This forum is addictive. haha. Inspired by that previous thread about pinto sport horses, I have always liked the Camaro lineage of pinto sport horses more than the other, larger pinto warmbloods. However, they seem to be very rare. Why aren’t there more Trakehners in show jumping? Does anybody have one? Can you post pictures if you do?
Hundertwasser, son of Camaro
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Maybe they’re all eventing.
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Yes, they are. 
I would think there would be a lot of them in show jumping as well.
There have been several great Trakehners in show jumping including…
Abdullah who was part of the very first US team to win a gold medal in show jumping along with indiv silver in 1984
Almox Prints J - 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1992 Games in Barcelona
Horalas competed successfully at the CSIO 5* level and has produced a lot of successful jumpers: Chromas (Nations Cup, World Cup), Fiatas (CSI4*), grandson Hipoidas (World Cup)
Ehrentanz, Hirtentanz, Tzigane are all stallions that have competed at GP. List goes on and on! http://www.trakehners-international.com/history/idealjump.html
If you like pinto Trakehners, check out GRENOBLE ( Marseille - Brioni)
Trakehners do seem to be more prevalent in eventing (4 in the Olympics in eventing this year - Tsetserleg TSF, Vandiver, Absolute Gold, Seigneur Medicott) and dressage (Dalera BB - indiv gold medalist and team gold medal along with Trakehners lines in the the horses by Totilas as he was by the great Trakehner stallion Gribaldi).
If anyone here is riding a Trakehner in the H/J world, please do send me a PM 
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Thanks for posting. Wow! What a jump on Grenoble! The Trakehners seem to have been more popular in showjumping in the past (like the breed was ridden in transitioning from the thoroughbreds to the “colder” warmbloods) . Are there any that are currently competing at GP?
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Here is the listing of various recognized Warmblood studbooks in order of current winning GP jumper horses points earned. I don’t see TRAK designation in the top 50 show jumping breeds. They are in the top ten for dressage and eventing.
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Thanks. Interesting TRAK is listed in dressage and eventing, but not showjumping. Not even listed. I wonder why. Is it for the same reasons that you don’t see any thoroughbreds anymore? Too sensitive and nervous?
Mostly thoroughbreds aren’t purpose bred for anything but racing, so you see them less frequently at the upper levels of the Olympic disciplines.
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But weren’t the thoroughbreds ridden before the warmbloods were imported? I just thought the warmbloods were more level-headed with larger strides compared to the hypersensitive and nervousness of the thoroughbreds. I’m wondering if that is also the reason why there aren’t as many Trakehners in showjumping today since they are closer related to the thoroughbreds vs the more “cold-blooded” warmbloods
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Trakehners do have a good amount of Thoroughbred and Arabian blood. They are the OG warmblood, and a lot of the other warmblood breeds continue to add Trakehners into their studbook to add type, agility, and blood. They are workers and pleasers. You put you leg on and they respond. It makes them really trainable and rideable. I’m such a big fan of them for that reason.
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I think you’ll find that many thoroughbreds are very workman-like and level-headed. It literally has to do with they are not physically bred to jump big jumps, or do dressage. They are purpose bred for conformation to run fast. And many warmbloods are very “bloody” which can mean literally they carry a high percentage of tb blood, but also that they are hotter.
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And TBs also tend to have long strides. If anything, longer than your average warm blood in my experience.
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There are fewer of them to start with, and it’s honestly pretty rare to find one with the scope for the jumpers or the style for the hunters. Therefore people don’t look for them and the cycle continues.
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I used to lease a jaw-droppingly gorgeous sport-bred New Zealand TB. Best conformation of any horse I’ve ever laid eyes on. Movement extravagant enough for a German Riding Master to comment that he looked like a $500k horse.
I grew up riding OTTB. Imo, it’s simply a matter of understanding what OTTB know coming off the track. (Leg means nothing to them, for example. You have to teach them that leg = go forward. And too few trainers these days know this stuff.
But the biggest difference is brain. As I said in another thread a few months ago, a 5yo OTTB lightly taps the rail of the 10th jump in a 1.20 table & reacts with “OMG, I’m a failure! I have disgraced my line clear back to the Godolphin Arabian! Why, why aren’t you upset, human??” A 5yo warmblood, though? More apt to react by bucking you 30’ into the air for accidentally asking for the same lead you’re already on: “F–k you & the horse you rode in on! Riding is stupid! When will I ever need to make a 20m circle? And FYI, those expensive new breeches you bought make you look fat!”
