Mecklenburger - History - Early Horse Breeding in Mecklenburg

Early Horse Breeding in Mecklenburg

During the 18th century when many of Germany's noble houses were establishing expansive stud farms to supply their courts with horses suitable for riding, driving, and cavalry purposes, horse-breeding in Mecklenburg was chiefly motivated by large, private stud farms. Residents had some access to stallions owned by their rulers, but a state breeding program did not yet exist.

Breeding efforts of renown were, however, taking place under the Counts of Plessen by the houses of Bassewitz and Hahn. Indeed, the versatile horses bred in the region were of distinctive eastern ("oriental") type and were well known as coach, saddle, and utility horses. In horse breeding, the term "oriental" suggests the influence of horses from the Middle East, including Arabian horses and Turkoman horses. Another characteristic of Mecklenburg breeding is the early involvement with the English Thoroughbred racehorse. The first-ever race track in Germany was created in 1822 at Bad Doberan, the summer retreat of the court of Schwerin.

The Royal Principal Stud, which kept a herd of mares in addition to standing stallions, was founded in 1810 and was followed in 1812 by the State Stud of Redefin. The breeding efforts of these two facilities were combined in 1819 by Joachim von Bülow, Senior State Equerry. In addition to the noble warmblood horses for which Mecklenburg was known, Joachim von Bülow populated the stud farms and their outposts with elegant Thoroughbred stallions. While the unusual affinity for part-Thoroughbred horses did not always suit the needs of farmers in the region, Redefin supplied the State Stud of Celle with stock year after year, including stallions like Jellachich and Norfolk that would become founders of the Hanoverian. Less than fifteen years after being founded, Redefin was composed of over 134 stallions at 26 outposts. In The Three Musketeers, written in the 1840s, d'Artagnan is given a "vigorous Mecklenburg horse" to ride.

By 1847, less than a fifth of the Redefin stallions were without at least one Thoroughbred grandparent, a trait that began to affect the soundness and longevity of their offspring. In an effort to correct this, draft horse stallions were put to use, but the result was merely a loss of the identifiable type. To regain the utilitarian warmblood type, which differed from the older coach horse type due to the advent of the steam locomotive, suitable horses were purchased from Hannover. As a result of the regular exchange of breeding stock, Mecklenburgers and Hanoverians remained similar to one another, and distinctly different from the heavier Oldenburgers and Holsteiners.