Trakehner
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Trakehner can also refer to a type of Cross-country equestrianism jump
Trakehner is a horse breed. It is the purest of the warmblood breeds, due to the fact that it is the only warmblood breed that has a closed stud book. The Trakehner is generally of a lighter type than most other warmbloods.
The Trakehner typically stands between 15.2-17 hands high. Trakehners can be any color, with bay, gray, chestnut and black being the most common, though the breed also includes roan and tobiano pinto horses. It is considered to be the lightest and most refined of the warmbloods, due to its closed studbook which allows entry of only Trakehner, Thoroughbred, and Arabian lines.
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[edit] Breed Characteristics
Owing to its Thoroughbred ancestry, the Trakehner is of rectangular build, with a long sloping shoulder, good hindquarters, short cannons, and a medium-long, crested and well-set neck. The head is often finely chiseled, narrow at the muzzle, with a broad forehead. It is known for its "floating trot" - full of impulsion and suspension. The Trakehner possesses a strong, medium-length back and powerful hindquarters.
Trakehners are athletic and trainable, with good endurance, while some are more spirited than horses of other warmblood breeds. Trakehners breed true to type, due to the purity of the bloodlines, making it valuable for upgrading other warmbloods.
[edit] Breed History
The breed's origins trace back to the native East Prussian Schwaike (now extinct), a small primitive horse first discovered by the Knights Templar in the 13th Century. Descendants of the Schwaike were used by East Prussian farmers for light utility work.
In 1732 King Frederick William I of Prussia established the Main Stud Trakehnen at the East Prussian town Trakehnen (now Yasnaya Polyana, Russia). In the years between 1817 and 1837, the stud added Arabian, Thoroughbred, and Turkish blood to their horses. One especially influential Thoroughbred was Perfectionist, by Persimmon, who won the Epsom Derby and the St. Leger in 1896. He was to be the sire of the great Trakehner stallion Tempelhüter, and most modern Trakehners can be traced to these two stallions. The Arabian blood was added to offset can possible flaws of the Thoroughbred.
East Prussian farmers were encouraged to bring their mares, by then known for their hardness and quality, to Trakehnen's stallions, which allowed for the rapid transformation of the breed into much sought after army remounts; sure-footed, intelligent, and athletic. By 1918, 60,000 mares were bred to East Prussian stallions each year.
In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles limited Germany's army to 100,000 troops and so the breed's focus was again turned to producing horses suitable to farm duties. For this purpose, heavier reinforcement sires were used, the most successful being Ararad, Dampfross, Hyperion, Pythagoras and Tempelhüter. These stallions, while refined, possessed much substance and bone. Their influence is still seen on the modern Trakehner.
It was during the 1920s and 1930s that the breed was seen for the true performance horse it was. Trakehners won gold and silver medals in two Olympics, and won Czechoslovakia's notoriously challenging Velka Pardubicka steeplechase nine times. In the 1930s, there were more than 10,000 breeders and 18,000 registered mares.
World War II nearly destroyed the breed. As the war neared its end and the Russian troops advanced from the East, the Main Stud and local residents were given permission to evacuate. Their journey West, known as "The Flight", sent the horses on a dangerous journey in frigid conditions, across frozen seas, without proper rations or shelter. The horses left behind became important in the breeding of Russian breeds as well as the Polish Mazury (also known as the Masuren) and Pozan (or Poznan), which developed into the Wielkopolski. When the war was over, the breed which once numbered in the tens of thousands was reduced to approximately 600 broodmares and 50 stallions.
The surviving horses were accounted for and on October 23, 1947 the East Prussian Studbook Society was dissolved and the Association of Breeders and Friends of the Warmblood Horse of Trakehner Origin, known today as the Trakehner Verband, was created. Among the greatest obstacles the organization faced was that unlike other German breeds, the Trakehner had no mother state and could not depend on government funding. The re-establishment of the breed originally depended on the determination of its members and the largesse of others.
True pure-bred Trakehner show the Ostpreußische Elchschaufel (East-Prussian moose horn) branding (see Image above).
[edit] The Modern Trakehner
Today in Europe the breed is considered a Federal responsibility, with its governance falling under both the Trakehner Verband and the Trakehner Gesellschaft mbH; the latter handling all business operations.
Stallion inspections are held each October and approved stallions are required to complete extended performance tests, which rate the horses' gaits, temperament, jumping ability, and suitability over a cross country course, before being given full breeding licenses.
The Trakehner is used as a "refiner" of other breeds, allowing an infusion of Thoroughbred and Arabian blood without the risks often involved in first generation outcrosses. Influential stallions include Abglanz for the Hanoverian, Herbststurm who influenced the Oldenburg, Marco Polo for the Dutch Warmblood, the stallions Ibikus and Donauwind for the Danish Warmblood, and Polarstern for the Swedish Warmblood.
While Trakehners compete in nearly all equestrian disciplines, they are particularly prized as Dressage mounts, due to their sensitivity, intelligence and way of going. Peron anchored the U.S. Team to an Olympic Bronze in 1996 at Atlanta. Abdullah, by Donauwind, is particularly famous for his show jumping team gold and individual silver medals at the 1984 Olympics and 1985 World Cup win. Heuringer was the 1994 show jumping team silver medallist at the 1994 World Equestrian Games.
Due to their very light build, Trakehners tend to do better in the sport of eventing than most other warmblood breeds. One such example is USA 2004 Olympic team bronze medallist Windfall *PG* 2.