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HAHA!!!
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The only thing you missed here is that the 5-year-old WB will then spook at your breeches once you’re on the ground.
I’ve known two Trakehner or Trak X’s who were aimed at the hunter market. Both were nice horses and went correctly but didn’t have the form to be winning hunters or the scope to be upper level jumpers. They were both pleasant to ride and brought good attitudes but were inclined to be a little sharp- they had to be kept focused on their work or they’d spook. The full Trak had been bred to event with the idea that he’d be a young riders horse for the breeder’s children, but he didn’t have the character to be successful. His favorite gaits were the lope and the working halt. I think he ended up as a Children’s Hunter. He was good to have in the barn. Very sweet horse.
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I don’t believe it has anything at all to do with temperament. As a whole TBs are not nervous or hypersensitive, in my experience. If they raced, they can be in pain and that can translate to being “reactive” - when you fix the pain they tend to be hard workers with unflappable dispositions. TBs do have that built in “Yes Ma’am” button that some WBs lack, where you ask to jump when they are on their 11th mile and they say “OK, how high?” when other horses would have long thrown in the towel. That’s why you see them at ULs in eventing, and why many savvy breeders add a little blood every fourth generation or so to keep the blood up.
Trakehners are not more “closely related” to TBs versus other warmbloods. Most of the WB registries and the TK breed have the same (TB) names further back. The difference is TKs are a closed studbook (no outside influence), while other WB "breeds’ are actually registries, that allow a fair bit of influence from outside breeds so long as they meet criterion. That is why you see the TK has delved into two branches of specialty, eventing and dressage – while many of the WB registries are a handy mix because when a sire line dominates a specific discipline (IE, Caletto in show jumping) they all breed to him, producing more diversity than a closed studbook can. TKs are used on occasion as ‘refiners’ but they are not always light and modern and in the last decade or so have really come a long way in terms of type.
Because TK is a closed studbook, it’s easier to generalize about them than it is to generalize about WB registry horses, who could be any mix of any WB origin. TKs as a whole are very hard workers with forward-thinking brains. In my experience, they are not hot – but they are always looking for things to do, and need a good job to keep them busy. TK is quite a small studbook, so you won’t find many except in the disciplines they were specifically bred for (eventing, dressage). They are at the top, despite these small numbers, because they are incredibly athletic horses who love working for their people.
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My daughter rode a Trakehner mare up through 1.30m jumpers. Was the USHJA 6 year old jumper of the year a few years back. Her trainer found her at an eventing barn and loved her gaits and jump. Floaty trot, rocked back on jumps (with scope too) and HATED touching the bars. We have a cool video of her competing 1.20m on a wet grass field. On the video, you see her tuck one hind leg all the way forward under her body on the 2nd jump of a combo, but nothing else unusual. My daughter came off and said that they hit a bad mud patch between the jumps and she was sure they were going down- could feel her horse’s legs slide. The TK saved it and then avoided hitting the bar by stretching that one leg up under her belly. Pretty amazing body awareness.
Extremely intelligent, good brain and heart, but yes you need to keep them busy. She got bored easily. We figured out pretty quickly that we could not use a stall guard instead of a door. Would jump over it (from a stand) or commando crawl under it to go visit people and other horses. Also loved to jump round bales in her pasture - sometimes from a stand sometimes from a gallop around the pasture. Could be a bit of a handful at home when 5-6 years old but was always perfect at shows. That being said, you could put a young kid on her back and walk them around with no issues. Loved people and was always the barn favorite. I think TKs get a bad rap!
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I think they’re just thinkers. They want to be mentally occupied and they do well when they have a problem to solve. If they are not kept focused on the problems you set them, they find something else to think about. You may not like what they find.
I find Irish horses to be the same way, except half of them are overgrown ponies, so you really won’t like what they find to problem-solve if you don’t keep them busy.
I think that my post upthread came off as implying that Traks are not talented in H/J disciplines. @beowulf phrased it better. They are a small studbook and they tend to be bred as specialists.
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My Trakehner was the BEST foxhunter ever. Didn’t want to play nicely in the ring, partially because someone had ridden him incorrectly with draw reins, which made him feel trapped. In the hunt field where he could watch the hounds, he was amazing. Very bold, very brave and yet could be ridden in a bitless bridle because he was so responsive to my seat.
I could also put my husband on him for a trail ride and he was safe as could be and stayed on the slow side to keep my husband in the saddle.
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