The Trakehner is the Original Warmblood--the oldest Warmblood breed in the world. The Trakehner, more properly known as the East Prussian Warmblood Horse of Trakehner Origin has an history which reaches back more than 400 years.
Anno 1732: King Friedrich Wilhelm I founded the Central Stud in Trakehnen, East Prussia, by decree. At this time, there existed a number of private studs in the region. The oldest of which--the Dohna-Schlobitten Stud--had maintained its own Studbook since 1623. The principal aim of Friedrich Wilhlelm I was to develop and breed a cavalry mount for his officers. This horse was purpose-bred for strength, endurance, soundness, rideability, character, and a noble, regal appearance.
Trakehners became the horses that almost all German officers rode.
The Trakehner proved itself to be a most successful breed. It excelled as a military and endurance hourse, and mares were routinely used for field work (which they often carried out both pregnant, and with a foal at their side.)
As a performance or sport horse, these East Prussian horses also made their mark; the Trakehner earned Olympic gold and silver in 1924 for dressage, and gold in 1928 for the three day event. 1936 was the "Year of the Trakehner": Kronos won the gold in dressage, Absinth in silver, Nurmi won the gold in the three day event, and the German jumping team won the Prix des Nation with the Trakehner Dedo, in New York's Madison Square Garden. The Pardubice Steeplechase was won by a Trakehner a total of nine times between 1921-1936.
The close of the Second World War brought the Trakehner breed to near extinction. The 'Flight of the East Prussian horses' from their homelands to regions in the West belongs to one of the great sagas of both equine and human history. Most of the Trek to the West took place in the bitterly cold winter of 1944-1945. East Prussians left with their best breeding horses hitched to waggons containing personal posessions and as much feed as they could carry. Snow was often chest deep on the horses. The 1000km route took may across the frozen waters of the Baltic Sea. From as Stud Book of approximately 27,000 only 1600 horses survived to settle in West Germany in 1945. Not all of these horses were suitable to continue breeding.
From near extinction at the end of World War II, the breed has survived, and has continued to improve through its very selective breeding process. The Trakehner Studbook remains a 'closed' stud book, and its approvals are acknowledged to the be the strictest of all of the horse breeds. Each stallion is graded during the approval process, and he must display the most correct conformation, paces, and temperament possible, and all must be natural. After an initial approval, each stallion must also be performance tested.
Mares must also go through an approval process to be approved for breeding. In Germany, they are also performance tested. Select outbreeding to approved Throughbred, Arabian, and Anglo-Arabian stock is permitted.
Despite near extinction, the Trakehner has again risen to world class performance level competiton: Reiner Klimke's russian stallion Biotop, Mahagoni's son Peron helped Team USA win the bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996. In jumping, Abdullah won individual silver and team gold in the Los Angeles Games, as well as the World Cup in Berlin. Windfall, trained by Ingrid Klimke and ridden by Darren Chiacchia won individual gold at the Pan Am Games, and helped the USA to team bronze in the three day event--these are just a few examples.
Trakehners are bred to be tractable, willing to work, eager to please, and with the will to win.
