Hello HP breeders and players, welcome to the new Holsteiner Breeding Program thread! I have recently become the Holsteiner Ambassador, which is why a few new things have been founded in the past few days! Although HP currently has a total of 36 pages of this breed, there are only 1 page whom are currently active on the entire game, which I want to change. I am introducing Project Premier Eleganz in an attempt to revive the market and numbers to pull them out of the Endangered/Rare horse lists as well as educate people about their amazing history and versatility. It is with great hope it will inspire new breeders and enthusiasts to start their own breeding program with them and connect with other fellow breeders!

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WHAT IS A HOLSTEINER HORSE?

The Holsteiner horse - whom is commonly mistaken for the holstein - like most horse breeds, got its named from its place of origin; it was founded in the 13th Century (450AD) in Schleswig-Holstein northern Germany and is one of the country's oldest breeds of Warmbloods. The breed's first ancestory can be traced back to Neapolitan, Spanish and Oritental Warmbloods and can be recorded to when Gerhard I - Count of Holstein and Storman, granted grazing rights at the privately-owned land in around cloister of Utersen to the monastary; with this new law passed, monks of the area began to breed the horses making them dependendable farm and military horses. They soon became German marsh and Calvary horses as well as field-plowing farm horses by farmers.

In the early years of 1686, the provence of Schleswing-Holstein passed another law to ensure the quality of the breed as well as offering incentives to encourage the proper breeding of Holsteiners; this new law quickly gave the breed its reputation and fame by the 17th - 18th  Century throughout Europe as over 10,000 were exported by the year of 1797.

By the 19th Century, the demand for war horses and heavy calvary mounts declined as the demand for carriage horses then increased. The Holsteiner was then changed once more to become an elegant, high-stepping carriage horses which was integrated by the introduction of Cleveland Bays and Yorkshire Coach horses {shown above} until World War I and World War II broke out. The Holsteiner's popular demand as a military horse revived as they quickly became used for artillery; their population staggered down dramatically to almost extinction, in which a governing body in Germany then formed to raise the population up once again in the 1960's. Once the population had stablized to 3000 mares and 70 stallions, the American Holsteiner Horse Association founded itself in 1978 in an attemp to assist breeders to prouducing quality bloodlines and horses as well as keeping records of every horse.

During the 20th century, and the end of World War II, the demands for horses changed once again for the needs of a versatile sporthorse; the Holsteiner's appearance was then changed once more from it's war and coach confirmation. Hot-blooded breeds such as the Thoroughbred and Anglo-Arabian were added into the mix as well as Anglo-Normans and Selle Francais which allowed them to have the refined frame and a unique jumping ability that created the ultimate sporthorse {shown above}. This 20th century foundation Holsteiner was changed overtime to the beautiful confirmation that we know and love in the breed today.

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                               THE MODERN HOLSTEINER - QUICK FACTS

The Holsteiner is ideally characterized by the AHHA (American Holsteiner Horse Association) as a 16HH - 17HH medium framed sporthorse that weighs around 1,025lbs with powerful hindquarters, well-angled shoulders and an arched neck that allows elegant "self-carriage"; it is also known for having a small head and large, intelligent eyes. Their trademark is their undeniable expressive, elastic movements and long strides in their gaits, with its best gait being the soft and balanced canter, making it the best chosen horse by equestrians. While this horse is generally healthy, it is highly prone to lameness due to the severe pressure of competition, but this is remedied through the use of leg wraps or splints; unlike most horses, the Holsteiner has a much shorter lifespan, living only up to 25 - 30 years of age. Holsteiners are commonly seen in chestnut, various shades of bays and grays but can also come in black. As its history depicts, the Holsteiner is a very versatile horse. They are commonly seen in show-jumping, cross-country and dressage as well as international competitions, but in North America they are also used in driving, hunt-seat equitation and as hunter-jumpers.

Unfortunately, Holsteiners have become quite rare in Europe in modern times as opposed to their ancestors and are only 6% of the total population of horses. Despite this, they have not at all flaws in their consistency to produce elegant, high-performing offspring and have been ranked #1 for best international jumper by the World Breeding Federation For Sport Horses (WBFSH). Holsteiners are also not as common on the equestrian market as other breeds, making them much more expensive; the purchasing price for a foal or yearling starts at $15,000 {12,909 Euros} and the majority are sold in California. Charleston is considered the highest sold Holsteiner to date at the price of 300,000 Euros {$348,585.00 USD} at auction. They are recommended mainly for experienced and serious minded competitors due to their bold, well-nerved temperament and eagerness to work.

FUN FACT: Did you know? The famous stallion Totilas has two Holsteiners - Amor and Farn - in his dam pedigree! 

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                               JOINING PROJECT PREMIER ELEGANZ

We have opened our program and are ready for action, but we're missing one last thing, YOU! If you are interested in starting your own pair of Holsteiners and helping us successfully launch Project Premier Eleganz, you can do several of the following choices listed below:

★ Contact me in a private message or comment below if you are interested in a pair! They will be store horses with 32,000 - 100,000 points {your choice} already trained, vet and shodded; all adopted Holsteiners will be reserved for their new breeders until ready for pick-up and are free of charge to new breeders.

★ If you are an experienced breeder and are interested in incoporating my Medicine Lines into your breeding program, please contact me to negotiate a breeding schedule and price; all breeders who are interested in this option must contact me prior to breeding, meaning that I am open to reserving a back-up foal months in advance before their first breeding. I will not do last minute breedings for any reason.

Thank-you for reading this long post an hope to hear from you soon!!!

Also apologies it IS very long xD

sending you a message!!

BUMP!