Trakehner

Among the warmblood breeds, the Trakehner is the aristocrat: lighter in the bone, finer in the frame and altogether more elegant than the Hanoverian, Holsteiner or Oldenburg. That quality owes almost everything to the generous helping of Thoroughbred and Arabian blood in its make-up. The name itself comes from Trakehnen, the East Prussian state stud where the breed first took shape.

What you get in a Trakehner is athleticism paired with a quick, sensitive mind. On the competition circuit they have made their reputation in dressage and eventing, though they also work happily as riding horses and are drawn upon to add refinement to other warmblood lines. Expect a horse of roughly 16 to 17 hands that, given sound management, will be with you for 25 to 30 years.

The studbook is a closed one. In practice that means a Trakehner is put to another Trakehner or to an approved Thoroughbred, Arabian or Anglo-Arabian, and to nothing else. Holding that line is what keeps the breed so recognisably light and refined generation after generation.

Who it suits

Think of the Trakehner as a horse for the thinking rider. It thrives on tactful, even-handed schooling and repays it with a genuine partnership, but the same sharpness of mind that makes it such a joy under an experienced rider will run rings around an outright novice. It belongs in a dressage or eventing yard, and in the hands of anyone ready to keep up with the turnout, work and daily management a large, energetic horse demands. In this country you will meet the breed regularly through British Dressage and British Eventing, where it holds its own at every level.

It all begins in 1732, when King Frederick William I of Prussia founded the state stud at Trakehnen in East Prussia. The remit was practical: to furnish the Prussian state with tough, sound horses for cavalry and carriage work, bred up from hardy local East Prussian mares crossed with imported stallions.

Across the next hundred years or so, breeders folded in Thoroughbred and Arabian blood, chasing a lighter, more refined animal without giving up the stamina and honest rideability the stud was known for. By the 1800s the Trakehner was an established type in its own right, sought after as a military remount and as a smart horse for harness and saddle alike.

Then came the war, and with it near-catastrophe. As the Eastern Front gave way in the winter of 1944 to 1945, the breeders of East Prussia set out westward with their horses in the desperate flight now known simply as the trek. Most of the horses never made it; only a few hundred came through to the West. Those survivors became the wellspring of every Trakehner alive today.

Once the fighting stopped, the studbook was reconstituted in West Germany and the breed reinvented itself as a modern sport horse. It is now bred the world over under a closed studbook, opened only to approved Thoroughbred, Arabian and Anglo-Arabian crosses, and it has carved out a formidable record in dressage and eventing.

One glance tells you the Trakehner is the lightweight of the warmblood family, and the Thoroughbred and Arabian behind it are written all over the frame. The outline is rectangular and neatly balanced, set on a well-laid-back shoulder, clearly defined withers and clean, hard-wearing limbs. Its head is a giveaway too: fine and expressive, the profile straight or gently dished, the eye large and taking everything in. Add to that the elastic, sweeping way of going that has made the breed a natural for dressage.

Coat and colours

Solid colours are the rule. You will most often see bay, chestnut, black and grey, with the odd roan turning up now and again, and white markings to the face and legs are perfectly acceptable. The coat sits short and fine, lying close over the muscle and adding to that clean-cut silhouette. Look to the hindquarter and you may find the double-headed elk antler brand, the time-honoured mark of a Trakehner registered under the German studbook.

A Trakehner does not miss much. This is a sensitive, clever horse with plenty of forward drive, one that picks up on a clear aid and an accidental knot of tension in the saddle with equal speed, so a calm and consistent hand counts for a great deal. Win its trust and you have a bold, willing partner that soaks up training.

With its people the breed is generally warm and sociable, forever looking for a bit of attention. Strangers may find it watchful and quick to react until it has taken their measure. Turned out with others it usually slots into the herd without fuss, though all that energy means it does far better with plenty of turnout and a proper job to do. That same sensitivity is gold in precision work and a headache for anyone who cannot offer steady, predictable handling.

