The Danish Warm Blood Horse

The Danish Warm Blood horse is one of several that are perfectly bred for modern equestrian sports like dressage, show jumping, cross-country and three-day-eventing. The Danes have been breeding horses for a long time, their first organized stud farms date from the fourteen century.

The market for horses has changed hugely in the twenty-first century, especially in the last few decades. The horse has been changed from a means of transport to a pleasure animal in many countries. As this began happening in Denmark, the Danish breeders found that their native breeds – the Frederiksborg and the Knabstrup – were not able to cut it in the world of competitive horses.

A breeding program was set up in 1962 to produce a new type of Danish horse that would be able to keep up with the sporthorses from other countries. Many carefully selected stallions – mainly Swedish, Trakehner, Hanoverian, Holstein and Polish – were bred with various local mares to improve the stamp of horse. Stringent grading was very important in this process so that it was insured that only the best stallions and mares entered the stud book.

The breeding program was a huge success. The Danish Warmblood horse is a handsome animal with excellent gaits and a well-proportioned body. It has a good temperament and is very courageous, making it an outstanding dressage horse. The Danish Warm Blood Horse stands from 15.3 to 16.3 hands and comes in all colours.