{"id":936,"date":"2010-07-01T05:02:13","date_gmt":"2010-06-30T19:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.89.31.130\/~thehors5\/thm\/?p=936"},"modified":"2021-05-09T13:42:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-09T03:42:11","slug":"a-history-of-the-warmblood-in-australia-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2010\/07\/a-history-of-the-warmblood-in-australia-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Warmblood History Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

At the end of the Second World War, the tractor was taking over the Agricultural sector and the future was looking grim for our friend, the horse. Then something very exciting happened, equestrian sport, previously reserved for male military officers, started to boom all over the world! The first World Showjumping Championships were held in 1953, then the first Eventing and Dressage World Championships were held in 1966. Suddenly the horse was back in demand, and the hunt was on for riding horses, for competition horses for the newly popular sport.<\/p>\n

In Australia, there were a number of attempts to breed sporthorses. There had always been the traditional Clydesdale cross, some \u2013 to the great amusement of the French \u2013 tried Percheron, others experimented with Connemaras, Palominos, Andalusians. One enthusiast, Mrs Jackson in Victoria, set up a breeding program seeking to marry the strengths of the Thoroughbred, the Arabian and the Clydesdale, to produce the ultimate sporthorse. Mrs Jackson even employed one of the first \u00e9migr\u00e9 riding instructors, Kornel von Feuchtesleden, formerly a major in the Royal Hungarian Hussars, to train the horses.<\/p>\n

No, the mix didn\u2019t work, it was probably our first lesson that trying to marry radically different types seldom works, but it was a lesson we had to learn a few more times before it sunk in.<\/p>\n

Influenced by some of the newly arrived European riding instructors, the Australian breeders and riders looked to Europe, and in particular, Germany\u2026<\/p>\n

The First Warmblood!<\/strong>
\nThe very first Warmblood horse to come to Australia was a Holsteiner, the stallion, Flaneur, imported in 1968.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

By Fax I out of Lita by Markgraf, Flaneur was described by Dr Friedrich Rossow in his official Holsteiner Verband stallion book as \u2018awkward and stubborn under saddle\u2019. It was perhaps not a great way to introduce the breed to a new country\u2026\u00a0especially as the interest in Warmblood breeding was almost exclusively concentrated on producing dressage horses. At that time, Australian jumping riders were happy to make use of the endless supply of very inexpensive failed racehorses coming off the racetrack.<\/p>\n

The stallion was imported by Don Paul, who had been a prisoner of war in Eastern Europe during the Second World War. At the end of the war, Don joined the flood of refugees heading down the highway back into Germany. He was walking alongside a \u2018little German on a big horse\u2019 who had a whole string of horses he was trying to keep together. Every time a plane went over, the horses scattered, but since the German had been kind to him, Don Paul helped him get his horses together. Eventually he ended up riding one of them.<\/p>\n

Back in Germany, the rider, who was returning the horses to his father\u2019s stud, said farewell to his fellow traveller. He was Fritz Thiedemann, who in 1953 won the silver medal at the first World Showjumping Championships. He also gave the Australian his address.<\/p>\n

