An athletic Hanoverian horse. | *A blog for Pets*

In 1735, George II, the King of England and Elector of Hanover, founded the State Stud at Celle. He purchased stallions suitable for all-purpose work in agriculture
and in harness, as well as for breeding cavalry mounts.

The local mares were refined with Holsteiner, Thoroughbred and Cleveland Bay, Neapolitan, Andalusian, Prussian, and Mecklenburg stock. By the end of the 18th century, the Hanoverian had become a high-class coach horse.

In 1844, a law was passed that only allowed stallions that were passed by a commission to be used for breeding purposes. In 1867, breeders started a society aimed at producing a coach and military horse, with the first stud book being published in 1888. The Hanoverian became one of the most popular breeds in Europe for coach and army work.

When the demand for Hanoverians declined following World War I, the aim for breeding became a horse that could be used for farm work, but still had the blood and gaits to be used as a riding and carriage horse. After World War II, there was a growing demand for sport horses, as well as general riding horses, and the breeding yet again was adapted.
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Thoroughbreds were used to refine the breed; occasionally an Anglo-Arabian or Trakehner stallion was used. The key to the success of the Hanoverian has been the rigorous selection of breeding stock, a large breed population, and the breeders' willingness to adapt to changes in demand.

Today, the Hanoverian breeders' association offers many incentives to breed the best, including the famous auctions at Verden, and extensive grading opportunities for stallions, mares and young horses. In addition, few breeds have such well-kept records, allowing the breeders to trace bloodlines over many generations, improving their chances to find the best stallion-mare match.

The current aim of the breeders today is to create a noble, versatile warmblood with light, elastic, and ground-covering gaits. Whenever necessary, outside blood is brought in to improve the horse. The strict selection ensures that Hanoverians are athletic and good jumpers, for show jumping and eventing, and have the gaits for dressage.

A Hanoverian is a warmblood horse originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and have won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions.

It is one of the oldest, most numerous, and most successful of the warmbloods. Originally a carriage horse, infusions of Thoroughbred blood lightened it to make it more agile and useful for competition.

The Hanoverian is known for a good temperament, athleticism, beauty, and grace.
The horses are elegant, strong, and robust. They are bred to be willing and trainable, and have a strong back, powerful body, athletic movement, and strong limbs.
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Chestnut, bay, brown, black, and gray are found the most often. Regulations prohibit horses with too much white, and buckskin, palomino and cremello horses from being registered. The horses can be 15.3-17.2 hands high, but most are in the range of 16-16.2 hands.

The World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) uses results from International Federation for Equestrian Sports-recognized (FEI) competitions to rank individual horses and breed registries within each Olympic discipline: dressage, show jumping, and eventing.

The WBFSH publishes these rankings each year. The FEI is also the International Olympic Committee-recognized international governing body for equestrian sport.
In North America, the hunt seat style of riding features the show hunter, a highly-competitive discipline.

While infrastructure does not allow the accuracy and completeness of WBFSH/FEI standings, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) also publishes yearly rankings of the top hunter horses, and the top sires of hunter horses.

The Hanoverian Society has been the most successful studbook in international dressage competition as ranked by the WBFSH and FEI since these standings began to be published in 2001.

The top Hanoverian-branded international dressage horses include Salinero, Satchmo 78, Sunrise, Bonaparte 67, Brentina, and Wansuela Suerte.

Since the 1956 Olympic Games, Hanoverians have earned 3 individual gold medals (Salinero twice, and Gigolo), 4 individual silver medals (Satchmo, Gigolo twice, and Woycek), and 4 individual bronze medals (Bonaparte, Weyden, Mehmed, and Dux). Hanoverians have been members of no fewer than 7 gold medal dressage teams (2008, 2004, 2000, 1996, 1992, 1976, 1968, and 1964).

The World Equestrian Games, which are held every four years to split the non-Olympic years evenly, have also been won by many Hanoverians. Dressage champions at the World Equestrian Games that bore the Hanoverian brand include Mehmed (1974), Gigolo (1994, 1998), Satchmo (2006), and Salinero (2006, freestyle). Hanoverians have been members of 8 gold-medal winning WEG teams since 1966 (1966, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2006).

At the age of 25, the Hanoverian stallion Weltmeyer is the world's #3 sire of international-caliber dressage horses, behind #2 Donnerhall, who was sired by the Hanoverian Donnerwetter.

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In order to be incorporated into the studbook, stallions and mares must pass rigorous testing. The goal of this testing is to prevent horses with heritable defects from continuing to pass on their genes. As a result, horses with the Hanoverian brand often have excellent health.

The Hanoverian verband, and other warmblood breeding societies, continue to promote research into the health of their horses.

Poor fertility in Hanoverian stallions and mares is not very common. However, research on Hanoverian stallions has helped lead to the identification of new genes that affect stallion fertility.

Osteochondrosis is a disease that affects the bone and cartilage in the joints of growing horses. The joints most commonly affected are the fetlocks in the fore- and hind leg, and the hock and stifle of the hind leg.

Osteochondrosis lesions include tiny fractures, fluid buildup, loose flaps of cartilage, or chips of cartilage loose within the joint. The last lesion is called osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD), and can develop further into degenerative joint disease, such as osteoarthrosis.

Osteochondrosis can also contribute to navicular syndrome and Wobbler disease. Because most horses, especially Hanoverians, which are often used for demanding equestrian sports, work for a living, joint discomfort can mean the end of a horse's career. Between 7% and 10% of Hanoverians have OCD in the hock joint, and between 12% and 24% have OCD in a fetlock joint.

Recent research has tagged certain conformational characteristics and other heritable factors of bone growth and maintenance as the most important contributors to the development of osteochondrosis.
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The Hanoverian Breeder's Society in Germany, and all its daughter societies, mandate that stallions must be free of OCD lesions in order to be issued a breeding license. Elite mares and Verband-sponsored auction candidates have identical requirements. Horses are examined with radiographs.
source :? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoverian_horse

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