The Gelderland is a heavy warmblood horse breed that is originating in Netherlands. The same named province in Holland is the place where they were developed. Although it is an old breed, the official breeding stopped in the late 1960’s, when their bloodlines were absorbed into the Dutch Warmblood. Today it’s registered separately in the Royal Warmblood Studbook of the Netherlands (KWPN), in the Gelderland Versatility Registry. The other name for the breed is Gelderlander and is similar with the Groninger horse from the north.
The Gelderland is produced by crossbreeding of native Gelderand mares with warmblood stallions of northern and western Europe. These bloodlines include: the Andalusian, Norman, Neapolitan and Norfolk Roadster.
The average height of the Gelderland horse varies from 15.2-16 hands, but sometimes it can be even taller. All coat colors are accepted, but chestnut, bay, black and grey are the most common. White markings on the legs and the face, skewbald pinto, tobianos and sabino pattern can also appear.
The Gelderland has a long, plain and flat head with a straight or convex profile. The eyes are intelligent, expressive and well set. The neck is strong, muscular and arched; the body is compact, broad and deep; the back is long and straight; the chest is deep and full; and the shoulders are good, long and sloped. The withers are prominent and wide; the hindquarters are powerful; the tail is set high with exaggerated carriage. The legs are muscular and strong with short cannon bones, broad joints and round, hard feet.
The most common use of the Gelderland is carriage, particularly in combined driving. It’s known as an elegant horse that possess stylish, high stepping gaits, especially the trot and it has natural jumping talent. Additionally, they are used for light agriculture work, for transportation, as family horse and for riding. Sometimes they have a role in horse shows, where they are judged in many disciplines, especially at show jumping, but in dressage as well. That’s due to the traits, which they have passed along to the Warmblllod horses.
During the last century the Gelderland horse has been influential on many other breeds. They were crossed with Oldenburg, East Friesian, Thoroughbred and Anglo Norman bloodlines in order to produce a new breed, which will excel in sow jumping.
To complete your day of learning, you need to relax and play a nice puzzle game. It’s about the abovementioned horse breed, which has good nature and high energy with great stamina. Replace the pieces of the jigsaw by using your mouse. Press and hold left mouse button on a piece and drag the piece to its right place. One by one, they will all match and you’ll see a final image with an attractive, handsome and docile horse that is willing to please, the Gelderland horse