The Silesian horse,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: Koń śląski, Silesian: Ślůnski kůń, is a 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 ...

horse from the area of historic

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, which lies mostly within modern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. It is the heaviest of the Polish warmblood breeds, and has been influenced mainly by the

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 ...

and

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

, and partly by the East Friesian and German halfbred. The Oldenburg influence was particularly pronounced after World War II, when imported stallions were used to keep the breed from becoming extinct. Two types are recognised in the breed standard, an old and a new. At 3 years old, stallions of the old type stand at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

, mares about 2 cm less; the girth is , and the cannon-bone circumference about 23–24 cm. The new or racing type is taller and lighter, stallions standing at the withers and mares about 2 cm less; the girth measures 185–200 cm and the cannon-bone 21.5–23 cm. Stallions average , mares 600 kg. The current stud-book dates from 1961; registers for this type of horse have been kept since the late 19th century. In 2008 the breed numbered about 5000.

References

Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Poland Warmbloods Horse breeds originating in Germany Horse breeds originating in Prussia {{Horse-breed-stub