Breed Profile: The Knabstrupper

Imagine the grace, beauty and athleticism of a magnificent sport horse, performing Grand Prix dressage or soaring over massive fences. Now add to that picture an explosive pattern of spots and a romantic European past, and viola: You have the classic version of the Knabstrupper.

The history of the Knabstrupper begins in Ice Age Europe, when spotted horses first appeared in cave drawings in Lascaux and Peche-Merle, France. Cromagnon humans painted these animals with colors gleaned from the earth, and seemed to hold them in high regard. Stone Age humans hunted horses for their food, and spotted horses seemed to be of particular interest to those who painted the cave walls.

Over the next several thousand years, horses were domesticated by early Europeans, and this included the spotted equines among them. By 1400 BC, spotted horses began appearing in the art of the ancient Egyptians. A Greek vase of that same period depicts a spotted horse, and an iron scabbard dated 800 BC bearing four spotted horses was found in Austria. It is clear that the spotted horse had developed a presence through all of Europe.

Flaebe’s Legacy

By the 8th Century AD, spotted horses were appearing on artwork throughout the continent, mostly represented as mounts of the noble and wealthy. In Denmark during the 17th Century, a breed called the Tiger Horse developed, featuring horses with a white base and dark colored spots all over the body. This royal breed disappeared in time, but was replaced in the 1800s by a similar though new type of horse that came from a mare by the name of Flaebe.

Flaebe came into the possession of Villars Lunn, owner of a manor house called Knabstrupgaard, in the region of Nordsealand. Lunn bought Flaebe from a butcher, who had purchased the horse from a Spanish officer stationed in Denmark during the Napoleonic wars. Flaebe was well put together, much like a hunter, and was a dark red color with a white, spotted blanket on her rump. The dark part of her coat featured a snowflake pattern, and her mane and tail were white.

Lunn put Flaebe in service at the Knabstrupgaard as a light work horse, and was impressed with the mare’s willing nature and endurance. This was underscored in 1816 when Lunn was run over by a wagon, and a farmhand was sent by carriage to retrieve a doctor. After pulling the carriage for 30 km over 105 minutes, one horse on the two-horse team broke down. The other horse, 15-year-old Flaebe, finished the job in perfect condition and was put to work in the fields the very next day. Flaebe not only had courage and endurance, but she also bore colorful babies. All of her foals were born with spotted patterns, regardless of the stallions she was bred to. One breeding to a palomino stallion resulted in a spotted colt named The Flaebstallion. Both this colt and Flaebe went on to become the foundation stallion and mare of the Knabstrup breed.

It wasn’t long before Knabstrup horses became known around Denmark for their flashy color, endurance and speed. They excelled at racing, and were valued for their high spirit and energetic action, accompanied by a steady temperament and long life.

During the Schleswig War of 1848 to 1850 between Denmark, Prussia and Sweden, Danish officers used Knabstruppers as mounts in the battlefield. The Knabstrupper’s courage and endurance served the officers well, although the horse’s loud color made the riders an easy target on the battlefield.

Shortly after the war, misfortune fell upon the Knabstrupgaard stud. Too much inbreeding began to affect the quality of the breed (only 40 to 50 Knabstruppers existed at the time), and a fire in 1891 killed 22 of the stud’s horses.

The Knabstrup horses that remained were sold off and outcrossed to other horses around Denmark. However, in some horses, the breed’s traits remained intact, and the breed was revived in a different form. In 1947, an association was formed to preserve the spotted horses that were descended from the original Knabstrup stud. Called the Association for Promotion of the Knabstrupper in the County of Holbaek, the group was connected to the stud farm Egemosegaard, where the Knabstrup breed was being revived.

In 1962, a group called the Danish Sporthorse Breed Association was formed, and many Knabstrup breeders left the original group to join the new organization. In 1970, Knabstrup breeders went on to create a country-wide, exclusively Knabstrup organization, called the Knabstrupperforeningen for Denmark, or the Knabstrup Union, which became the national registry for Knabstrup horses in Denmark. What followed was the crossing of Knabstrup horses with Danish Warmbloods, Trakehners, and Holsteiners. The result today is a horse with sporthorse breeding and exotic spotted colorations. pure is baroque, sporthorse is crossing what followed was outcrossing as well as pure breeding .

The Modern-Day Knab

Today’s Knabstrup are still registered by the Knabstrupper Union, the official Danish registry and the mother registry for the breed worldwide. The Knabstrupper is recognized by the Knabstrupper Union in three distinct sizes: horse, pony and miniature.