So many years later when Don Paul wanted to buy a German stallion he wrote to Thiedemann, who sent him some photos of horses he considered suitable to breed over Thoroughbred mares \u2013 Don Paul chose Flaneur and imported him, sight unseen, to\u00a0Australia.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Flaneur, ridden by another import, this time former German cavalry officer, Antoine Nissen created something of a sensation when he was displayed at the various agricultural shows and horse events around the country. For a start, Australians had never seen a riding horse quite that big \u2013 17 hands and three inches! It had been Nissen who had suggested to Don Paul that Australia needed a German stallion.<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s first performance horse breeding association was established in 1970 \u2013 the Holsteiner Breeders Association of Australia – but this soon became the German Warmblood Breeders Association.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Gert Donvig and Granada and Mary Donvig and Kilof McOhl<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dutch stallion Arnhem arrived in 1974 \u2013 imported by Graham and Heather Weir. Gert Donvig imported the Danish stallion, Kilof McOhl in 1976. 1976 also saw the importation of the first Hanoverian licensed stallion, Domherr, brought to Australia by Roz Oatley and her then husband, former German Junior Dressage Champion, Reiner Nist. Domherr was later to become famous as the sire of the Barcelona eventing gold medallist, Kibah Tic Toc, ridden by Matthew Ryan.
\nAnd lest you get the impression that all those early Warmblood breeders were \u2013 like their horses \u2013 foreign imports, there\u2019s Bev Edwards – she was Bev Chugg then. She turned to breeding performance horses when her son Chris was 12 years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was basically to breed jumping horses for him. I was doing a bit of eventing, and I was sort of sneaking into dressage. I\u2019d had a few schools with Franz Mairinger. Before that it had just been the hacks and the hunters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got into trotting horses as well. I trained quite a few trotting winners, I was actually the first woman to train a trotting winner at Harold Park. Also the first woman to get license in Sydney.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bev purchased her first stallion, the Quarter horse, Chico d\u2019Oro in 1971. The horse was a B grade showjumper and took the by then 18 year old Chris out of the junior ranks and into open competition.<\/p>\n

Chico also bred a World Cup showjumping final representative in Aschico, and a WEG dressage team member in Peaches \u2018n\u2019 Cream.<\/p>\n

Then in 1977 Bev acquired the Hanoverian, Sky High \u2013 whose story is to be found later in this history. Sky High was one of the first Warmbloods to make the showjumpers sit up and take notice.<\/p>\n

The early breed Associations<\/strong>
\n1978 saw the arrival of two more Holsteiners, Contact and Romedio. Two Australian bred stallions Schwandor and Boss Cockie (both sons of Flaneur) were also registered that year. 1979 was a big year for stallion imports: Ralph Grosby imported King, an Oldenburger and D\u00fcellschutz, a Hanoverian. King was the sire of John Fahey\u2019s showjumping stallion, Attilla Rex, and the advanced eventing stallion, Abduell, while D\u00fcellschutz sired the first Australian Warmblood to compete at the Olympic Games \u2013 EBA Schnapps. Cheryl Hunt imported the Hanoverian, Adlerstein and the Trakehner, Fred Astaire, Gert and Mary Donvig brought out another Danish horse, Granada and another Dutch stallion – Abel Tasman – arrived. It was time for a name change and the Australian Warmblood Horse Association was born in 1978.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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D\u00fcellschutz – one of the early Hanoverians<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile in Victoria, breeders who wanted to keep alive the Flaneur influence banded together as the Holsteiner Breeders Association of Australia with the inaugural meeting on April 28, 1974. At this inaugural meeting, Malcolm Barns displayed the Flaneur son, Schwandor.<\/p>\n

According to Ann Hunt in a report in The Horse Magazine (July, 1989, page 51):<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the public\u2019s first viewing of the breed in action and they were enthralled by the two year old\u2019s free jumping display as he trotted calmly up to substantial obstacles and sailed over them with consummate ease\u2026. The aim of the Australian Holsteiner Horse Association is to produce a well-balanced, sturdy horse standing 16-17 hands as an ideal with round generous strides and a natural elastic movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Association is committed to adhere as closely as possible to the selected breeding standard practised since the 13th century \u2013 given certain obvious geographic and administrative differences.\u201d<\/p>\n

But, and this is a recurring theme in Australian performance horse breeding history, yet another stud book appeared in 1977 as the Victorian Warmblood Horsebreeders Association. In 1983, the association was re-named: The Australian Warmblood Sporthorse Association.<\/p>\n

For many years, the AWSHA was led by Warrick Cozens, an Australian rider who had spent six years in Europe in the late 60\u2019s and early 70\u2019s, studying with some of Europe\u2019s leading trainers, including Fritz Tempelmann, Egon von Neindorff, Georg Wahl and three and a half years with Col. Alois Podhajsky. In 1971, Cozens brought home with him the stallion, Lucano, by the Hanoverian Luciano, and out of a mare by the Oldenburg based Selle Fran\u00e7ais, Furioso II.
\nLucano (below) was the sire of Clifton Court Cognac, who competed at Grand Prix Dressage level with Paula de Visser.<\/p>\n

