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Larissa - The purebred Trakehner mare Larissa with rider Bruce Mandeville at the 1999 Rolex CCI***	Leonidas - The approved Trakehner stallion Leonidas with owner/rider Hilda Gurney	Archie - The beautiful profile of Archibald, a 1975 gelding out of the legendary Trakehner mare Abiza *E*

As stated in the Corporate Regulations of the American Trakehner Association, "Obedience, willingness to work and elegant, flowing and elastic movements are the dominant characteristics of the Trakehner breed." King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia chose the best horses from his seven stud farms over 400 years ago and took them to Trakehnen to begin selective breeding. In 1787, Count Lindenau took over and culled 2/3 of the stallions and 1/3 of the broodmares. He also added select English Thoroughbred and Arabian stallions. This practice is still followed today under strict approval conditions of the West German Trakehner Verband. This careful addition of "hot" blood gives the Trakehner its characteristic breediness and refinement. It is significant to note that most other European warmblood breeds have always used Trakehner stallions as improvers in addition to Thoroughbred and Arabian blood. Through the latter part of the 1800's and up to W.W.II, the Trakehner was extremely successful, winning six Olympic medals and many international titles from 1924 through 1936. Near the end of W.W.II, private breeders were not allowed to leave until January of 1945, when the Russians had broken through the last of the German lines. Barely ahead of the advancing Russian lines, the horror of "The Trek" began. The Trakehners were hitched to wagons full of personal belongings and as much feed as they could carry. It was the dead of winter and the precious breeding stock was in for a tough journey. The mares were heavy with foal, and the snow was deep. Many good horses were left behind to be claimed by the Soviets. The East Prussians were running for their lives and could not stop when a mare lost her foal or horses went lame or became ill. 2 1/2 months and 600 miles later, very few bedraggled specimens remained. Only the hardiest had survived. The next decade was spent trying to regroup the few hundred remaining Trakehners, out of the original 80,000. In October of 1947, the Trakehner Verband was formed. With the help of the German Government, today there are three major stud farms that carry on the selective breeding. The Verband still uses carefully selected Thoroughbred and Arabian blood to improve and refine the breed. Only the breed association can make these selections, as they must approve all breeding stallions. Stallions must meet very stringent conformation and performance requirements to achieve this status. Stallion inspections are conducted in America in the same manner as those held in Germany. The first American inspections were held in 1977, just three years after the American Trakehner Association was formed in Ohio, in 1974. An important note: Although there are other Trakehner registries in America, the American Trakehner Association is the only one recognized by the German Trakehner Verband. From the first importation into Canada of 4 stallions and 23 mares by Gerda Friedrichs, today there are over 100 currently approved stallions and several thousand horses registered with the ATA. These horses are located all over North America. The Trakehner horse should possess the combination of size, bone and substance with a classic breediness, producing the unmistakable Trakehner type, a type clearly distinguishable from all other warmbloods due to its refinement. The head should be refined, often slightly concave in profile, with a broad forehead, smallish muzzle, large, kind, wideset eyes, and solid jawbone. The throat latch is clean and fine and the long, graceful neck is set into the shoulder at just the right angle to provide maximum balance. The ideal Trakehner has a large, solid body, standing in a rectangular frame- compared to the "square" frame, for example, of the Thoroughbred- with a deep, sloping shoulder that allows for tremendous freedom of movement. The legs should be straight and the movement true and square. The pastern should have medium slope and the cannon bones should be relatively short, thus allowing the horse to stay sound through many years of hard work. A back of medium length flows into large and powerful hindquarters with broad, solid hocks carried well under the animal as it travels. A deep barrel provides the necessary lung capacity and is closely coupled to a long, sloping croup. It is the combination of the thrust from the quarters, the swinging back and the freedom of the shoulder that produces the Trakehner's famous floating trot, the trot that eats up the ground, is supremely comfortable, and is so light and springy that it actually looks as if the horse does not quite touch the ground as it strides. The ideal Trakehner is naturally balanced, so its canter is soft and flowing, and jumping comes easily from the strong quarters and the the well-defined hocks which provide the necessary thrust. Trakehner stallions must be a minimum of 15.3 hands at the age of 2 1/2 but they average 16.2 hands in size at maturity. They must also have a heart girth of 72 inches and a cannon bone that is 7.5 inches around. They should possess a truly masculine, dramatic, and powerful appearance. The mares, must be over 15.1 hands and usually average between 15.1 and 16.1 hands. They must have a heart girth of 70 inches and a cannon bone of 7.5 inches around. Their expression should be feminine and motherly. The temperament of the Trakehner is important to mention in that they are expected to be patient, accepting, and able to take concentrated work without blowing up. The horse should be keen, alert, extremely intelligent and quick to learn. Today, Trakehners are competing successfully all over North America. A few examples: the Trakehner gelding, Hannabal (by Pregelstrand, out of Hela VII by Erzsand), owned and ridden by Leslie Webb won the individual Silver medal and a team Silver at the Pan Am Games in 1995 and has since gone on to great success at Grand Prix finishing in the top 10 on the USDF lists for the past 2 years. the Trakehner mare, Larissa (by Target, out of Lagune VII by Hemmingway), owned Franz & Elke Hollenbach, ridden by Bruce Mandeville finished 11th in a very large international field at the 1999 Rolex CCI*** and 9th at the 1999 Pan Am Games CCI*** as the only horse to finish for the Canadian team. Larissa and Bruce Mandeville will be making a bid for the 2000 Canadian Olympic Team. the Trakehner stallion, Peron (by Mahagoni, out of Peru II by Coktail), was USDF Horse of the Year for 1994 in Intermediare II then set Germany on fire with his brillant Grand Prix scores while training abroad with his young American rider Michelle Gibson. They went on to win a Team Bronze medal and finish 5th in Individual competition at the 1994 Olympic Games. the Trakehner mare, Margo *Pg* (by Laiken, out of Marienburg II by Donauwind), with owner/rider Ian Silitch have been a perennial winners in the Grand Prix jumper ring since 1994. the immortal Trakehner stallion, Abdullah (by Donauwind, out of Abiza *E* by Maharadscha), owned by Sue & Terry Williams and ridden by Conrad Homfeld, won a team gold medal and an individual silver medal in show jumping at the 1984 Olympics. His phenomenal success has not been limited to his own performance career, additionally his offspring have gone one to win several AHSA National & Zone titles with names such as: Gabriel, Home By Dark, Airbourne Monticello, Elfin Magic and Special Memories to his credit. In 1999 his son Abracadabrah became his most recent National Champion in claiming the Junior Jumper title. These are only a few of the countless Trakehner horses that have distinguished themselves in the show ring. The members of the ATA believe the Trakehner is the breed of the America's future in Eventing, Dressage and in the Hunter/Jumper arena. The article and photos are all by Jamie Wilson. Please visit her website www.americantrakehner.com/WilsonPhotography Additional resources: www.americantrakehner.com and http://www.americantrakehner.com/Links/TrakLinks.htm

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