War Era
After World War I broke out, the market for luxury horses suddenly became the market for military remounts. The increased availability of cars and tractors limited the roles that horses could play in agriculture and transportation. Starting in the forties, technical advancements in agricultural machinery initially required a new type of horse, but soon after made the horse superfluous altogether in the field. So to adapt, starting in 1920 the direction changed radically: a heavy warmblood of great economy with a good walk, calm temperament, which matures early and utilizes its feed well. The type was so heavy, it stood on the boundary with the lighter coldbloods. The coldbloods of Germany were already well-suited to the new demands of farming given their immense power, and the Ostfriesen had to prove it could offer these same qualities. The one advantage for the warmbloods was their versatility. They were subsequently bred to have greater depth, breadth and strength, at the expense of the dryness, nerve, expression and gait qualities for which they had previously been selected. From 1908 to 1940, the average height of Ostfriesisches decreased 4 cm while average weight increased from 630 kg to 760 kg. Other regions began to breed heavy warmbloods: Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Bavaria, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, and Silesia. While they were founded on their own stock, horses from Oldenburg and Ostfriesland were sold there each year to help them realize their goals. The end of World War II saw the breeding in Ostfriesland reach record-breaking numbers, as these horses had become indispensable agricultural horses. In 1923 the two registries merged to form the Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes e.V. (Oldenburg Horse Breeders' Association), which today serves the modern Oldenburg.
Read more about this topic: Ostfriesen And Alt-Oldenburger
Famous quotes containing the words war and/or era:
“The slanders poured down like Niagara. If you take into consideration the setting—the war and the revolution—and the character of the accused—revolutionary leaders of millions who were conducting their party to the sovereign power—you can say without exaggeration that July 1917 was the month of the most gigantic slander in world history.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)
“The purest lesson our era has taught is that man, at his highest, is an individual, single, isolate, alone, in direct soul-communication with the unknown God, which prompts within him.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)