Knabstrupper
| File:Danish Knabstrupper - Xantos.jpg | |
| Conservation status | |
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| Other names |
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| Country of origin | Denmark |
| Distribution |
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| Use | riding, driving, circus |
| Traits | |
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| Colour | usually spotted |
| Breed standards | |
The Knabstrupper or Knabstrup is a Danish breed of warmblood horse. It is principally a riding horse, but is also used as a harness horse and as a circus animal.[6]: 64 It is broadly similar to the Frederiksborger, but often has a spotted coat. In the past, injudicious breeding for this characteristic alone compromised its constitution and conformation.[7][8] In the years after the Second World War the mechanisation of agriculture led to a sharp fall in numbers, and by the 1960s no more than 100 of the horses remained.[9] In the twenty-first century it is an endangered breed, with a world-wide population estimated at little over 2000.[2]
Characteristics
[edit | edit source]The horses usually stand between 154 and 162 cm at the withers;[5]: 480 small or pony-sized ones have also been bred.[10]
According to the Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark, the EU-approved main organization for the Knabstrupper breed, the primary colouration should be spotted. Solid-coloured horses must only be bred to spotted-coloured horses. To be eligible for registration and breeding, a horse must also display one or more characteristics of striped hooves, mottled skin, and white sclera (white of the eye), though if still in doubt, the presence of the LP-gene may be documented with a gene-test. Horses with a grey gene, rat tail (sparse hair), or distinct pinto colourations are not eligible for registration or breeding.[11]
A 2022 study found that Knabstruppers are predisposed to Equine recurrent uveitis.[12][13]
Breed history
[edit | edit source]The Knabstrupper descends from a single mare believed to have originated in Spain who showed qualities of endurance and speed, and was of an unusual colouration: a deep red (German: Zobelfuchs) with a white tail and mane, and white flecks or "snowflakes" over her whole body and brown spots on her back.[5]: 480 She was called Flaebehoppen, 'Flaebe's horse', because she was reportedly bought by a butcher named Flaebe from an officer of the Spanish army. He sold her to Willars Knudsen Lunn, who took her to his estate at Knabstrup Hovedgård in the kommune of Holbæk in northern Zealand.[8]: 176 There, in 1808, after a month of testing of her working capabilities, he bred her to a Frederiksborger stallion.[5]: 480 [7]: 113 The stallion Mikkel, a grandson of this pair foaled in 1818, was a noted harness-racer and a foundation stallion of the Knabstrupper breed.[5]: 480 [7]: 113 [8]: 176 In 1971, three Appaloosa stallions were imported to Denmark in the hope of adding new blood to the Knabstrupper breed; only two of them were used, and many breeders preferred to cross-breed with Danish Warmblood, Holsteiner or Trakehner stock.[10]
As of 2024, crossing Knabstruppers with other breeds such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians and other warmbloods may lead to approval, but crossing with Appaloosas will not.[14][15]
Uses
[edit | edit source]The Knabstrupper has long been used as a circus horse, and is well suited to driving and equestrian vaulting.[7] It is also used in dressage, show-jumping and eventing.[8][16]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c Breed data sheet: Knabstrupper / Denmark (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2022.
- ^ Breed data sheet: Knabstrupper / Germany (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2022.
- ^ Transboundary breed: Knabstrupper. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ a b c d Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ a b c d Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). The Horse Encyclopedia. New York, New York: DK Publishing. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ Irina Wenk (2020). The ideal horse: politics and practices of Knabstrupper breeding. In: Kristen Guest, Monica Mattfeld (editors) (2020). Horse Breeds and Human Society: Purity, Identity and the Making of the Modern Horse. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value)..
- ^ a b History. Viborg: Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark. Accessed February 2024.
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External links
[edit | edit source]
- Knabstrupper Association of Denmark (in Danish)