.gif)
Gelderland (horse)
Encyclopedia
The Gelderland, or Gelderlander, is a heavy warmblood
breed of horse
that was developed in the province of Gelderland
in the Netherlands
. The Gelderlander, along with the similar Groninger
horse from the north, provided the foundation for the Dutch Warmblood
. Originally bred to be a stylish carriage
horse versatile enough to work on the farm, the Gelderlander declined in popularity in the middle of the 20th century. Today the breed is registered in a separate studbook of the Royal Warmblood Horse Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN).
horse originated in the sandy province of Gelderland
in the Netherlands
. Native mares of this province were crossed with Andalusian
, Neapolitan
, Norman
, Norfolk Roadster, and Holstein
stallions to produce the Gelderland (also known as the Gelderlander). In the nineteenth century, other breeds were introduced, such as the East Friesian, Oldenburg, Hackney
, and Thoroughbred
. Today the Gelderland is used as a carriage driving
horse and as a show jumper
. It has an effective high stepping trot
.
Times changed and the Groningen horse became less of an essential element of agriculture, while recreational, competitive riding sports gained popularity. Initially, breeders had tried to develop the riding-type characteristics within the Gelderlander breed, but progress was too slow. The "sportregister" was for part-Gelderlander horses, crossed with more modern horses from other regions in hopes of creating what the market demanded: an agricultural riding horse. The Selle Francais stallion L'Invasion and Holsteiner Normann were imported by Gelderland breeders in hopes of speeding up this process. They were followed by Amor and Cavalerist from Holstein, Eclatant from Hannover, and Artilleur from France.
In 1964 the VLN, which at the time managed the Gelderlander studbook, opened a "sportregister." The sportregister was for half-Thoroughbreds. Crossed back to a Gelderlander or Groningen, the offspring of a sportregister horse was allowed to be registered as purebred Gelderlander. These partbreds were so successful that the demand for them soon surpassed the demand for purebreds. Licensing champion Eufraat, by a son of L'Invasion, lost his breeding approval in 1976 because he was deemed too heavy.
In 1969 the VLN and the Groningen register (NWP) merged to form the Royal Warmblood Horse Studbook of the Netherlands. Three registries were formed within it: one for riding horses, which are better known as Dutch Warmblood
s, one for the Dutch harness horse
and one for the "Gelderlander Versatility Horse."
All of the Groningen stallions lost their breeding approval, and the KWPN recommended that Gelderlander mares be bred with foreign stallions to obtain the appropriate riding horse type. For a time the Gelderlander registry was discontinued, and though it is back in the KWPN today, breed enthusiasts fear that the population is too small.
, but may be bay, black
, or gray
. They often have a great deal of white markings
on the legs and face in the sabino
pattern, and there are a handful of tobiano
s as well. Their heads are long and flat with a straight or convex profile and the neck is well shaped and muscular with an arch. Their withers are prominent and broad, and their backs
are relatively long but running smoothly into a level croup. The tail is usually set high, the chest is full and deep, the shoulder long and sloped, and the legs are muscular with long forearms and strong, broad joints. Hooves
are usually broad and strong. This breed of horse
usually stands at 15.2-16 hands
high at the withers.
Gelderlanders tend to have high-stepping action, particularly at the trot.
The Gelderlander today is promoted as a versatile, family-friendly horse. The breed is a dominant force in the sport of combined driving
, for which they are well-suited. However, many Gelderlanders - and especially their progeny - have competed in dressage
and show jumping
at the international level. An early top jumper was Gondelier, the 1972 Dutch Jumping Champion, who cleared 2.20 meters (about 7'3"). One of the top Gelderlander dressage horses was Zooloog, a Gondelier son, who was also sold to the United States, the flag of which he represented at the 1991 Pan American Games
.
One of the greatest qualities of the Gelderlander is their longevity and soundness. For example, Vosmaer, a Gelderlander stallion, was still competing in Grand Prix dressage at age 20.
Heavy warmblood
The Heavy Warmbloods are a group of horse breeds primarily from continental Europe. The title includes the Ostfriesen and Alt-Oldenburger , Groningen, and similar horses from Silesia, Saxony-Thuringia, and Bavaria...
breed of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
that was developed in the province of Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The Gelderlander, along with the similar Groninger
Groningen Horse
The Groningen Horse is a Dutch horse breed developed for light draft and agricultural work. It is closely related to heavy warmblood breeds like the East Friesian and Alt-Oldenburger...
horse from the north, provided the foundation for the Dutch Warmblood
Dutch Warmblood
A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the...
. Originally bred to be a stylish carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
horse versatile enough to work on the farm, the Gelderlander declined in popularity in the middle of the 20th century. Today the breed is registered in a separate studbook of the Royal Warmblood Horse Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN).
Origin
This warmbloodWarmblood
Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds, primarily originating in Europe, registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport...
horse originated in the sandy province of Gelderland
Gelderland
Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Native mares of this province were crossed with Andalusian
Andalusian horse
The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE , is a horse breed developed in the Iberian Peninsula. Its ancestors have been present on the Iberian Peninsula for thousands of years. The Andalusian has been recognized as an individual breed since the 15th century, and its conformation...
, Neapolitan
Neapolitan horse
The Neapolitan Horse, , Neapolitano or Napolitano, is a horse breed that originated in the plains between Naples and Caserta, in the Campania region of Italy, but which may have been bred throughout the Kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitan horse was frequently mentioned in literature from the 16th to...
