The Württemberger, Baden-Württemberger or Württemberg is a Warmblood

Warmblood

Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds, primarily originating in Europe, registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport...

 horse breed originating in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. They are primarily riding horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

s, and are selectively bred for dressage

Dressage

Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...

 and show jumping

Show jumping

Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...

.

Breed History

The breed registry

Breed registry

A breed registry, also known as a stud book or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders when they are still young...

 studbook was founded in 1895, and around 1896, the Marbach stud

Marbach stud

The Marbach Stud, also known as Weil-Marbach, is Germany's oldest state stud farm for horse breeding, has a history that dates back over 500 years. It is located in southwest Germany near Gomadingen in the Reutlingen district of Baden-Württemberg. The annual stallion parade is an internationally...

 began concentrating on the original Württemberger type, which was a multi-purpose horse used for both draft

Draft horse

A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...

 and under-saddle work. The original horses were produced by introducing Arabian

Arabian horse

The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...

, Trakehner

Trakehner

Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name...

, Anglo-Norman

Anglo-Norman horse

The Anglo-Norman horse was a warmblood horse breed from the old province of Normandy in northern France. From early in the 19th century, local Norman mares were crossed with imported English thoroughbreds, Norfolk Roadsters and half-breds, which themselves had Norfolk Roadster and Mecklenburg blood...

, Friesian

Friesian horse

The Friesian is a horse breed originating in Friesland, Netherlands. Although the breed's conformation resembles that of a light draft horse, Friesians are graceful and nimble for their size. During the Middle Ages, it is believed that the ancestors of Friesian horses were in great demand as war...

, Spanish

Iberian horse

The Iberian horse is a title given to a number of horse breeds native to the Iberian peninsula. At present, 17 horse breeds are recognized by FAO as characteristic of the Iberian Peninsula....

, Barb

Barb (horse)

Developed on the Barbary Coast of North Africa, the Barb horse is a desert breed with great hardiness and stamina. The Barb generally possesses a fiery temperament and an atypical sport-horse conformation, but nevertheless has influenced modern breeds....

, and Suffolk Punch

Suffolk Punch

The Suffolk Punch, also historically known as the Suffolk Horse or Suffolk Sorrel, is an English breed of draught horse. The breed takes the first part of its name from the county of Suffolk in East Anglia, and the name "Punch" from its solid appearance and strength...

 blood to local warmblood

Warmblood

Warmbloods are a group of middle-weight horse types and breeds, primarily originating in Europe, registered with organizations that are characterized by open studbook policy, studbook selection, and the aim of breeding for equestrian sport...

 lines. An Anglo-Norman stallion named Faust was a significant early influence on the breed, and contributed to the original shape of the breed. This type lasted until the mid-1950s, when Marbach recognized, and began breeding a lighter, more athletic horse for modern competition.

The Trakehner stallion Julmond (1943–1965) was the foundation stud of new type, and helped to shape the modern Baden Württemberger. Additions of Hanoverian

Hanoverian (horse)

A Hanoverian is a warmblood horse originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and have won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions. It is one of the oldest, most numerous, and most successful of the warmbloods...

, Holsteiner, Oldenburg

Oldenburg (horse)

The Oldenburg is a warmblood horse from the north-western corner of Lower Saxony, what was formerly the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. The breed was built on a mare base of all-purpose farm and carriage horses, today called the Alt-Oldenburger...

, Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 and additional Trakehner blood helped to further refine the breed into its current form.

Breed Characteristics

The best Württemberger horses have excellent temperaments, combining a sensible attitude with lively and free action. These traits may have originally been installed by the use of draft horse and Arabian blood. They are tough and economical to feed when compared to Thoroughbreds.

The ideal Württemberger stands around high, and is usually bay, chestnut

Chestnut (coat)

Chestnut is a hair coat color of horses consisting of a reddish-to-brown coat with a mane and tail the same or lighter in color than the coat. Genetically and visually, chestnut is characterized by the absolute absence of true black hairs...

, brown, or black

Black (horse)

Black is a hair coat color of horses in which the entire hair coat is black. Black is a relatively uncommon coat color, and novices frequently mistake dark chestnuts or bays for black. However, some breeds of horses, such as the Friesian horse, Murgese and Ariegeois are almost exclusively black...

 in color

Equine coat color

Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.While most horses remain the same color throughout life, a few, over the course of several years, will develop a different coat color from that with which they were born...

. They have an average-sized head with a straight profile, a good neck, and prominent withers. Their chest is deep, the shoulders sloping and well-muscled, the back is long and straight and the croup sloping. They have muscular legs with hard, well-formed hooves.