800 YEARS OF THE HOLSTEINER HORSE

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The Count and the Monastery

The history of the Holsteiner horse traces back to the year 1225.Gerhard I, count of Schleswig- Holstein and Stormarn, granted the Uetersen monastery the right to graze its horses on the uncultivated land of county Pinneberg. Already under King Christian I (1460-1481), Holstein had a state stud department.
 

The Rural Breeding

For centuries, the Holsteiner horse has been bred by farmers. The breed originated in the marsh lands of the river Elbe and the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein. Then bred as an agricultural horse, the breeding goal included particular traits like the characteristic breed type which could be described as expressive, with a lot of frame, substance, and bone due to the selective insertion of Thoroughbred blood. 

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At that time, Holsteiners used to have predominantly bay coats and were noted and appreciated for their performance traits well beyond the borders of the country.

Particularly as exclusive driving horses, highly impressive for their type and their typical Holsteiner, ground-covering and high striding gaits, the breed attracted attention during the 18th century.

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But also among farmers, the Holsteiner horses had a reputation for their performance attitude and hardiness, traits they had been highly selectively bred for owing to the difficult soil of the Holsteiner marshes.

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In 1883, the horse breeding societies already in existence in the 19th century united to form the first horse breeding association in the Kremper Marsch. In 1935, this association joined forces with the "Verband des Schleswig-Holsteiner Geestlandes" established in 1896 to form the "Verband der Züchter des Holsteiner Pferdes".

More Recent Breeding

In 1944, the brand still in existence today was introduced. After World War II, the land between the seas saw an alarming decrease in horses. In 1960, with only 1311 Holsteiner mares left, the Schleswig-Holstein Parliament decided to dissolve the Traventhal state stud established in 1874.

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After a great deal of discussion, the Verband took over almost the entire Traventhal stallion portfolio and went on to build the Elmshorn stallion depot over the years. Currently round about 70 Verband-owned and approximately 200 privately owned activated Holsteiner stallions are bred, with about 8000 brood mares registered in Holstein today.

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The Systematic Breeding Records

In 1883, Georg Ahsbahs of Sommerlander Riep issued the first stud book. The mare families or stems still in existence and continued today that form the basis of today’s Holsteiner breeding originate from this systematic breeding records. However, by the middle of the 20th century the Holsteiner Verband has seen the adaption of the breed from agricultural horse to sport horse. Again, primarily English Thoroughbred stallions were successfully used to improve and refine the Holsteiner breed as they found an excellent basis in the consolidated Holsteiner mare families.

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With the arrival of heavy machinery in agriculture at the end of the fifties, the Holstein horse had lost its right to exist as a "worker" in the fields. In order to refine the type that had previously been of a high calibre and to turn it into a modern sport horse, the breeding management decided 40 years ago to use thoroughbred stallions. During the 1960s alone, more than 25 TB sires were put to stud in the land between the seas, with one stallion in particular to put his stamp on the breed at this time: 

Ladykiller xx

Ladykiller is a TB stallion born in England in 1961.

He delivered 35 state premium mares and just as many licensed stallions, including Landgraf I, who was already commemorated in front of the Elmshorn stables during his lifetime. His offspring have so far won more than 7 million mark in sport, and his numerous sons and daughters ensure that this valuable blood is passed on worldwide. Lord, the second outstanding son of Ladykiller, is also the founder of his own stallion line and also the father of the unforgotten Livius.

Cor de la Bryère

Cor de la Bryère, who died in 1999 at the venerable age of 31, must be mentioned in the same breath with Landgraf I. Along with Ladykiller, "Corde", as he is affectionately called by the breeders, has had the greatest impact on modern sport horse breeding in the land between the seas.

Capitol I

Another stallion to have made Holsteiner breeding history is Capitol I. Capitol I is the sire of numerous world-famous show jumpers, including the 2001 World Cup winner, Dobel's Cento and Carthago Z, both of whom took part in the Olympic Games in Sydney. With these two licensed stallions Capitol also achieved a success at the CHIO Aachen in 2000 that no sire has ever had before: 1st place Cento and 2nd place Carthago in the Grand Prix of Aachen. Their offspring are also very successful. In the meantime Caretino, who is internationally successful in sport himself, and Contender have succeeded in succeeding the three heroes with successful offspring in sport and breeding.

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World Breeding Federation

Due to existing breed characteristics including willingness to perform, hardiness, and jumping ability the Holsteiner sport horse has gained a foothold on the competition scene very quickly. The Holsteiners take a top position in the worldwide jumper stud book ranking of the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horse (WBFSH). Holsteiner sport horses have made it to the forefront in the disciplines dressage and eventing, as well. This success is due to the consolidated Holsteiner damlines bred to English Thoroughbred improvement sires and the selective inclusion of French sport horse performance genes. Moreover, exceptional performance stallions have been selectively included into the breeding programme on a trial basis.

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The Breeding Goal

The Holstein breed itself has been one of the best show jumping and eventing breeds in the world for decades. In addition, Holstein genetics also serve as the basis for success in numerous other show jumping breeds. In almost 150 years of breeding history, Holstein breeders have succeeded in developing the former commercial horse into a high-performance sport partner. In doing so, a clear breeding goal is pursued: A correct, typeful, modern and particularly powerful horse for top sport is bred, which is able to cope with the increased technical requirements in jumping and eventing. With its effective movement and a clear canter, it is also desired for the higher dressage sport. As a matter of principle, animal welfare is given high priority in all selection decisions based on the above-mentioned breeding objective.

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In every horse breeding, standing still means taking a step backwards in the long run, which is why the Holsteiner Verband must also adapt to the constantly changing market. The modern equestrian sport of today, requires first and foremost an easy to ride and modern sport partner. Since Holstein breeders have pushed the use of thoroughbreds from early on and have always attached importance to type, the Holstein horse meets these requirements. In both type and movement, the Holstein horse has distinct advantages. In future mating decisions, breeders should increasingly use responsive, wealthy stallions with strong type, which in combination with the consolidated mare base, performance tested if possible, will lead to sustainable breeding success. In addition, health and good character traits should always be considered in any breeding decision.

The Basis of the Holsteiner Breed

The mare lines or stems are of particular importance in the Holsteiner studbook. The first studbook published in 1897 was compiled by Georg Ahsbahs who traced back the mare families to the beginning of the 19th century, assigning stem numbers to each of them. This system is still used today and the envy of many other breed societies. Already at that time the mares were evaluated and received scores on six traits, bloodline, height, colour, elegance, movement, and bone structure. These days, evaluation has been much improved, but is still based on that method. By the late 1980s, Holstein had developed a system to evaluate performance in young mares, the so called mare tests, a yardstick for all European sport horse stud books.

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400 Mares Per Year

Other than the evaluation of type, the inspection of the mares focuses on the three basic gaits. Every year, some 400 mares are entered into the studbook for mares (central studbook) according to this strict standard. The scores they receive determine the designation:

• Mares receiving 47 points or above for type, top line, front legs, hind legs, walk, trot, and canter are awarded District Premium status.

• Those scoring 52 or above Verband Premium status. After having successfully passed the mare performance test (min. average mark 7.0), a Verband Premium mare is awarded the designation “State Premium mare”, a title much coveted by the breeders.

The title "State Premium Mare” only obtained by some 50 mares of every age group.

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SOURCE: Taken from the Holsteiner Verband website ~ www.holsteiner-verband.de