The German Riding Pony or Deutsches Reitpony is a modern German breed of pony or small horse of warmblood type. It is a composite of several horse or pony breeds including the Anglo-Arab, the Arab, the Connemara, the Dülmener, the New Forest Pony and the Welsh Pony. These were selectively bred with the aim of developing a small athletic riding horse with the qualities of the principal German warmbloods. Heights are in the range or . It constitutes about 5.7% of the horse population of Germany.
History
From about 1965 efforts were made to breed a German sport horse of warmblood type but of pony or small horse size. Early cross-breeding attempts to this end – such as Arab × Haflinger or Thoroughbred × Fjord – were not successful. The principal foundation stock for what would become the Deutsches Reitpony was the Welsh Pony and Cob of the British Isles, with some input from Arab, Anglo-Arab, Connemara, Dülmener and New Forest Pony stock. Breeding took place predominantly in Lower Saxony, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Schleswig-Holstein. The horses were soon seen in competitive sports at national level, and from about 1975 in international competitions also.
In the 1990s there was some further cross-breeding, this time with German warmblood sport horses such as the Hanoverian, the Holsteiner and the Trakehner; this had some positive results, but at the cost of some reduction in the pony character of the breed.
The Reitpony constitutes about 5.7% of the horse population of Germany. Between 2000 and 2025 the number of mares registered in the stud-book fell from , while the number of approved stallions rose from in the same period. In the eleven years from 2015 to 2025 there were new registrations in the stud-book, an average of about 967 per year.
Characteristics
The horses usually stand from at the withers, with an average height of about for stallions and for mares.
The coat may be of any colour; it is usually bay, black, chestnut or grey.
Use
The horses are bred for riding and recreational use, and also for tournament competition.
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: Deutsches Reitpony / Germany (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2024.
Deutsches Reitpony: Turnierspezialisten aus deutscher Zucht (in German). Pferdesport Deutschland. Warendorf: Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung e.V. Archived 14 September 2026.
Entwicklungen in der Deutschen Reitponyzucht (in German). Pferdesport Deutschland. Warendorf: Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung e.V. Archived 14 September 2026.
Pferd: Deutsches Reitpony (in German). Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung. Archived 20 September 2024.
Alfons Willam, Henner Simianer (2017 ). Tierzucht (second edition, in German). Stuttgart: Verlag Eugen Ulmer. .
Valerie Porter, Ian Lauder Mason (2020). Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties (sixth edition). Wallingford; Boston: CABI. .