Gelderlander

The Gelderlander developed approximately 100 years ago in Gelderland province of the Netherlands. They were bred by the local people primarily as a versatile farm horse, able to work on the farms, but also sufficiently conformed to make a good riding horse. The breed evolved from a rather mixed gene pool. The local people bred native mares to Andalusian, Norfolk Roadster, Neapolitan, and Norman stallions. There were further infusions of Arabian, Anglo-Arab, Furioso, Holstein and Orlov blood. In the late 19th century, the breed was further improved by the introduction of English Thoroughbred, Hackney, and Oldenburgh blood. Rather remarkably, considering the diversity of influences, a fixed type did develop by crossbreeding the progeny, and this became known as the Gelderlander.

They are extremely versatile horses with an excellent quiet temperament. The infusions of Thoroughbred have lent the breed a certain amount of class and they are probably best described as eye-catching medium weight carriage horses. The Gelderlander is increasingly being used for competitive driving, at which they are very talented many having competed at International level competitions. They make good middleweight riding horses and are often quite athletic possessing good natural jump, but they do however lack speed. They have great presence and elegance with a free-flowing action and a particularly stylish high-stepping trot. Numbers of the Gelderlander have somewhat decreased in recent years, as they are increasingly used to breed Dutch Warmblood, which is a much higher caliber of riding horse.

The Gelderlander generally have good conformation, with a long, sometimes pain head, and straight profile. The neck is muscular and gently curves from broad withers to the poll. The back is quite straight and long with muscular quarters, which are fairly straight from the croup. The tail is set and carried high. They are broad and deep through the chest, and have muscular shoulders which can be rather straight. The legs are muscular and quite short, while proportionally often being long in the forearm, with good, strong joints, and very heard hooves. They are mostly chestnut, but can be bay, gray, or black in color, with white markings, and stand at between 15.2 hh and 16.2 hh.

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