Origin
Germany
History
The best of the German coldblood horses was the old Rhenish-German or Rhineland heavy draft horse, based largely on the Belgian Brabant. It was once a popular workhorse in Rhineland, Westphalia, and Saxony, but when motorization began to take place and with modern agricultural practice, the breed became redundant. Nonetheless, the Rhenish Stud Book was never closed, and breeders, using the lighter specimens of the old breed, moved toward creating the warmblood riding horse now called the Rhinelander.
By the 1970s there were programs to produce a recognizable type of riding horse for the growing leisure market. Stallions from the Hanover-Westphalia area were used on warmblood mares sired by Thorougbreds, Trakehners and Hanoverians, out of dams claiming a relationship with the old Rhenish breed. From this mix of bloods, half-bred stallions were selected from which the modern Rhinelander has been developed. The early specimens lacked bone, but that failing has now be eliminated. Breeders have concentrated on improving conformation and establishing the straight, elastic action for which the German breeds are particularly noted.
Description
- Head:
plain but pleasing in its outlook - Conformation:
-strong neck, somewhat thick and short
-strong, heavy shoulders lacking length
-adequately well formed hooves but small and narrow in relation to the large body - Average height:
about 16.2 h.h. - Colours:
often chestnut - Temperament:
equable - Today:
the Rhinelander is a riding horse which is well suited to the needs of the club rider. It may not yet be in the same class as the better-known Hanoverians and Holsteiners, but it is, nonetheless, a useful, if unpretentious, riding horse.
