Knabstrupper
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| Other names |
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| Country of origin | Denmark |
| Distribution |
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| Standard | |
| Use | riding, driving, circus |
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| Weight |
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| Height |
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| Colour | any but piebald or palomino; often spotted[2] |
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 21st century, it is considered to be an endangered breed, with a world-wide population estimated at little over 2,000 horses.[2]
History
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The Knabstrupper descends from a single Iberian horse mare, "with the stamp of an English hunter type",[9] 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 a horse cavalry 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 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 A registry was founded in 1812 for the establishment of a new "spotted" horse breed, using Flaebehoppen as foundation stock.[10] 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.[9]
Pre-WWII Knabstrupper pedigrees showed a focus on cavalry horses for the Royal Horse Guards, the Guard Hussar Regiment, and other cavalry units of the Royal Danish Army, with spotted mares being crossbred to Ministry of Defence stallions that stood at stud.[11]
In addition to this, the conformation of Kronemann Langemark (b. 1950), a foundation Knabstrupper stallion with Oldenburg blood, and others show a heavier-set spotted draft horse type, possibly from the Elmar bloodline of the Noriker of Austria.[12] However, as many lines for the Knabstrupper went undocumented in pedigrees, it is difficult to tell whether or not Noriker blood was used as foundation stock. Some foundation horses are simply listed as "spotted", with no indications as to their origin(s).
With the emerging popularity of the Friesian horse, a Dutch horse breed of "light draft" build from the Netherlands, in the 1980s, Knabstruppers began to be crossbred with Friesians. Crossbreeding of Friesians and Knabstruppers may date back even earlier, as Friesians were documented as being used as circus horses in 1939.[13]
As of 2024, Knabstruppers are no longer allowed to be bred to Appaloosas by the Knabstrupper Association of Denmark,[14] as a stock horse type is not desirable in the breed. Instead, breeding Knabstruppers to warmblood breeds, Thoroughbreds, and Arabians is encouraged to produce a sport horse type.[15]
Characteristics
[edit]The horses usually stand between 154 and 162 cm at the withers;[5]: 480 small or pony-sized ones have also been bred.[9] The coat may be of any color except piebald or palomino, but is most often spotted.[2] A 2008 study noted, "The Knabstrupper breed had more genetic variation [due to crossbreeding], as measured by expected heterozygosity and allelic richness, than the other two breeds (Frederiksborger and Jutland). The Frederiksborger and Knabstrupper breeds were closer to each other [in terms of genetics, conformation, and characteristics]."[16]
A 2022 study found that age and homozygosity for the leopard complex spotting allele (LP) are risk factors for Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU), an inflammatory disease of the eye and the leading cause of blindness in horses, in both the Knabstrupper and the Appaloosa. The study examined 116 Knabstrupper horses from Denmark, Sweden, and the United States, of which 24 were diagnosed with ERU, resulting in a 14% prevalence.[17][18]
Use
[edit]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][19]
References
[edit]- ^ 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. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e 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. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691167206.
- ^ a b c d Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0751301159.
- ^ a b c d Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). The Horse Encyclopedia. New York, New York: DK Publishing. ISBN 9781465451439.
- ^ a b c History. Viborg: Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark. Accessed February 2024.
- ^ "The Rare Breed World Tour: Knabstrupper". Horse Illustrated. 11 April 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Billeder af heste i Holbæk amt". Knabstruprace.dk. Hippological Journal, et al. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "Noriker". Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "Friesian History". Friesian Horse Association of North America. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Breeding Programs 2024" (PDF). Knabstrupperforeningen for Denmark. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ "Knabstrupper". Westfalen Verband. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
- ^ Thirstrup, J. P.; Pertoldi, C.; Loeschcke, V. (October 2008). "Genetic analysis, breed assignment and conservation priorities of three native Danish horse breeds". Animal Genetics. 39 (5): 496–505. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2052.2008.01767.x. PMID 18840148. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ Gershony, Liza Crissiuma (28 October 2022). "VGL Research identify risk factors for insidious uveitis in Knabstrupper horses". UC Davis Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ Kingsley, Nicole B.; Sandmeyer, Lynne; Parker, Sarah E.; Dwyer, Ann; Heden, Sanna; Reilly, Camilla; Hallendar‐Edman, Anna; Archer, Sheila; Bellone, Rebecca R. (September 2023). "Risk factors for insidious uveitis in the Knabstrupper breed". Equine Veterinary Journal. 55 (5): 820–830. doi:10.1111/evj.13879. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
- ^ "Breed of the Month: Knabstrupper" (PDF). USDF Connection. USDF. June 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2023.
External links
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