Schleswig

Origin: West Germany

Color: Usually chestnut, although sometimes black, bay, or gray, and it frequently has white markings.

Avg Height: 15.1 to 16.1 hh

Avg Weight: 1,430 to 1,760 lbs

Build: The Schleswig is a stocky, active animal with a fairly large head set on a high, crested neck, a long body, sometimes with rather flat ribs, and sturdy, relatively short legs with some feather. The feet sometimes tend be flat and soft.

Temperament: A quiet, willing disposition. Lively and good-natured temper. Persistent.

Main use: Agriculture work and forestry.

Special abilities: Works outstanding in heavy soil. Versatile and agile and of great endurance, easy to keep and feeding problems are virtually unknown to this breed.

History: This breed originated in northern Germany in the province of the same name. It was founded in the early 1800's, when Munkedal, a stallion from Denmark was bred with local mares. Once found in the extreme north of West Germany (now in the extreme north of western Germany), this breed can be traced back to the Jutland of Denmark. Because the Schleswig was consistently maintained by the use of Danish stallions, a practice finally abandoned in 1938, the bloodlines of the two are the same. In the nineteenth century the Schleswig was in great demand for pulling buses and streetcars. Breeding regulations were laid down in 1888, and in 1891 a stud book was opened, following the formation of the Verband des Schleswigen Pierdezuchtverein- a governing body still in existence today. Until the 1960's, the Schleswiger served as a working horse. Nowadays it is on the list of the endangered domestic animal breeds from the Society for the Protection of Old Domestic Animal Breeds.