Black Forest Horse

The Black Forest cold blood (also: Black Forest, Black Forest Fox, St. Märgen fox, forest horse) is an ancient breed of horse that was especially bred for heavy forest work under unfavorable conditions in the Black Forest, but today enjoying increasing popularity as a leisure horse. It is on the red list of endangered native breeds in Germany. In Germany there were in 2012 more than 700 mares and 40 approved stallions.

Background information on the evaluation and breeding horses can be found at: exterior, interior and horse breeding.

Exterior

Black Forest are usually foxes or dark chestnut with lighter mane, but there are also quite rare mold, brown and black horses. You have a Height 148-160 cm, a short, distinctive head, strong neck, sloping shoulders, broad croup and space-consuming transitions. The weight is about 700 kg. Over the past two decades, the breeding goal of a slightly higher withers than previously pursued and achieved, as the horse should make step not only work and are increasingly used for riding both for traveling as well.

Interior

Frugality and good nature is characterized by the long-lasting, tough Black Forest horses. They had to prove themselves in their original home at irregular and hard work as well as limited food and space in the hard winter of the southern Black Forest. Undertaken around 1900 attempts to introgress other cold -blooded breeds failed.

The Black Forest is used as a working and recreational riding horse.

Breeding history

The breeding history of these horses is probably already back to the Middle Ages. In 1896, the Black Forest Pferdezuchtgenossenschaft (St. Margen ) was founded. This was in 1936 in Baden Pferdestammbuch (Karlsruhe) on. After the Second World War there was a division into two studbooks (Heidelberg and New Town). In 1978 again a merge was reached when the Breeders Association of Baden- Württemberg was created eV.

The type of day again coveted " Forest Horse " would not have survived without the resistance of the mare owner during the period between 1880 and about 1960. 1880 joined the Körgesetz into force on the basis of the State Stud in Karlsruhe on the introgression of foreign heavy draft horse breeds tried to change the type of the Baden cold blood horse clearly. The peasants in the Black Forest fought against by continued to use and despite the threat of heavy fines ungekörte stallions of the type forests for breeding.

Stallions are today, for example, in the various stations of the main State Stud Marbach.