Ostfriesen and Alt-Oldenburger - Rescue

Rescue

By the mid-eighties the stock of purebred mares had dwindled to just a handful, though there were some mares only a generation or two removed. In 1983 a group of supporters formed a special breed association under the jurisdiction of the Weser-Ems Studbook, approving stallions that were half-Hanoverian, half-Ostfriesen or Alt-Oldenburg. However, as the mares themselves were typically only halfbred, the foals did not have the desired type, and furthermore the genepool was simply too small. To replenish it, the breeders looked to the studs where Ostfriesen/Alt-Oldenburger stallions had stood for generations, picking up a few horses here and there. More horses came from greater strongholds: Silesian Heavy Warmbloods of Poland, the Danish Oldenbourgs, and the Groningen horse of the Netherlands. But the efforts of Dr. Herta Steiner, Moritzburg State Stud Equerry, were the keystone to saving the breed. She had championed for the last remaining heavy warmbloods in Saxony and Thuringia. Soon the old type was revived.

Since 1995, two Dutch Harness Horse stallions have been chosen to add elegance and responsiveness, though it is worth noting that these stallions had primarily Ostfriesen and Groningen pedigrees themselves, and no Hackney blood. The Zuchtverband für das Ostfriesische und Alt-Oldenburger Pferd e.V. ("Association for the Breeding of East Freisian and Old-Oldenburg Horses") was founded in 1986, and was recognized as an independent organization in 1988. Even after 20 years of hiatus, the goal is to produce a heavy, quality horse, responsive with an exceptionally good temperament. The unique character of the former farm horse is of paramount importance, as it was the peasant farms that led such kind horses to be bred in the first place. The breeding objective these days stretches back before the horses were called to haul tractors and artillery, to when they were heavy, elegant, and impressive Karossiers.