The Holsteiner Breed

1. The typical Holsteiner is an athletic, big lined and expressive riding horse gifted for jumping, but also talented for dressage and eventing.
2. The modern Holsteiner is of medium frame and stands 16-17 hands, with a powerful hind leg, strong back and loin.
3. The Holsteiner studbook is one of the smallest studbooks in Europe-approximately 6% of the total population. However, it has consistently produced some of the world’s most successful international horses in all disciplines.
Holsteiners are uncomplicated and reliable horses with strong nerves. The well balanced temperament and the outstanding character are of great importance.
4. Five Holsteiner won medals in the Olympic Nations Cup of Athens
5. Waterford Crystal a 13 year old Holsteiner gelding won the individual Olympic gold medal in Athens. Waterford is Landgraf I - Corvado
6. Over and over again talented horses are sold in this classical autumn auction, horses that later on were successful in the sport and breeding. Dobel’s Cento (Capitol I – Caletto II for example) was sold in Neumünster and later became part of the winning German Olympic team. This success is what has made the Holsteiner elite auctions an outstanding event.

History of the Holsteiner Breeding

The Holsteiner horse originated in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Northern Germany and is the product of a systematic breeding program that originated over 700 years ago. Great pride was taken in selecting the best quality mares and stallions and in keeping accurate breeding records. Number, called stamms or stems, were assigned to each new mare line and were passed down through the generations from mother to daughter. This practice is still in existence today.

By the sixteenth century, the Holsteiner was known throughout Europe as a tall, powerful, elegant riding and driving horse. With their elegance, charisma, and willing style Holsteiners became the mount of choice for European royalty, and became the warhorse preferred for their armies as well.

Holsteiner Horse breeding continued to flourish in the region throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and in 1713, the crown instituted annual inspections and approvals defining the breed and controlling the direction in which it would develop. In 1730, the Equerry to the King of France, De la Enérinière (who is still revered for his contributions to the art of equitation) praised the Holsteiners aptitude as jumpers, their ability to perform airs above the ground, their beauty and elegant action.

In the early part of the nineteenth century, the Duke of Austenberg introduced thoroughbreds to the Holstein line. The advent of artillery was reducing the need for heavy horses of war, and the network of roads throughout Europe had been developed to the extent that the call now was for a lighter horse capable of comfortably transporting riders or driver over long distances. The versatile, elegant Holsteiner welcomed the refinement and stamina of the thoroughbred, and the Holsteiner became the new performance horse for the European road.

In 1830, Royal Horse Agent Jakob Olde began to import Yorkshire Coach horses, a line used in England and proven not on the track but on the mail routes of the English countryside. These horses brought a fresh line of stamina and energy, but contributed more bone than the lighter Thoroughbred. The resulting combination of the calm, but powerful and elegant old school with the fresh bloodlines promoted the Holsteiner to new popularity.

The German State stepped in and took over the Holsteiner Verband in 1926, appropriating their stallions and taking on the judging of the horses. The decimation of the Second World War cost the Holsteiner line terribly, and the numbers of registered Holsteiners were greatly reduced. Before the war, there were six foundation stallion bloodlines. After the war only the Achille line survived. In the years following the war, the use of cars, trucks and tractors gradually eliminated the traditional role of the Holstein horse almost entirely. Holsteiners, like all horses, became animals of pleasure and not of need. While the Holsteiner made a dramatic impact as a sport horse, the State bureaucracy was not designed for the art of horse breeding. The State continued to manage the Holsteiner breed until 1960, when it was decided that there was no real justification for the costs involved in maintaining the Holsteiner stud. Within days of the state's disbanding of its stud, determined horseman had stepped in to save the ancient line. They purchased thirty-three of the state's stallions, and formed the Verband der Züchter des Holsteiner Pferdes that we know today.

The Verband's immediate focus was on the development of the Holsteiner as a sport horse. Building on the inherent strengths of the ancient lines- their endurance, willingness to work, athletic capabilities, elegance and reliable temperament, the Verband once again turned to outside bloodlines to reaffirm the performance capability of the ancient breed. The foundation mare lines remained unaltered; the stallion pool was expanded to include horses from other registries with the desired characteristics for the sport horse the Holsteiner would become. The Verband welcomed thoroughbred stallions Marlon, Ladykiller, Cottage Son, Manometer, Anblick, and Frivol; the anglo-arab Ramzes; and the great Celle de Francaise stallion Cor de la Bryére.

These excellent stallions bloodlines were mingled in with the ancient mare lines, and the modern Holsteiner- an elegant, powerful horse; tall, with calm disposition and huge athletic talent, had been born.

The small numbers of forceful bloodlines is one of the secrets of the Holstein breed. The international successes substantiate the logic of this resolutely applied breeding concept.

Four stallion lines play a dominant role in Holstein breeding today. These are based on the foundation sires Ladykiller xx, Cor de la Bryére, Cottage Son xx and Ramzes. In his 14 years of application in breeding, the legendary Ladykiller xx presented 35 approved sons and just as many state premium mares. Horses from the Ladykiller xx line that went down into the annals of breeding history include foremost, Lorenz, Lepanto, Ladalco, Lagos as well as Liostro and not to forget Landgraf I and his half-brother Lord.

Landgraf I, who passed away at the age of 30 years in 1996, was already a legend in the history of horse breeding while he was still alive. Fifty-six of his sons were licensed for Holstein up to today. Of his 337 registered daughters, 258 are listed in the principal studbook and 68 have even been awarded the state premium. The successes of the Landgraf I progeny in competition sport, with a total winnings sum of in excess of five million Deutschmarks is unequalled anywhere in the world.

No other stallion has had such an influence on the Holstein breed as Cor de la Bryère, who was brought to Schleswig-Holstein from Normandy in 1971. He has thus far presented 44 approved sons and 65 state premium daughters. Characteristic for him and his progeny are their great capacity, outstanding leg technique and dexterity in jumping. His sons Calypso I and II, Calando I and Caletto, who stem from what in breeding history can be described as an "optimal mating combination", substantiate the exceptional quality and prepotency of this stallion. They, similar to Corrado and numerous other successful offspring in competition sport, have already had great influence on the Holstein breed.

Mare Bloodlines - the Foundation of the Holstein Breed

Wise progressive thinkers in the late 19th century already recognized the significance of the continual documentation of the mare families and introduced a simple numbering system. Georg Asbahs published the first volume of the studbooks in the Holstein marshlands in 1886. He collected data on the origin of the horses by means of laborious manual work and classed it to the individual mare families. He then assigned numbers to these families, which led to the so-called lineage or bloodline numbers that are still used today. Volume I of the book already contained precise provisions for the quality of mares required. At that time already, the mares were evaluated by a score based on six characteristics, namely origin, size, elegance, gaits and bone structure, with a points scale ranging from 0 to 8.

Breeding perfection for more than 100 years

As is common knowledge today, sensational breeding horses are seldom products of co-incidence. As a rule, they tend to come from well bred mare lines, which world class sires with the format of Landgraf I (mare line 275), Ramiro (mare line 776), Lord (bloodline 1298) or Capitol I (bloodline 173) impressively substantiate. The Elmshorn Riding and Driving School, the seat of the Holstein Association, is the centre for the sale of Holstein horses.