The Aegidienberger is a modern German
breed
A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
of
riding horse. It is named for the borough of
Aegidienberg
Aegidienberg is a borough (''Stadtbezirk'') of Bad Honnef in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It consists of thirteen villages and is located east of the Siebengebirge range in the Niederwesterwald foothills. Until 1969, Aegi ...
in the
Rheinland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, where it was bred in the latter part of the twentieth century. It is a
cross of two foreign breeds, the
Peruvian Paso and the
Icelandic. Like the Icelandic horse, it can perform the
tölt, a fast
ambling gait
An ambling gait or amble is any of several four-beat intermediate horse gaits, all of which are faster than a walk but usually slower than a canter and always slower than a gallop. Horses that amble are sometimes referred to as "gaited", particu ...
.
History
The Aegidienberger is a
cross between two breeds foreign to Germany, the
Peruvian Paso and the
Icelandic horse.
Selection was specifically for the ability to perform the
tölt, a fast
ambling gait
An ambling gait or amble is any of several four-beat intermediate horse gaits, all of which are faster than a walk but usually slower than a canter and always slower than a gallop. Horses that amble are sometimes referred to as "gaited", particu ...
; horses without this ability are excluded from registration. A
breed society or interest group, the , was formed in 1994.
In the twenty-four years from 1997 to 2020, numbers reported for the breed have never exceeded 60; in 2020 the breeding population was reported to be 29, consisting of 23 mares and 6 stallions. Its
conservation status is critical.
Use
The Aegidienberger was bred to be a comfortable
riding horse with the
tölt gait of the Icelandic, but rather larger and with better adaptation to warmer climates.
References
Horse breeds
Horse breeds originating in Germany
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