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Graf Anton von Oldenburg & Kranich

The Oldenburg horse achieved fame throughout Europe in the 17th Century under Graf Anton Günther von Oldenburg (1603 - 1667) renowned as a great horseman. His traditional dressage riding was highly respected, most notably on his Oldenburg stallion, Kranich who is portrayed with him in the well known painting displayed often in the modern city of Oldenburg and at the Oldenburg Horse Center in Vechta, Germany. In 1612 the Graf began transforming an old monastery in the village of Rastede on the outskirts of Oldenburg into a Royal Stud to continue the work of his predecessor, Graf Johann XVI von Oldenburg (1573-1603) who founded many small breeding farms within the Oldenburg region for the purpose of producing war horses. These horses were given to important rulers and those who had distinguished themselves in battle.
Graf Johann had used Turkish, Neopolitan, Andalusian and Danish stallions to improve his Friesian horses, described as being large and strong. Graf Anton Gunther traveled even more extensively, bringing back stallions from Naples, Spain, Poland, England, Tartary, and Barbary (North Africa). He permitted his tenants and other commoners to use his stallions and soon the 17th century Oldenburgs were in great demand throughout Europe, serving as elegant riding and carriage horses. It is widely believed that Graf Anton even saved the region of Oldenburg from war by diplomatically trading these horses for assurance from his would-be enemies that they would not invade.

The demand for these superior horses went to the heights of Europe’s nobility. One such instance was when Leopold I, King of the Holy Roman Empire, rode through Vienna on his wedding day astride a black Oldenburg stallion. He was followed by his wife who sat in a splendid carriage pulled by eight dark bay Oldenburgs.

The 19th and 20th Centuries were shaped by three important events: the first stallion approval decreed by state in the year 1820, the introduction of a register of origins in 1861 under the direction of Grafen von Wedel, and the foundation of two horse breeding societies by the Horse Breeding Act of April 9, 1897. These two societies merged in 1923 to form today's "Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes". The 19th century breeding objectives were to produce an optimal horse for the cavalry and for heavy work in agriculture and construction. The Oldenburg mares were bred to French stallions and imported British stallions to produce what became known as the Oldenburg Karossier, a horse that was the market leader of it's day.

However, due to the mechanization of transportation, farming, and the military in the 20th century, the demand for the heavier type of horse dropped. In the early 1960s, the Oldenburg Verband made the decision to focus on breeding top sport horses, and they embarked on an extensive transformative cross-breeding program. The first measures to refine the breed had already been introduced in 1959 with the Thoroughbred Adonis xx, and by the 1960s, more Thoroughbred stallions were approved and the turnaround in breeding towards the modern sport horse was underway.

Towards the end of the 1960's the French stallion, Condor, was proving to be very successful, so Oldenburg stallion owners once again turned to France. Practically no other breeding area was able to achieve the success Oldenburg reached with stallions of French origin.

Furioso II was the first Anglo-Norman of modern breeding times. Horse breeders the world over still have the highest regard for this sire. French Anglo-Arabians such as Inschallah AA were also used in Oldenburg in small doses with great success. By combining the various bloodlines on the base of Oldenburg mares, breeders were able to produce a horse in a relatively short period of time that now belongs to the top group of modern sport horse breeds.

For the first time in 1986, a privately-owned Oldenburg stallion, Donnerhall, was the Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft (the German Agricultural Society) Champion. Donnerhall, born in 1981, was one of the most successful sires of his generation in Germany. As no other, he combined success in breeding and sport – under his rider, Karin Rehbein, he was a member of the 1994 German gold medal winning dressage team at the World Championships in Den Haag, and won the individual bronze medal. He was also a member of the German European Championship team and won the individual bronze medal there as well. Donnerhall sired over 77 approved sons and more than 84 States Premium mares. The list of his successful progeny in sport is incredibly long. He has had many offspring competing at the FEI levels in dressage, and has the highest FN dressage breeding value index (271) of all stallions. In 2010, 8 years after his death, he was ranked 2nd on the list of Dressage Sires by the World Breeding Federation of Sport Horses.

Donnerhall & Karin Rehbein. ©Bugtrup

Sandro Hit & Ulf Moeller. ©Phelpsphoto.com

Although the remarkable stallion, Rubinstein is Westphalian bred, it was the current Breeding Director of the Oldenburg Verband, Dr. Wolfgang Schulze-Schleppinghoff that first accepted the stallion for breeding after he had been rejected by the Westphalian stallion committee. Dr. Schleppinghoff felt that with the stallion's bloodlines and qualities he was well worth taking a chance on, and it was a decision that proved to be very valuable for modern dressage breeding. Owned by Gestuet Vorwerk, Rubinstein himself won many Grand Prix tests in Germany, and was a member of the 1996 gold medal Olympic German team. He also produced hundreds of Oldenburg sons and daughters for the sport of dressage such as the internationally successful horses, Relevant, Renoir Unicef, Rohdiamant, and Royal Diamond.

The next 'legend in the making' in the world of sport horse breeding is the Oldenburg bred and approved stallion, Sandro Hit who was named the USEF 2010 Dressage Sire of the Year. Sandro Hit not only won the World Championships for the 6 year old dressage horses in 1999, but his offspring have dominated the young horse championships and are emerging with great success at Grand Prix in international competition. His daughter, Poetin, won both the German National Championships and the World Championships for the five- year-old dressage horses in 2003 before selling for the record price of 2.5 million Euro at the PSI auction the same year. The success of his daughters continues through the two time German Champion, Silberaster, and Samira who also broke records winning the German National Championships in 2007 for the six-year-old dressage horses. Judge Christoph Hess commented about Samira, "We've never seen anything like this in this arena" before awarding her 2 perfect scores of 10 resulting in an overall score of 9.7.

