Arenberg-Nordkirchen are small riding horses from north-west
Germany. They can be black, chestnut, bay, or gray, and are used for
sport/hobby horses (general riding and jumping).
Germany does not have a long tradition of small horse
breeding; the only native small horse is the Dülmener. From the early twentieth
century ponies and small horses were imported, mostly from Great Britain, and
some private individuals started breeding from them. Arenberg-Nordkirchen
horses were started in 1923 by the then Duke of Arenberg as a semi-feral herd
on his estates in Nordkirchen, near Münster in Westphalia. They were based on
Dülmener horses, from which he intended to create a small and elegant riding
horse. His stock was small, with no more than about 40 mares. In 1968 the
entire herd was sold to a breeder from Nordkirchen, who introduced other pony
and small horse blood to improve its riding-horse qualities. In the 1980s the
herd was broken up, and the horses sold in Schleswig-Holstein and North
Rhine-Westphalia, where they became part of the regional German Riding Pony
populations.
Arenberg-Nordkirchen horses were seen at the Berlin
International Green Week in 1984, after which it was thought that they were
extinct. In 1995 a small number of surviving animals were found. Since 1999 the
known population has remained stable at about 20–25 head. In 2007 there were
four stallions and eighteen mares.
About Arenberg-Nordkirchen Horses
