Trakehners UK - Horse History - Author Greenacres Stud

Trakehner Horse History

Greenacres Stud

The Trakehner is a truly versatile horse !

The Trakehner is the oldest and most highly - bred of all the warmblood horse breeds. The royal main stud Trakehnen situated in East Prussia was founded in 1732 by King Friedrich Wilhelm 1 . The Trakehner , today's only purebred riding horse breed , was systematically created from the native breed with a major influence of Arabian and Thoroughbred blood.

Before World War II , the Trakehners , which were bred as cavalry mounts in the first place , were the most successful sports horses and hunters . In the 1936 Olympics Trakehner horses won six gold medals and one silver medal.

( In recent years , the success of the Trakehner as a competition horse is born out by the fact that horses such as Abdullah won a team Gold and individual silver medal in show jumping for the USA at the 1984 Olympics and Goldkorn by Istanbul was the winner of the Danish Show Jumping Derby in 1989. )

At the end of 1944 however , horse breeding in East Prussia came to a sudden end. Innumerable families fled westward in the face of the Russian invasion. The survivors of this harrowing flight owed their lives to their Trakehner horses. From the main stud Trakehnen itself only 27 broodmares could be saved ... but the breed continued to live on !

In 1956 , with only 602 mares and 45 stallions left , the Trakehner population had reached rock bottom. Today however , the actual stock registered with the Trakehner Verband comprises more than 5000 broodmares and 300 stallions. This makes the Trakehner one of the most significant German riding horse breeds.

The first Trakehners were imported into Great Britain in 1960 by the Muschamp Stud and since that time they have steadily gained in popularity.

Today , the Trakehner Breeders Fraternity ( TBF ) , soon to be marketed under the name Trakehners UK , are the controlling body in the UK , licensed by the Trakehner Verband GmbH in Germany to register , grade and brand horses in the main stud book with the distinctive double Elk horn brand with the inverted ' V ' beneath to denote " British Bred " .

The reasons why we at Greenacres Stud choose to use the Trakehner stallion .

Contrary to the popular belief of our friends that it was because our bankers use a black Trakehner stallion as their logo , the actual fact is , the Trakehner stallion has been proven to be one of the most valuable sires used to improve and upgrade stock from mares whose owners want to breed a competition horse. This certainly was the case at Greenacres Stud when we decided to embark upon breeding our own team of show jumping horses . The Trakehner horse is renowned for its grace , power and magnificent movement . With respect to Show Jumping , we have chosen Trakehner horses for their pedigree which give them a good temperament , natural balance and alert yet level headed ability to undertake intense work and concentration when asked.

Further proof of the high calibre of the Trakehner horse can also be found at Dressage Grand Prix Level where the famous Reiner Klimke has ridden many Trakehner horses including the famous Fabian and Biotop . Olympic dressage Trakehner horses include TCN Partout and Peron . The stallion Va Tout was the most successful dressage horse worldwide in 1985.

For ourselves , we can only hope that our own Part Bred Trakehner horses achieve a fraction of the success of the prolific show jumping horse Milton with his part Trakehner blood inherited from Marco Polo. Our first part bred Trakehner foal has got off to a good start however by winning the TBF Part Bred Youngstock Championship in 2003.

General Breed Characteristics

Origin : Poland / Germany

Colour : Any solid colour

Height : 16 - 16.2 Hands

Conformation : Attractive head with long neck , high withers ,deep chest and rounded hindquarters , good feet .

Uses : Competition , Show Jumping , Riding.

Trakehner Horse