Sandro Hit's licensed and approved sons are also becoming dominant in the sport horse world. Sir Donnerhall who combines the lines of Sandro Hit and Donnerhall, was the Reserve Champion of the 5 year old dressage horses at the 2006 World Championships and was the 2006 German National Champion for the same division. He is also already proving himself as a sire having three offspring be Reserve Champions at the German National Championships for young horses known as the Bundeschampionate. Another of Sandro Hit's licensed sons, San Francisco owned by Gestuet Vorwerk was the Champion of the 3 year old stallions at the same 2010 Bundeschampionate, and Sandro Hit's son, Sancisco, who stems from the same mare line as San Francisco, has been winning in the CDI's at Grand Prix with scores over 71%.

Another famous Oldenburg dressage sire is Contango who, ridden by American Mary Alice Malone of Iron Springs Farm, won many top Grand Prix Championships in the United States. As a young stallion, Contango won both the jumping and dressage portions of his stallion performance test in Medingen receiving exceptional scores. His most successful offspring in dressage is the Dutch gelding, Ravel, who was 4th at the Beijing Olympic Games, and most recently won the 2011 World Dressage Masters CDI5* in Florida ridden by American Steffen Peters.

In the international dressage arenas, Oldenburg horses have been a dominant breed. Bonfire, ridden by Anky van Grunsven, is one of the most famous dressage horses in history. He was bred by Karl Westerholt and was sold at the Oldenburg Stallion Days Auction in Vechta, Germany as a 2 ½ year old. When Anky purchased Bonfire later as a gelding, the two were almost impossible to beat. They were the individual gold medalists and team silver medalists in the Sydney Olympic Games, individual and team silver medalists in the Atlanta Olympic Games, European Champions in 1999, World Champions in 1994, and won the World Cup an astonishing five times.

Other historic Oldenburgs in dressage include: the Oldenburg stallion Don Schufro who won team bronze for Denmark at the Beijing Olympic Games; Albano who ridden by Heike Kemmer was the 2001 BCM number one ranked dressage horse in the world, and who won team gold for Germany in the 2002 European Championships; Rainier who ridden by Robert Dover was a key member of the bronze medal team at the 2000 Olympic Games; and the Oldenburg stallion, Relevant, won a 2002 World Games team silver and a 2004 Olympic Games team bronze under the American rider, Lisa Wilcox.

Oldenburgs are also well known in the jumper arenas around the world. In the past there have been jumper stars such as the mare, Weihaiwej, who incredibly accomplished the feat of winning double gold at the World Championships in 1994 ridden by Franke Sloothake. German rider, Marcus Ehning, had two FEI World Cup victories with Oldenburg horses; first with the mare Anka who won the 2003 FEI World Cup in Las Vegas, and then with the stallion, Sandro Boy, who won the 2006 FEI World Cup in Kuala Lumpur by putting in an amazing four clear rounds. At the 2007 FEI World Cup in Las Vegas, the Oldenburg stallion, Air Jordan Z, was the overall Reserve Champion having won the final two rounds. Oldenburg jumpers have also been a part of the Olympic Games. The Oldenburg gelding, Special Ed, brought home team silver for Canada at the Beijing Olympic Games after already having won individual gold at the 2007 Pan American Games.

There will surely be far more from Oldenburg jumpers to come. In 2001, it was decided that a separate breeding society dedicated to the pursuit of breeding top jumper horses would be created. It is called the Springpferdezuchtverband Oldenburg International e.V., or “OS” for short. The OS is partnered to the Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes under a supervisory society called the Oldenburger Pferdezucht-Verband e.V. which manages both organizations, but the OS has a separate breeding Evaluation and Approval Committee which concentrates on the jumping bloodlines and abilities of the stallions and mares. In 2008, the OS saw an outstanding stallion for the future of the program. Le Champ Ask was the champion of the 2008 stallion licensing, and his talent was so clear, his character so assured, that the 2 ½ year old broke the German breeding society auction record selling to Denmark for the sum of 1.1 million Euro.

Today the breeding goal of the Verband der Züchter des Oldenburger Pferdes is to “Breed a versatile sport horse for use in all disciplines of equestrian sport.” The stated breeding goal of the Springpferdezuchtverband Oldenburg International e.V. is “To breed jumpers for high level international show jumping competitions.”

The headquarters for the Oldenburg Breeding Societies is at the Oldenburg Horse Center in Vechta, Germany where many fun and exciting events are held throughout the year. There are six auctions held: The Spring Elite Auction, the Summer Mixed Sales Auction, The Elite Foal Auction, The Fall Elite Auction, and the Stallion Days Auction. The Fall Elite Auction is a very special event that always has an evening Gala held the night before the auction which has sensational equestrian performances. The Oldenburg Elite Mare Show held every July in Rastede on the grounds of the Royal Stud in conjunction with the Oldenburg State Championships is also a worthwhile event to see. What also cannot be missed is the Oldenburg Stallion Days which is the main licensing of the Oldenburg breeding stallions. For four days you can watch the evaluation process, be there for the crowning of the champion stallion, have fun at the auction of the stallions, and then enjoy a full evening Stallion Parade where older stallions approved for breeding with Oldenburg come in and show off their talent.

Around the globe, top level Oldenburg horses such as Augustin OLD ridden by Victoria Max-Theurer for Austria, Der Stern OLD ridden by Isabel Werth for Germany, Prezioso S ridden by Lauren Hough for the US, G&C LaGran ridden by Pablo Barrios for Venezuela, & Absolute Liberty ridden by Buck Davidson Jr. put fear into the hearts of competitors. Outstanding athletes such as these are excellent examples of the high standards of breeding from the Oldenburg Verband that will surely continue into the future. The tradition continues.