Hanoverian Horse

Origin: West Germany - Hanover and Lower Saxony.

Height: 15.3-17 h h.

Color: All solid colors.

Character: Indomitable, courageous animal, intelligent, well-manneredand versatile.

Physique: Somewhat plain head with straight face and intelligent eye,well set on a strong neck. Excellent shoulders; powerful, deep-chestedbody with broad, strong loins and rounded, muscular quarters. Tail set onhigh and carried well. Legs short and strong, short in the pasterns, and hockswell let down and flexible. Action straight and showy. A strong, compacthorse of good conformation and excellent balance.

Balance, brain and power combine to make the Hanoverian a top-classdressage horse and showjumper, and in these two fields today it justly commands very high prices. Besides its natural aptitude for sporting events -it is also an excellent hunter - it seems to have a genuine love of the gameand sometimes an appealing sense of showmanship. The Men's WorldShowjumping Championship, a quadrennial event, was won in 1974 byHartwig Steenken of West Germany riding his great liver chestnut Han-overian mare, Simona, whose capacity to capture an audience was obviouslyapparent to her. The enormous fences were approached with nonchalance,cleared with a flippant flick of the tail in mid air, left behind with a show ofher yellow teeth that seemed an almost human grin of delight. Simona was16 at the time, an age at which most sporting horses have long been retiredfrom competition.

Hanoverians have been bred since the 17th century, and are one of theoldest of theGerman warm-blooded breeds. They descend from the famousHanoverian Creams, also called Isabellas after the Queen of Spain, whichwere bred under British royal patronage at the LandgestOt at Celle inHanover and were used as carriage horses for ceremonial purposes. TheBritish royal family of the time was Hanoverian by birth - George I ofEngland was formerly George, Elector of Hanover. Hanoverian Creams wereused for British royal processions from the reign of George I to George V,when they were replaced by the Windsor Greys.

The present-day Hanoverian has been modified by Thoroughbred andTrakehner blood. commands very high prices. Besides its natural aptitude for sporting events -it is also an excellent hunter - it seems to have a genuine love of the gameand sometimes an appealing sense of showmanship. The Men's WorldShowjumping Championship, a quadrennial event, was won in 1974 byHartwig Steenken of West Germany riding his great liver chestnut Han-overian mare, Simona, whose capacity to capture an audience was obviouslyapparent to her. The enormous fences were approached with nonchalance,cleared with a flippant flick of the tail in mid air, left behind with a show ofher yellow teeth that seemed an almost human grin of delight. Simona was16 at the time, an age at which most sporting horses have long been retiredfrom competition.
Hanoverians have been bred since the 17th century, and are one of theoldest of the German warm-blooded breeds. They descend from the famousHanoverian Creams, also called Isabellas after the Queen of Spain, whichwere bred under British royal patronage at the LandgestOt at Celle inHanover and were used as carriage horses for ceremonial purposes. TheBritish royal family of the time was Hanoverian by birth - George I ofEngland was formerly George, Elector of Hanover. Hanoverian Creams wereused for British royal processions from the reign of George I to George V,when they were replaced by the Windsor Greys.

The present-day Hanoverian has been modified by Thoroughbred andTrakehner blood.