The Arenberg-Nordkirchen, german: 'Arenberg-Nordkirchner', is a breed of small

riding horse A riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for recreation or transportation. It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the hors ...

from north-west Germany. It was believed extinct in 1985, but in 1995 a small number were discovered, and since 1999 the population has remained stable at about 20–25 head. The Arenberg-Nordkirchen is in the highest-risk category of the Rote Liste (red list) of the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered

domestic animal This page gives a list of domesticated animals, also including a list of domestication of animals, animals which are or may be currently undergoing the process of domestication and animals that have an extensive relationship with humans beyond simp ...

breeds.

History

Germany does not have a long tradition of small horse breeding; the only native small horse is the Dülmener. From the early twentieth century ponies and small horses were imported, mostly from Great Britain, and some private individuals started breeding from them. The Arenberg-Nordkirchen breed was started in 1923 by the then Duke of Arenberg as a semi-

feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

herd on his estates in Nordkirchen, near Münster in Westphalia. It was based on the Dülmener, from which he intended to create a small and elegant riding horse. His stock was small, with no more than about 40 mares. In 1968 the entire herd was sold to a breeder from Nordkirchen, who introduced other pony and small horse blood to improve its riding-horse qualities. In the 1980s the herd was broken up, and the horses sold in Schleswig-Holstein and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

, where they became part of the regional German Riding Pony populations. The Arenberg-Nordkirchen was seen at the Berlin International Green Week in 1984, after which it was thought extinct. In 1995 a small number of surviving animals were found. Since 1999 the known population has remained stable at about 20–25 head. In 2007 there were four stallions and eighteen mares. The Arenberg-Nordkirchen is classed as "Category I: extremely endangered" on the Rote Liste (red list) of the Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen, the German national association for the conservation of historic and endangered

breeds; it was listed as "critical" by the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

in 2007. It is not among the 151 horse breeds reported by Germany to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

References

Horse breeds originating in Germany Horse breeds Animal breeds on the GEH Red List {{Horse-breed-stub