THE OLDENBURG HORSE
The Oldenburg stallions must pass a rigorous licensing examination held by the Oldenburg society; only 75-85 two-year old stallions are licensed as acceptable breeding stallions. Following their selection by the Oldenburg licensing commission, the chosen stallions are branded with the Oldenburg brand, which is a kind of crown over an O, and get to spend 100 days in additional training at Adelheidsdorf or Medingen in Germany. These honorees are certainly considered the "crème de la crème!" Diane Jones
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The
Oldenburg Horse is named for Graf (Count) Anton Gunther von
Oldenburg, a noble member of the House of Hannover, who lived
from 1603 until 1667. Like his father Count Johann XVI von Oldenburg,
Count Anton based his "dream" horse on the Friesian horse, but
in addition he brought back stallions from Naples (Italy), Spain,
Poland, Tartary, and Barbary. Because of the dominance of the
Friesian horse in the Oldenburg pedigree, most of the Oldenburg
horses were big, black, and powerful and made magnificent coach
horses for German royalty. One of Count Oldenburg's famous relatives
in the House of Hannover was King George I of England, who spoke
only German; he loved German horses so much that he sent several
English Thoroughbreds, which had just been developed in England,
to help improve the Oldenburg horse. Today's Oldenburg is still
a large horse, often in excess of 17 hands, with relatively
short legs and cannons, powerful hindquarters and strong neck,
a deep chest, and large sound feet. The Oldenburg, which can
be gray, brown, or the familiar black, is most often used for
dressage and eventing and occasionally for driving.