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\n

The two main breed societies split over the issue of stallion approval. The AWHA developed a policy that favoured a European style system of licensing and performance testing and grew increasingly rigorous in its testing and controls over the years, while the AWSHA advocated a more laissez faire approach of letting the market \u2013 and competition results \u2013 identify the worthwhile stallions.<\/p>\n

In a THM Breed Society Special in 1987, the AWHSA laid out its breeding policy:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AWHSA recognises all the European Warmblood Stud Books but directs its efforts to the promotion and development of an Australian Warmblood horse bred from the Warmblood horses of Europe and the Thoroughbred and Anglo-Arab horses of Australia to produce talented, well conformed and athletic Australian Sport Horses. The AWSHA feels this is best done by placing the responsibility for producing Australian Warmblood horses in the hands of the horse breeder, and with the minimum of interference give the horse breeder direction, guidance and help in continuing to improve and develop an Australian Warmblood Sporthorse\u2026 It has always been the AWHSA\u2019s contention that expensive performance testing is a very limiting and daunting to many Warmblood breeders and, at this yet early stage of Warmblood breeding, restrictions of an authoritarian culling nature are not conducive to the progress of Warmbloods in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AWSHA method of performance testing is done by taking into account the results of performances by sires and their progeny in the three Olympic disciplines of dressage, showjumping and eventing as well as show performances. The association offers guidance to its members but places the onus on each individual stud to be responsible for the quality of the horses they produce.\u201d<\/p>\n

(The Horse Magazine, page 84, August 1987)<\/p>\n

In 1985, the AWHA, as distinct from the AWHSA, had 50 registered imported and Australian stallions on its books, the majority not performance tested. That year, the AWHA conducted the first performance testing of stallions in Victoria. Those that did pass: Abel Tasman, Fechtor, Fred Astaire, Northern Congress (Aust), Pfrinzen (Aust) and Valuta, joined Duellsch\u00fctz, Flaneur, King, Kilof McOhl and Moselfischer (all tested overseas) as the only stallions in Victoria accredited by the AWHA at that time.<\/p>\n

The AWHA continued to refine its breeding guidelines and by 1988, this was the policy:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AWHA has always been prepared to modify its breeding guide-lines for the improvement of the breed and has been the forerunner in many aspects of performance horse breeding. In 1985, with enormous support from our members, we introduced changes to our breeding program to bring it more into line with the German guide-lines. These changes included colt selection, a seven day stallion performance test, mare classification (warmblood and foundation) and the granting of breeding permits to stallions on an annual basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are responsible for operating a Stud Book for approved breeding horses, and a Register for non-breeding purposes. We are in the process of introducing an additional register for performance only, to widen our acceptance of Warmbloods produced\u2026. Our Association supports the performance testing of stallions and will not recognise a stallion unless it is performance tested by a recognised body overseas or the AWHA. As performance testing is synonymous with Warmblood breeding, we are not prepared to take the risk in waiting for stallions, or their progeny, to compete in open competition. This method of recognition is not only time consuming, but rarely ensures that each stallion performs in the three required disciplines of dressage, showjumping and cross country.\u201d September 1988 THM<\/p>\n

There was always a feeling \u2013 particularly by those who had stallions rejected (and yes, I was one, our Thoroughbred Valadero was failed) \u2013 that having a panel of assessors, some of whom were stallion owners, was a bit like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. Eventually history would answer the question of performance test or let the market decide, and the answer would seem to be that it didn\u2019t really matter at all. There were some terrible horses produced bylicensed performance tested stallions, and many quite successful horses were by unlicensed, untested sires. And vice versa…<\/p>\n

Next Month – Early Holsteiner lines<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This series of articles traces the development of the Warmblood in Australia…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[715],"tags":[85],"class_list":["post-936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-big-issues","tag-warmblood-breeding"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58733,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936\/revisions\/58733"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}