Swedish Warmblood

The Swedish Warmblood or Swedish Half-bred is a Swedish breed of warmblood horse. It was originally bred as a cavalry horse at the Strömsholm and Flyinge studs. In the twentieth century it became a general-purpose riding and sport horse. It performs well in dressage, show-jumping and three-day eventing, and also as a harness horse.

Swedish Warmblood
Patrik Kittel and Deja at the Dressage World Cup in Paris in 2018
Conservation status
Other names
  • Svenskt Halvblod
  • Svenskt Varmblod
  • Svensk Warmblodig Häst
  • Swedish Half-bred
Country of originSweden
DistributionEuropean countries, United States
Use
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    650 kg[2]
  • Female:
    600 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    170 cm[2]
  • Female:
    165 cm[2]
Colourany solid colour
Pénélope Leprevost and Nice Stephanie in Geneva in 2013
Frank Ostholt and La Fair in the German Eventing Championships at Schenefeld, Pinneberg, 2010

History

The origins of the Swedish Warmblood lie in the seventeenth century, when foreign horses were imported to Sweden from various countries, mostly in Europe, and were cross-bred with mares of local stock to produce horses suitable for military use. Of these imports, Spanish and Friesian animals were the most important; others came from Denmark, England, France, the German-speaking area, Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.[4]: 149  Breeding took place at the stud-farm of Strömsholm in Västmanland, which was established in 1621, and at the Flyinge Royal Stud at Flyinge in Skåne, which dates from 1658.[5]: 180 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were further imports, of sport horses of Arab, Thoroughbred, Hanoverian and particularly of Trakehner stock. These were used to increase the size and power of the breed and to make it more consistent in type. It became a general-purpose riding and sport horse.[4]: 149 [5]: 180 

A stud-book was begun in 1874. In 1928 a breed society, the Avelsförening för Svenska Varmblodiga Hästen or Swedish Warmblood Association, was formed.[6]

Characteristics

The Swedish Warmblood usually stands between 164 and 170 cm at the withers.[7]: 506  The coat may be of any solid colour.[5]: 180 

Use

It is a good general-purpose riding and sport horse. It performs well in dressage, show-jumping and three-day eventing, and also as a harness horse.[8]: 70 

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swedish Warmblood.
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. Breed data sheet: Svenskt halvblod / Sweden (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2022.
  3. Transboundary breed: Swedish Warmblood. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2022.
  4. Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0751301159.
  5. Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). The Horse Encyclopedia. New York, New York: DK Publishing. ISBN 9781465451439.
  6. Cecilia Turesson (21 October 2014). About SWB. Flyinge: Avelsförening för Svenska Varmblodiga Hästen. Archived 10 May 2015.
  7. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  8. Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691167206.
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