Horses in Denmark explained

Pony breeds and saddle and sport horses are the main horse breeds in Denmark.

Through imports and the establishment of dedicated racecourses, the development of trotting is reflected in the breeding of the Danish trotter.

Most of the Danish horses are to be found on the Jutland peninsula, especially the local draft horse breed (Jutland horse).

History

According to Eugène Tisserand (1865), Danish horses have always had an excellent reputation for their beauty, docility, and strength:

According to J. Jensen:

Uses and practices

The Danish equestrian sector represents a turnover of 1.1 billion euros (in 2017) and creates 20,849 full-time equivalent jobs, according to the 2010 Hestesektoren Report. Taxation is very high, with a VAT rate of 25%, with no exemption for equestrian activities.

The Danish Riding Federation (DRF) is one of the leading sports federations in the country. Denmark has a central database managed by SEGES, part of Landbrug & Fødevarer F.m.b.A (Ministry of Agriculture), which registers and publishes the papers of horses belonging to Denmark's 24 recognized breed associations. It shares its data with the DRF and veterinarians, making it possible, among other things, to calculate genetic indices.

Dansk Hestevaeddelob administers trotting races. Denmark is relatively active in this sector with eight dedicated racecourses, although it is in recession.

Dansk Galop manages Galop racing. This sector is very small, with the 96 purebred foals offered for sale in Hørsholm in 2015 representing a turnover of approximately 958,000 euros.

Breeding

Ponies

According to the Delachaux guide, Denmark breeds mainly saddle and sport horses. Aline Decouty and Astrid Engelsen in their article (2017) for the

(French Equestrian Institute) contradicted this. According to them, 51% of the country's horses (90,000) are ponies of the Fjord, Haflinger, Danish sport pony, New Forest, Shetland, Icelandic, Gotland, Connemara, Dartmoor and miniature breeds. Being the Shetland pony the most common.

Saddle and sport horses

Danish trotters are bred from imported breeds using artificial insemination.

However, the trotter numbers are declining, with a loss of one-third of new births between 2010 and 2015, leaving a remaining herd of about 400 foals, 85 stallions, and 500 broodmares in 2015. This represents 2% of the total European trotter breeding herd with 251 breeders.

Purebred horses were abundant in 2010, although the number of new births is low.

In 2015, only 14 stallions, 160 broodmares, and 101 foals were registered, representing 0.11% of the world's registered purebreds. It is important to mention that the Oldenburg, imported from neighboring Germany, is rare.

Draft horses

In addition to the local Jutland breed, which numbered 1,817 in 2017, Denmark is home to a small number of draft Belgian breeds.

Culture

The horse is well represented in Danish proverbs, such as, which means "It's a bad horse that moves backward instead of forwards when you give it a spur[2] ".

References

  1. Web site: Engelsen . Astrid . Decouty . Aline . 2017 . La filière équine danoise . equipedia-ifce . fr.
  2. Book: Parthenay, Jean-Baptiste des Roches de . Dictionnaire des proverbes danois, traduits en françois . 1761 . chez Pierre Alb. Pripp & comp. . fr.

See also

Bibliography

External links