The Gelderland Horse

Several different horse breeds went into the creating of the Gelderland horse. This horse comes from a place in the Netherlands by the same name and was developed in the nineteenth century. Native, Netherlander mares were bred with mainly English, French, German, Hungarian and Polish stallions. The horse produced was a dual-purpose creature strong enough to pull a carriage or work on a farm, but light enough to be ridden too.

A bit of Hackney blood was also used in the breeding program of the Gelderland. The program was noted for its well-found principles of selection. The horses chosen for the breeding program had to prove themselves to be good, sound, consistent workers at the stud before they were selected.

As mechanization spread farther, the Gelderlands were needed less and less to work on the farms, as with so many of the other, slightly heavier breeds of horse. To compensate for this, the breeders added a bit of Thoroughbred blood to lighten the breed.

Today, the Gelderland is a typical type of carriage horse, with sloped shoulders and free action. It has been very successful in the sport of four-in-hand driving and was also one of the main instruments in the breeding of the Netherlands’ new breed, the Dutch Warm Blood. The Gelderland horse stands about 16 hands and comes in the colours of chestnut, bay and grey.