Horse-sized Knabstruppers come in two different types: baroque and sporthorse. The baroque type is the “pure” Knabstrupper, while the sporthorse type has Thoroughbred and warmblood breeding.

Horse-sized Knabstruppers of sporthorse type measure more than 14.2 hands, and can be over 17 hands. Baroque types stand anywhere from 14.2 to 16.1. Both types come in a wide variety of spotted patterns, including leopard (white body with dark spots), blanketed (dark body with a white blanket, often covered with dark spots), and snowflake (dark body with white spots). The leopard pattern is the favored coloration among many breeders.

Solid Knabstruppers are also permitted in the breed, although solid stallions are not permitted in the stud book. Stallions with blue eyes are also not permitted. Spotted characteristics in the form of a mottled muzzle and mottled genitals are preferred on solid horses.

Horse-sized Knabstruppers have an expressive face and a noble head with clear, and quiet eyes. The Danish standard indicates the head should have a good and open connection from poll to neck, and the neck must be long, well-formed and “well united.”

The Knabstrupper also should have an even, level back with a well and even-muscled topline. The tail should be well set.

The baroque style Knabstrupper has similar conformation to the Andalusian, Lusitano and Lipizzan breeds, which are also considered of baroque type. Their skeleton allows a lot of leg action while still keeping a level back. This allows these horses to easily perform upper level dressage.

Baroque style Knabstruppers have a very even, easygoing temperament, making even the stallions suitable for children. In fact, one of the horses on the Danish National Young Rider Team in the late 1990s, Conetti Lynghoj, is a baroque-type Knabstrupper stallion.

Sporthorse conformation is different from that of baroque type, and more reminiscent of warmbloods and Thoroughbreds. The disposition of the sporthorse type Knabstrupper is also hotter than that of the baroque type, and more typical of warmbloods and Thoroughbreds.

Before Knabstruppers can be accepted into the Danish registry, they are inspected and graded on a scale of 1 to 10 for temperament,conformation, and gaits at the walk, trot and canter. Inspectors look for elastic movement, and a measured and regular walk. The horse must receive an overall mark average of 7 to be accepted as a breeding stallion by the Knabstrupper Union.

Pony-sized Knabstruppers come in three different size divisions: Category I, II and III. Category I ponies are 13.2 to 14.2 hands in height. Category II ponies are between 12.2 hands to 13.2, and Category III ponies are below 12.2 hands.
Knabstrupper ponies are judged on many of the same criteria as horse-sized Knabstruppers.

Miniature sized Knabstruppers are the most recent type addition to the breed, and measure no more than 10.2 hands. They are graded on conformation, and a temperament that is preferably affable and sociable. Inspectors grading mini Knabstruppers for registration also look for regular, flexible movement; an oblique shoulder; strong hindquarters; a small, expressive head; and good musculature.

Despite their beauty and variety, Knabstruppers are still a very rare breed. Less than 2,000 Knabstrupper mares, stallions, and geldings exist worldwide.

Since 1970, approximately 1,050 mares have been graded by the Knabstrupper Union in Denmark. Approximately 250 to 300 living graded (approved for breeding) mares remain in Denmark. About 40 percent of the mares graded with the Knabstrupper Union at this time are in the main studbook and therefore permitted to produce registerable stallions. A mare must be in the main mare book to be a “stallion mother.”

Today, the Knabstrupper Union has approximately 30 approved stallions in the stud book.

Knabstruppers can be found in other European countries besides their native Denmark, although these horses have not been accepted by the Danish registry and so can’t be guaranteed to be of correct Knabstrupper type, according to the Knabstrupper Union.

Baroque type Knabstruppers were originally bred by royalty for training in classical dressage, so it’s not surprising that both the horse and pony version of the breed are used in all modern horse sports in Europe, including dressage, show jumping and eventing.

Today, breeders of the baroque type of Knabstrupper still train these horses for high-level classical work, the type of job traditionally performed by Lipizzans. Also, because of the Knabstrupper’s status in Danish history, the breed is also used in that country for historic exhibitions, as well as traditional side-saddle competition and exhibition.

Pony-size Knabstruppers are very popular with children in Holland, Scandinavia, Germany and Great Britain, in large part because of their spots, their disposition, and the popularity in Europe of the storybook character Pippi Longstockings, who rode a Knabstrupper in her adventures. In fact, the breed became so popular in Sweden that the Danish Knabstrupper Union decided to work together with that country to establish a Swedish national registry.

Although the breed is rare, visibility of the Knabstrupper is growing slowly throughout the world. As interest develops in bringing this unusual spotted breed to American shores, it is only a matter of time before we see this wonderful and romantic horse competing in American show rings.