The Gelderlander is a Dutch 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. It was bred in the province of

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

in the Netherlands as a

carriage horse Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way. It encompasses a wide ran ...

capable also of farm work. It declined in popularity in the mid-twentieth century. In 1965 it was one of the foundation breeds of the

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 ...

or KWPN, the other being the heavier Groninger horse from the north. It is registered in a division of the Royal Dutch Warmblood Horse Studbook, which also has divisions for the Dutch Warmblood and for the Dutch Harness Horse. It is an

endangered breed In modern agriculture, a rare breed is a breed of poultry or livestock that has a very small breeding population, usually from a few hundred to a few thousand. Because of their small numbers, rare breeds may have a threatened conservation status ...

; in 2017 the breeding population numbered 600 mares and 35 stallions.

History

The Gelderlander was bred from the late nineteenth century in the province of

in the Netherlands as a

capable also of farm work, and with some capability as a heavy

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 ...

. Local mares were

cross-bred 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 ...

with imported stallions of a wide range of breeds and types, among them Alt-Oldenburger and Ostfriesen, Anglo-Arab,

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Cleveland Bay The Cleveland Bay is a breed of horse that originated in England during the 17th century, named after its colouring and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. It is a well-muscled horse, with legs that are strong but short in relation ...

, English half-bred,

Furioso Furioso may refer to: Horses * Furioso, a Hungarian Thoroughbred stallion foaled in 1836, foundation stallion of the ** Furioso or Furioso-North Star horse breed of Hungary * Furioso (horse), a British Thoroughbred stallion foaled in 1939 * Furi ...

, Hackney, Nonius, Norfolk Roadster, Orlov and Orlov-Rostopchin. In 1969 the ssociation for the Promotion of Agricultural Harness Horse Breeding which registered the Gelderlander, was merged with the studbook, which registered the Groninger, to form the or "Royal Warmblood Horse Studbook of the Netherlands". Three breed types were registered in the stud-book: riding horses (the

);

harness horse Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way. It encompasses a wide ran ...

s (the Dutch Harness Horse); and the Gelderlander.

Characteristics

The Gelderlander is most often chestnut, often with extensive white markings. Males usually stand about 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 a few centimetres less.

Uses

The Gelderland is much used in competitive

carriage driving Carriage driving is a form of competitive horse driving in harness in which larger two or four wheeled carriages (sometimes restored antiques) are pulled by a single horse, a pair, tandem or a four-in-hand team. Prince Philip helped to expand ...

; it jumps well and reliably but is not fast.

References

{{reflist, refs= Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources
annex t
''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''
Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN, 9781780647944. Breed data sheet: Gelders Paard / Netherlands (Horse)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2021. Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). ''The Encyclopedia of the Horse''. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. {{ISBN, 0751301159. Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). ''The Horse Encyclopedia''. New York, New York: DK Publishing. {{ISBN, 9781465451439. Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017)
''Horses of the World''
Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN, 9780691167206. S.J. Hiemstra (editor) (2002)
''National Report on Animal Genetic Resources, the Netherlands''
The Hague: Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries. Archived 9 September 2021. Annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''
Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Archived 10 January 2017. Historie
(in Dutch). Koninklijk Warmbloed Paardenstamboek Nederland. Accessed October 2021.

History

Characteristics

Uses

References

Further reading