The Oldenburg

Oldenburg Horses

The Oldenburg Warmblood horse is bred in a small area near the modern region of Lower Saxony surrounding the city of Oldenburg , in the centre of the Hanoverian region.

The breed, also found in East Friesland , can be traced back to the 17th. century , with bloodlines and pedigree based upon the Friesian horse.

His successor Graf Anton Gunther von Oldenburg (1603 - 1667 ) travelled throughout  Europe and brought back to Oldenburg many a stallion from Naples , Spain , Poland England , Tartary and Barbary. He permitted his farm tenants and other commoners to use his stallions such that soon the 17th. century  Oldenburgs' were in great demand as elegant riding horses and tall attractive carriage horses. Anton Gunther himself was an accomplished rider , born out by his fame as a traditional dressage rider.

The war with Denmark and difficult times during the French Revolution made it difficult for Graf Anton Gunther to continue with his efforts of refining the Oldenburg warmblood horse. Government sponsored breeding entered a brief hiatus which ended in 1820. Between 1820 and 1897 , some significant events took place . In 1820 , a law was introduced which forbade the use of any other stallion other than a government - approved stallion in the breeding programme. The first of the stallion testing was in that first year held on June 30th.   The foundation of the Oldenburg studbook , the enactment of hip and neck branding for the identification of approved registered horses ( 1861 ) and the founding of two breeding societies under the breeding law of 1897 was the beginning of making the Oldenburg warmblood a highly desirable breed.

The Oldenburg warmblood horse once again took on a mantle of fame , becoming a highly desirable breed , at the time mostly as elegant  , supple , fine-moving carriage horses. Since the 1930' s , the aim of the modern Oldenburg warmblood breeder due to the decline in need for carriage horses as a result of automation ,  has concentrated upon the production of an all - purpose saddle horse. Additional thoroughbred blood was introduced to create refinement and a more rounded all - purpose horse . The winner of the 1935 Derby , Lupus xx and the Anglo-Norman , Condor ( 62.5 % Thoroughbred ) founded a new stallion line. This line produced a very consistent type of heavy , well moving , mostly black in colour , well tempered Oldenburg warmblood mares. In keeping with the requirements of the time , a stallion was required , as part of his performance tests , to pull a heavy sledge at the walk : trot before a light carriage and work at least 1000 meters under saddle.

Starting with the introduction of Adonis in 1959 , more Thoroughbreds were used to make Oldenburgs' even more elegant and refined. The results of the cross - breeding , were then combined with elegant sport - horse type stallions from France as well as the Trakehner and Hanoverians. Many pedigrees of the modern Oldenburg thus contain some of the best Hanoverian sires  such as Manolete and Miracolo and famous Trakehner horses such as Hessenstein and Herbststurm.

Due to their natural athletic ability , many Oldenburg horses are bought and trained for use as both show jumpers and dressage horses. These international sports offer  great challenges as well as significant financial rewards and horses with the ability and talent to excel in these sports often sell for very good prices .

Most of the breeding of Oldenburg horses today is in the hands of private individual breeders , closely controlled by the Oldenburg Breeding Society . Ownership of an  Oldenburg stallion by private breeders who can afford the best and most expensive stallion , has resulted in many mare owners from the surrounding Hanoverian breeding area bringing their horses to these stallions.

Coat Colour :  Various , but  usually black , brown or grey .

Compact with relatively short legs ; short cannons and with powerful hindquarters.

A long , strong neck inherited from its days as a carriage horse :

A deep chest ; large hooves able to bear the weight of such a large animal.

The Oldenburg's appearance is accentuated by kind eyes that mirror the breeds calm tractable nature. The modern Oldenburg is slightly taller and extremely elegant in contrast to many other German Warmblood horse such as the Trakehner .