Looking after a Trakehner is broadly the routine of any busy warmblood in work, with the rider bearing in mind the breed's sensitivity and its appetite for a proper workload.

Grooming

• Give the coat a daily brush over, using the chance to run your hands over the horse for any cuts, heat or swelling
• Pick out the feet every day, and again either side of work
• Have the farrier round roughly every 6 to 8 weeks
• Wash off when needed, and dry the horse right down in cold weather
• Keep mane and tail clean and worked through so they stay free of knots

Exercise

• Put the horse into daily ridden or in-hand work, pitched to its fitness and its discipline
• See that it gets several hours of turnout each day to move about and graze
• Bookend every schooling session with a proper warm-up and cool-down
• Ring the changes between flatwork, hacking and days off so it does not go stale

Environment

A stable to shelter in and roomy paddocks to be turned out on suit the Trakehner best. With a sensible approach to rugging and shelter it copes with all manner of weather, our own damp and changeable British sort included. Being both sensitive and sociable, it settles far better for regular handling, the company of other horses and a routine it can count on.

Forage is the foundation of any Trakehner's ration. The bulk of what it eats each day should come from decent grass, hay or haylage, with hard feed or a balancer layered on top according to condition and how hard it is working. A big, active horse in full work naturally burns more than one standing idle, but build any increase up slowly so as not to upset the gut. Clean water needs to be there round the clock, alongside access to salt or a mineral lick.

Treats and supplements

The odd carrot or apple, fed in moderation, does no harm. Where the forage on its own falls short, a vitamin and mineral balancer earns its keep, and electrolytes can be worth adding through hard work or a hot spell. Bring in any new supplement or feed change by degrees, and for horses in serious training or with a health worry, take the advice of your veterinary surgeon or an equine nutritionist.

By and large the Trakehner is a robust, hard-wearing sort, and the rigorous, performance-tested studbook behind it does the breed no harm on that front. Managed well, most will see 25 to 30 years. As with any horse, though, the trouble tends to come from the gut, from the wear and tear of athletic work and from the ordinary run of equine ailments, rather than from anything peculiar to the breed.

Preventive care

• A yearly once-over from the veterinary surgeon and core vaccinations kept up to date
• Worming guided by faecal egg counts rather than done blind
• Teeth checked at least once a year
• The farrier on a regular 6 to 8 week cycle
• A steady, forage-led diet with any changes made gradually
• Fittening work pitched to the horse's own condition to spare joints and tendons

Few warmbloods are as ready to learn as the Trakehner. It takes things in quickly, holds on to what it is taught and genuinely wants to please a handler it has come to trust. That sensitivity is exactly what lifts its precision work, dressage above all, but it cuts both ways: any tension or muddle in the rider comes straight back at you. Fair, patient, unambiguous handling brings out the best of the breed, whereas rough or hit-and-miss methods soon leave it on edge.

Basics

1. Get calm, mannerly groundwork in place before you ever back the horse
2. Keep those first sessions brief and always finish on a good note
3. Settle on a clear set of aids the horse can come to rely on
4. Bring in anything new a step at a time, rewarding every honest try
5. Break up the schooling with hacking and turnout so the horse stays keen
6. Move on to discipline work such as dressage or eventing as fitness and confidence build

Everything about Trakehner breeding runs through the closed studbook, which opens its doors only to Trakehners and to approved Thoroughbred, Arabian and Anglo-Arabian crosses. Before any horse earns a place in the breeding programme it must pass inspection and be licensed on its conformation, its movement and its temperament, and it is that scrutiny that keeps the breed so even in type and quality.

Mares generally go to stud from around three or four, once they have grown up and filled out. Gestation then runs to roughly eleven months, and all but always it is a single foal. Weaning tends to come at about six months, after which the youngsters grow on in groups, their steady development underpinned by handling, turnout and good feeding. Most are backed at around three, with the heavier athletic demands eased in gradually as the skeleton finishes maturing.