Fascination Baroque Horses
Baroque horses are on everyone's lips in the equestrian world and you have probably already seen one or two show performances with baroque horses at events and horse fairs:
Imposing Friesian or Iberian horses with elegantly braided long hair and artfully decorated bridles, proudly carrying their riders in historical costumes and presenting themselves with ease in quadrilles or lessons from the High School. Absolutely beautiful to watch!
It is certainly clear to you at first glance that this must be something historical. But what exactly do these show performances have to do with the Baroque era and why are these horses still called “Baroque horses” today?
To explain this, I would like to take you on a little journey back in time to the 17th and 18th centuries - a time when horse breeding in Europe and knowledge of training riding horses became very important - across all borders. The developments and achievements of this time still have a significant influence on the way we ride today, on our bridles and of course on the horse breeds that we know.
- The Origin – a Journey Through Time
- What did Baroque horses look like?
- The horse breeds of the Baroque period – nobler, more beautiful, more impressive!
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The Origin – a Journey Through Time
The Baroque horse is not a breed of horse in the true sense, but rather a very specific type of horse with special characteristics.
The origin of princely and royal horse breeding lay in military cavalry. For many centuries, a strong and powerful cavalry was the guarantee of power, prosperity and success in the conflicts between the various royal houses of Europe.
And for this you needed special horses:
A knight's horse was a strong, reactive, courageous, intelligent horse that was trained to respond to subtle aids and had a close bond with its rider - who was exclusively male at the time. It was the knight's and fighter's life insurance in the dangerous fray of battle and, accordingly, his most valuable treasure.
In the Baroque era, this slowly began to change. Periods of peace became longer and courtly diplomacy, with its splendidly staged display of power, became more important than purely military conflict.
The role of horses also began to change, as the art of riding lost importance as a means of survival in close combat. However, great importance was still placed on their fine training. However, the aim was no longer to rescue oneself and the knight from battle unscathed, but rather to present the art of fine courtly riding to the highest perfection at festivals and pompous performances at the various royal courts. By promoting and preferring the fine, artistic, light and dance-like over pure "utilitarian riding", the aim was to demonstrate the superiority of one's own courtly culture and, of course, one's own wealth.
The Baroque period was, so to speak, the European age of pomp, glitter and glamour, and horses were an important part of it. However, they were not show dolls, but carefully trained athletes who were still required to serve in the cavalry in the event of war.
The increasing importance of courtly horsemanship naturally led to the desire to breed one's own, distinctive horses that were particularly talented for the lessons of the "high school" in competition with the other royal houses and principalities. And so, over time, a variety of horse breeds and royal stud farms emerged throughout Europe, influencing and shaping horse breeding well into the present day. Almost every royal court - at least those that were self-respecting and could afford it - had its own breed of horse. For example, there were the Herrenhausen White-borns, the Dillenburg Ramsnasen or the Bückeburgers - horses that we only know today from paintings.
What did Baroque horses look like?
In order to be able to perform the difficult and athletic movements of the High School, such as levade, piaffe, capriole and passage, with dancing ease and sublime elegance, these horses all needed similar physical requirements that enabled them to have a high level of collection. And of course they also had to look radiantly beautiful and impressive - at least according to the aesthetic sensibilities of the time.
The Iberian horse had a great influence on the creation of the various Baroque horses and so it is not surprising that all these different horse breeds of the royal stud farms and royal houses had a lot in common:
- a strong yet elegant physique
- proudly curved, high-set necks with fine and lush long hair
- a strong, powerful hindquarters with a mostly short back, which enables a high ability to collect
- very springy, flowing gaits with high knee action
- often distinctive character heads with Roman noses
They were also said to have a strong, not always easy character, but nevertheless a great human orientation and high intelligence.
The term Baroque horses covers various horse breeds whose appearance resembles the ideal horses of the Baroque era or whose origins lie in this period.
The horse breeds of the Baroque period – nobler, more beautiful, more impressive!
Of the variety of different types and breeding directions that existed in the Baroque era, only a few have survived to this day. Among them are some that are very well known today, but which were threatened with extinction. It is thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of individual horse-crazy breeders and lovers of these breeds and the large state stud farms that we can still admire and experience them today!
These are the baroque horse breeds:
- Lipizzaner: Originally from the Lipica Stud of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
- Andalusians/ Pura Raza Española: Were bred in their own breed at the Spanish royal court and conquered all of Europe via the influential Habsburgs.
- Lusitano or Alter Real: Breeding area – Iberian Peninsula at the royal stud farm of the Portuguese King Joao V.
- Frederiksborger: Breeding area – Royal Stud of the Danish Crown
- Knabstrupper: Were also bred at the Danish royal court at the Knabstrup stud farm as a separate color variant of the Frederiksborg horse.
- Frisians: Were bred as a cross between Iberian horses and Dutch working horses as impressive carriage horses for the magnificent teams.
- Kladruber: The imperial horses of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy come from the court stud farm of Emperor Rudolf II in Kladruby nad Labem
- Neapolitans (Murges): Breeding area – Kingdom of Naples. Beautiful black horses that shaped baroque horse breeding throughout Europe. Today the Murgese from Apulia are considered their descendants.
And of course the Berber horses... Berbers? What do the Berbers have to do with the Baroque horses, you ask? You will soon be able to read the story behind them in the blog post about the popular Andalusians.
Are you still looking for suitable equipment for your baroque horse? Here I have put together a great selection of products for you:
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Baucher bit BAROQUE small tongue clearance brass gold79 € VAT included.Enthält 19% MwSt.zzgl. VersandDelivery Time: 1-2 working days