is a Warmblood horse breed originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and has won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions. It is one of the oldest, most numerous, and most successful of the Warmblood breeds. Originally a cavalry horse, infusions of more Thoroughbred blood lightened it to make it more agile and useful for competition. The Hanoverian is known for a good temperament, athleticism, beauty, and grace.
The Oldenburg or Oldenburger is a warmblood horse from the north-western corner of Lower Saxony, what was formerly the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. The breed was built on a mare base of all-purpose farm and carriage horses, today called the Alt-Oldenburger. The modern Oldenburg is managed by the Association of Breeders of the Oldenburger Horse, which enacts strict selection of breeding stock to ensure that each generation is better than the last. Oldenburgers are tall sport horses with excellent gaits and jumping ability. The breeding of Oldenburg horses is characterized by very liberal pedigree requirements and the exclusive use of privately owned stallions rather than restriction to a state-owned stud farm.
The Württemberger, Baden-Württemberger or Württemberg is a Warmblood horse breed originating in Germany. They are primarily riding horses, and are selectively bred for dressage and show jumping.
Abdullah was a Trakehner stallion ridden by Conrad Homfeld. He won many international titles in the sport of show jumping, and is considered by some to be the best Trakehner ever to compete in the show-jumping ring. Abdullah was inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 2009.
The American Warmblood is a horse of warmblood type, intended primarily for the traditional sport horse disciplines of dressage, show jumping, eventing and combined driving.
The Belgian Warmblood or Belgisch Warmbloedpaard is a Belgian breed of warmblood sport horse. It is bred principally for show-jumping, but is also suitable for dressage and for three-day eventing. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the Zangersheide and the Belgian Sport Horse – to which last it is quite similar.
The Westphalian or Westfalen is a warmblood horse bred in the Westphalia region of western Germany. The Westphalian is closely affiliated with the state-owned stud farm of Warendorf, which it shares with the Rhinelander. Since World War II, the Westphalian horse has been bred to the same standard as the other German warmbloods, and they are particularly famous as Olympic-level show jumpers and dressage horses. Next to the Hanoverian, the Westphalian studbook has the largest breeding population of any warmblood in Germany.
The Bavarian Warmblood is a horse breed of southern Germany that developed from an older Bavarian heavy warmblood breed called the Rottaler. Since mechanization in the mid-20th century, the Bavarian Regional Horse Breeders' Society has concentrated on producing a riding horse for the Olympic disciplines and recreational riding based on other European warmblood bloodlines.
The Deutsche Reitpony or German Riding Pony is a very popular pony breed in Germany. It is described as a "miniature warmblood" with refined, horse-like characteristics that make it suitable as both a children's pony and as a mount for sport horse competition in Europe. Originally bred in Germany and later throughout Western Europe, the breed is relatively new to North America.
An Austrian Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Warmblutzucht in Österreich. Although the studbook is made up of jumping and dressage horses from many other countries, the mare base consists of native horses with a long history. The AWÖ keeps an open studbook, in which mares and stallions must pass rigorous inspections before becoming breeding stock.
The heavy warmbloods are a group of horse breeds primarily from continental Europe. The title includes the Ostfriesen and Alt-Oldenburger ("Old-Oldenburger"), Groningen, and similar horses from Silesia, Saxony-Thuringia, and Bavaria. Breeds like the Hungarian Nonius, Kladruber, and Cleveland Bay are also often classed as "heavy warmbloods." They are the ancestors of the modern warmbloods, and are typically bred by preservation groups to fit the pre-World War I model of the all-purpose utility horse. Unlike the registries of the sport horses that followed them, many heavy warmblood registries maintain closed or partly closed studbooks. However, external evaluation and performance testing of the breeding stock is still a key element in these registries. Many of the heavy warmbloods are selected primarily for family-friendly temperaments.
Studbook selection is a process used in certain breeds of horses to select breeding stock. It allows a breed registry to direct the evolution of the breed towards the ideal by eliminating unhealthy or undesirable animals from the population. The removal of individuals from a population is called culling, and does not suggest killing the animal in question. Typically, culls are castrated or they and their offspring are unable to be registered.
The Alt-Oldenburger and Ostfriesen are representatives of a group of horse breeds primarily from continental Europe called heavy warmbloods. The breed has two names because the same horse was bred in two regions in the most north-western part of Germany: East Frisia and the former grand duchy of Oldenburg. The name "Alt-Oldenburger" - alt meaning "old" - simply distinguishes this horse from its descendant, the modern Oldenburg, which is bred for sport.
The Zweibrücker is a type of German warmblood horse bred in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. Traditionally, the breeding of Zweibrücken was centered on the onetime Principal Stud of Zweibrücken but since 1977 has been under the jurisdiction of the Horse Breeders' Association of Rhineland-Palatinate-Saar (PRPS). The modern Zweibrücker is an elegant, large-framed, correct sport horse with powerful, elastic gaits suitable for dressage, show jumping, eventing and combined driving.
German warmblood may refer generally to any of the various warmblood horses of Germany, or more specifically to a warmblood registered with the nationwide German Horse Breeding Society. Beneath the umbrella term German warmblood are several regional variations on a singular standard; individual German warmblood types are not necessarily considered "breeds", because they have an open stud book and freely exchange genetic material between each other, with other warmblood types, with Anglo-Arabians, and with breeds like the Thoroughbred, Arabian, and Trakehner. All horses that are warmbloods and bred in Germany are named after the region in which they are born in. There is an exception to this and that is the Trakehner breed.
A part-Arabian, partbred Arabian or, less precisely, half-Arabian, is a horse with documented amounts of Arabian horse breeding but not a purebred. Because the Arabian is deemed to be a breed of purebred horse dating back many centuries, the modern breed registries recognized by the World Arabian Horse Organization generally have tightly closed stud books which exclude a horse from registration if it is found to contain any outside blood. However, Arabian breeding has also been used for centuries to add useful traits to countless other horse breeds. In the modern era, crossbreeding has been popular to combine the best traits of two different breeds, such as color, size, or ability to specialize in a particular equestrian discipline.
The Baroque Pinto is a Dutch horse breed of Baroque type founded in the 1950s and 1960s, using the Friesian horse, Dutch Warmblood (KWPN), German Warmblood, and other European warmblood breeds for its foundation stock. Some consider it to be a type of Friesian cross or Friesian Sporthorse, while others consider it to be its own breed.
