Swiss Warmblood
Pénélope Leprevost on Cayman Athletic at the Concours hippique international de Genève [fr] in 2014
Conservation status
Other names
  • Swiss Saddle Horse
  • CH-Warmblut
  • Schweizer Warmblut
  • Neue Einsiedler
  • Demi-Sang CH
  • Demi-Sang Suisse
  • Cavallo della Svizzera
Country of originSwitzerland
Use
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    average 600 kg[2]
  • Female:
    average 500 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    average 168 cm[2]
  • Female:
    average 162 cm[2]
Colourusually chestnut, less often bay; black and other colours also occur[3]: 202 

The Swiss Warmblood or Schweizer Warmblut is a modern Swiss breed of warmblood sport horse.[4]: 506  It was created in the mid-twentieth century by merger of the Einsiedler [fr] – which had been bred for centuries at the Benedictine Monastery of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz – with the Swiss Halfblood and with traditional local breeds including the Ajoie, the Erlenbacher and the Entlebucher. It is sometimes known as the Neue Einsiedler.[5]: 300  The Swiss Warmblood is bred at the Haras National Suisse [fr] at Avenches, in the Canton of Vaud.

History

The Swiss Warmblood was created in the mid-twentieth century by merger of the Einsiedler [fr] – which had been bred for centuries at the Benedictine Monastery of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz – with the Swiss Halfblood and with traditional local breeds including the Ajoie, the Erlenbacher and the Entlebucher. Those individual breeds effectively ceased to exist and are now listed as extinct.[5]: 300 [6] A stud-book was started in 1950.[2] In the 1960s use was made of a number of foreign stallions, among them three Anglo-Normans named Ivoire, Orinate de Messil and Que d'Espair, the Holsteiners Astral and Chevalier, and a Swedish Warmblood called Aladin;[7]: 134  thereafter the stallions used were mostly Swiss.[4]: 506 [8]: 71 

From 2010 to 2012 the number of annual registrations in the stud-book was approximately 750. In 2017 the total population was estimated at 9000–10000, with 750 breeding mares and 77 stallions.[2] In 2023 the conservation status of the breed was listed in the DAD-IS database of the FAO as 'at risk/endangered'.[2]

Characteristics

The Swiss Warmblood is usually chestnut, less often bay; black and other colours may also occur.[3]: 202  Heights are usually in the range 155–164 cm.[4]: 506 

Uses

The Swiss Warmblood was bred as a sport horse. It is usually trained for show-jumping or for dressage; it may also be driven in harness.[3]: 202 

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Schweizer Warmblut.
  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Breed data sheet: Schweizer Warmblut / Switzerland (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed October 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691167206.
  4. ^ a b c 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.
  5. ^ a b [Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe] (2003). Agricultural Genetic Resources in the Alps; Landwirtschaftliche Genressourcen der Alpen; Ressources génétiques agricoles des Alpes; Risorse genetiche agricole delle Alpi; Kmetijski genetski viri v Alpha. Zürich: Bristol-Stiftung; Bern, Stuttgart, Wien: Haupt. ISBN 3258066698. Archived 24 May 2022.
  6. ^ [s.n.] (2016). Nutztierrassen und -schläge der Schweiz (in German). Basel: ProSpecieRara Schweiz. Archived 7 December 2016.
  7. ^ Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0751301159.
  8. ^ Maurizio Bongianni, Ardèle Dejey (translator) (1988). Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671660683.



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