The Belgian Sport Horse, nl, Belgisch Sportpaard, italic=no, french: Cheval de Sport Belge, italic=no, is a Belgian breed of

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

sport horse A sport horse or sporthorse is a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term is usually applied to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving, but ...

. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the

Belgian Warmblood The Belgian Warmblood or is a Belgian breed of warmblood sport horse. It is bred for dressage, for show-jumping and for three-day eventing. It is one of three Belgian warmblood breeds or stud-books, the others being the Zangersheide and t ...

and the Zangersheide. It is bred for dressage, for

show-jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ...

and for three-day eventing.

History

The Belgian Sport Horse has its origins in the early twentieth century, when

horses were bred by

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

imported

Selle Français The Selle Français (SF) is a breed of sport horse from France. It is renowned primarily for its success in show jumping, but many have also been successful in dressage and eventing. An athletic horse with good gaits, it is usually bay or ...

and

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. Thoroughbreds are ...

stallions with local animals of the Belgian Draught breed, with the intention of producing cavalry horses. Later influences were from Selle Français,

Dutch Warmblood A Dutch Warmblood is a warmblood type of horse registered with the Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland (Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN), which governs the breeding of competitive dressage and show jumping horse ...

and Hanoverian. A

breed society Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members of ...

, La Société d'Encouragement pour l'Elevage du Cheval d'Armes, was established in 1920; from about 1930 the principal aim was to breed horses for leisure use and the name Société du Cheval de Demi-sang Belge was adopted. In 1967 it became a royal society, with the name Société Royale du Cheval de Demi-sang Belge.

References

{{Horse breeds of Belgium and Luxembourg Horse breeds originating in Belgium Warmbloods