, Norman
Anglo-Norman horse
The Anglo-Norman horse was a warmblood horse breed from the old province of Normandy in northern France. From early in the 19th century, local Norman mares were crossed with imported English thoroughbreds, Norfolk Roadsters and half-breds, which themselves had Norfolk Roadster and Mecklenburg blood...
, Norfolk Roadster, and Holstein
Holstein (horse)
The Holsteiner is a breed of horse originating in the Schleswig-Holstein region of northern Germany. It is thought to be the oldest of warmblood breeds, tracing back to the 13th century...
stallions to produce the Gelderland (also known as the Gelderlander). In the nineteenth century, other breeds were introduced, such as the East Friesian, Oldenburg, Hackney
Hackney (horse)
The Hackney Horse is a recognized breed of horse that was developed in Great Britain. In recent decades, the breeding of the Hackney has been directed toward producing horses that are ideal for carriage driving. They are an elegant high stepping breed of carriage horse that is popular for showing...
, and Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
. Today the Gelderland is used as a carriage driving
Driving (horse)
Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way...
horse and as a show jumper
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
. It has an effective high stepping trot
Trot (horse gait)
The trot is a two-beat diagonal gait of the horse, where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat....
.
In 1964 the VLN, which at the time managed the Gelderlander studbook, opened a "sportregister." The sportregister was for half-Thoroughbreds. Crossed back to a Gelderlander or Groningen, the offspring of a sportregister horse was allowed to be registered as purebred Gelderlander. These partbreds were so successful that the demand for them soon surpassed the demand for purebreds. Licensing champion Eufraat, by a son of L'Invasion, lost his breeding approval in 1976 because he was deemed too heavy.
In 1969 the VLN and the Groningen register (NWP) merged to form the Royal Warmblood Horse Studbook of the Netherlands. Three registries were formed within it: one for riding horses, which are better known as Dutch Warmblood
Dutch Warmblood
A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the...
s, one for the Dutch harness horse
Dutch harness horse
-See also:*Heavy warmblood*Ostfriesen and Alt-Oldenburger*Groningen Horse*Gelderland *Dutch Warmblood*American Saddlebred*Hackney -External links:**...
and one for the "Gelderlander Versatility Horse."
Characteristics
Gelderlanders are typically chestnutChestnut (coat)
Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...
, but may be bay, black
Black (horse)
Black is a hair coat color of horses in which the entire hair coat is black. Black is a relatively uncommon coat color, and novices frequently mistake dark chestnuts or bays for black. However, some breeds of horses, such as the Friesian horse, Murgese and Ariegeois are almost exclusively black...
, or gray
Gray (horse)
Gray or grey is a coat color of horses characterized by progressive silvering of the colored hairs of the coat. Most gray horses have black skin and dark eyes; unlike many depigmentation genes, gray does not affect skin or eye color Their adult hair coat is white, dappled, or white intermingled...
. They often have a great deal of white markings
Horse markings
Markings on horses usually are distinctive white areas on an otherwise dark base coat color. Most horses have some markings, and they help to identify the horse as a unique individual. Markings are present at birth and do not change over the course of the horse's life...
on the legs and face in the sabino
Sabino horse
Sabino is a group of white spotting patterns in horses that affect the skin and hair. A wide variety of irregular color patterns are accepted as sabino. In the strictest sense, "sabino" refers to the white patterns produced by the Sabino 1 gene, for which there is a DNA test...
pattern, and there are a handful of tobiano
Tobiano
Tobiano is a spotted color pattern commonly seen in Pinto horses, produced by a dominant gene. The tobiano gene produces white-haired, pink-skinned patches on a base coat color. The coloration is present from birth and does not change throughout the horse's lifetime, unless the horse also carries...
s as well. Their heads are long and flat with a straight or convex profile and the neck is well shaped and muscular with an arch. Their withers are prominent and broad, and their backs
Back (horse)
The back describes the area of horse anatomy where the saddle goes, and in popular usage extends to include the loin or lumbar region behind the thoracic vertebrae that also is crucial to a horse's weight-carrying ability. These two sections of the vertebral column beginning at the withers, the...
are relatively long but running smoothly into a level croup. The tail is usually set high, the chest is full and deep, the shoulder long and sloped, and the legs are muscular with long forearms and strong, broad joints. Hooves
Horse hoof
A horse hoof is a structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit of each of the four limbs of Equus species, which is covered by complex soft tissue and keratinised structures...
are usually broad and strong. This breed of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
usually stands at 15.2-16 hands
Hand (unit)
The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length, now used only for the measurement of the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. With origins in ancient Egypt, it was originally based on the breadth of a human hand...
high at the withers.
Gelderlanders tend to have high-stepping action, particularly at the trot.
Uses
Combined driving
Combined driving also known as Horse Driving Trials is an equestrian sport involving carriage driving. In this discipline the driver sits on a vehicle drawn by a single horse, a pair or a team of four. The sport has three phases: Dressage, Cross-country Marathon and Obstacle Cone Driving and is...
, for which they are well-suited. However, many Gelderlanders - and especially their progeny - have competed in dressage
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
and show jumping
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
at the international level. An early top jumper was Gondelier, the 1972 Dutch Jumping Champion, who cleared 2.20 meters (about 7'3"). One of the top Gelderlander dressage horses was Zooloog, a Gondelier son, who was also sold to the United States, the flag of which he represented at the 1991 Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
.
One of the greatest qualities of the Gelderlander is their longevity and soundness. For example, Vosmaer, a Gelderlander stallion, was still competing in Grand Prix dressage at age 20.