Warmblood Horses

History Of Warmblood Horses

Warmblood Origins Warmbloods are a type of horse that carry several breeds within it. Warmbloods originated in Europe by selectively breeding horses for specific uses to individual European countries. The warmblood horses are named according to each country that produced them. For example, Swedish Warmbloods came from Sweden and Westphalians came from Westphalen, a northern region of Germany.

In the early 1900`s in Europe, horses were used for farming, transportation, and war. Farmers needed hardy horses to pull carts and plows. Horses suitable for that type of work had to be robust and rugged, such as Shires and cob horses. Soldiers needed agile horses with great endurance, but they also needed to be responsive and well-controlled such as the Thoroughbred and Arabian. As the kind of work required of the horses shifted, breeders began to infuse the draft bloodlines with lighter built and more refined breeds such as the Arabian and the Thoroughbred horse.

Before World War I, equestrian events were growing more popularity. In 1912, equestrian events, such as show jumping and dressage, were added to the Olympic Games. This addition to the most prestigious sporting games called for a much more powerful horse than the farming horses. Participation in these Olympic equestrian events touted futures of fame and profit for each country.

From Farming to Sport Horses
Mechanization began after World War I and horses were no longer needed for transportation after the invention of motorized vehicles. However, they were still needed for farming. The need for heavy horses exceeded the need for lighter built horses again until after World War II. In post-war Europe, breeding continued at a lower rate. But after World War II, mechanization had significantly improved, and there was no longer the need to use heavy draft horses for transportation. Once the equestrian events began again in post-war Europe, the athletic European horses began to take over the winner`s circle as more emphasis was placed upon the sport horse over the work horse.

Breeders began to develop sport horses by adding more Thoroughbred and Arabian bloodlines to the draft horse bloodlines. The combined pedigrees produced a horse that had an upright neck, sloped shoulders, wide yet strong legs, and shorter backs than their heavier built relatives. The smaller and sleeker characteristics of the Thoroughbred and Arabian reduced the size of the large draft horses while adding speed and endurance. This process of careful and selective breeding produced the first generations to today`s warmbloods. Modern warmblood horses are defined by five generations of sport horse bloodlines that were thoroughly inspected by the Warmblood breed registries.

The selective breeding continued to progress based on each country`s need and desire to excel in equestrian sports. However, there were notable differences in which events that each country`s warmblood dominated the field. For example, Germany`s warmblood excelled in show jumping while Sweden`s warmblood was better suited for dressage. These differences in abilities are still prevalent in each warmblood type today. It is typical to see German Warmbloods dominating the field in show jumping, Swedish Warmbloods in dressage, and Belgian Warmbloods in eventing.


Warmblood Registries and Societies
At first, the registries for warmbloods were based on the geographical location where the horse was born because breeders had to use local studs and mares. For example, horses that were bred in Westphalen, Germany, were registered as `Westphalians.` Horses that were bred in Holstein, Germany, were recorded as `Holsteiners.` However, if a Westphalian horse was imported to Holstein, Germany, then the Westphalian would have also been bred to Holsteiners. The geographical limitations and the individual breeding goals between each country resulted in a distinguished type of horse in each registry.

Later on, as horses were exchanged between countries and it became easier to transport horses to other nations, the registries began to have registration concerns with warmbloods that may or may not have been authentic German Warmbloods or Swedish Warmbloods being registered into their studbooks.

Warmbloods that were crossed back with foundation blood such as the draft horses were no longer eligible to be registered as true warmbloods but the horses still needed to be registered with a breeding and competitive representative body. Warmblood societies began to develop as breeders began to cross warmblood types back with draft horse blood and others were bred to more Arabians and Thoroughbreds. The societies also cover the need for registering a warmblood whose sire or dam were not registered. Warmblood societies are not as stringent about bloodstock and breeding as the registries and are typically open to all breeds of sport horses and sport ponies.

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