Origin
Germany
History
The Trakehner originated early in the 13th century, in what used to be East Prussia. At this time, the province was colonized by the Order of Teutonic Knights, who established a horse-breeding industry using the indigenous Schweiken pony as a base. The Schweiken, much used in farming, was a descendant of the Konik itself a descendant of the Tarpan.
Early in the 18th century, King Frederick William I of Prussia, father of Frederick the Great saw the need for a new type of cavalry horse for the Prussian army. He chose the best horses from his royal breeding farms, and in 1732 moved them to the new royal stud at Trakehnen. Arab, Thoroughbred, and Turkoman blood was used, and careful selective breeding developed the Trakehnen horse into a fixed breed. In 1787, after the death of Frederick, the stud was transferred to state ownership. With the basis of the hardy native Lithuanian horses, Thoroughbred, Mecklenburg, Danish, and Turkish blood was used. Between 1817 and 1837, the blood of selected English Thoroughbreds and Arabs was added to the breed.
The Trakehner stud book was started in 1878.
The stud at Trakehnen was forced to evacuate several times and especially in 1944 as World War II drew near its end. As the Russian army advanced on East Prussia, orders were issued to evacuate the horses from the Trakehnen Stud. Many of the best horses were transferred both by foot and rail but did not go far enough west, and most of them, along with their papers, fell into the hands of the Russian occupation forces and were shipped to Russia.
The greatest influence on the Trakehner breed was the English Thoroughbred Perfectionnist, a son of Persimmon. The Perfectionist/Tempelhüter line, and the Dingo line, which owed much to Tempelhüter´s daughters, provide the base for the modern Trakehner.
Although Trakehner breeding is centered on West Germany, Trakehners are bred in many European countries from Poland to the UK.
Description
- Head:
elegant and refined, broad between the large and expressive eyes - Conformation:
-long and crested neck
-deep chest
-well muscled and sloping shoulder
-quite pronounced withers
-straight and short back
-gently sloped croup
-well muscled legs with a solid hoof - Average height:
16 to 16.2 h.h. - Colours:
most commonly chestnut, bay, brown, black, or more rarely grey - Temperament:
spirited, intelligent, sensitive - Today:
it is a superb sport horse which is successful in international competition since the Second World War. While Trakehners compete in nearly all equestrian disciplines, they are particularly prized as Dressage mounts.
