The Danish Warmblood or is a Danish breed of modern sport horse, established in the mid-twentieth century and used mainly for dressage and show-jumping. Like other European warmblood breeds, it is a performance breed: any suitable horse of any origin may be admitted if it passes a strict performance test. Hanoverian, Holsteiner, Swedish Warmblood and Trakehner are among those that have contributed to the breed.
Frederiksborger mares were also used as foundation stock, as breeders found that crossing Frederiksborger mares with Thoroughbred stallions created a "qood quality, but slightly heavy-weight riding horse". F1 crosses were further refined with outcrossing to other European warmblood breeds, such as the Wielkopolski and Selle Français, as well as more Thoroughbred crossing.
History
The Danish Warmblood came into existence in 1962 with the formation of a breed society, the ; in 1979 this merged with another association, the , to form the present association, Dansk Varmblod. The first volume of the stud-book was published in 1964, and listed 150 mares. Most were imported from outside Denmark – more than 100 were of German breeding – and of the 22 born in Denmark the majority were of Oldenburger origin.
Characteristics
The horses usually stand some at the withers. The coat may be of any solid colour; bay is the most common, but chestnut, grey and dark bay also occur. Limited white markings may be present.
References
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. . Archived 23 June 2020.
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. .
Breed data sheet: Dansk Varmblod / Denmark (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2021.
What is Dansk Varmblod?. Vilhelmsborg, Mårslet: Dansk Varmblod. Accessed December 2021.
Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. .
Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). The Horse Encyclopedia. New York, New York: DK Publishing. .
Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. .