Worldwide leaders in top performance sports

The success of horses from German breeding lines have taken German breeders to the very top on a global level. If one studies the pedigrees of the horses who are participating in and are successful at the very top internationally, one can see that many German genes can be found in the Olympic disciplines. German breeding of sports horses is consequently leading the world and setting benchmarks.

The breeding programme aimed at top performance sport demonstrates success in all disciplines:

• At the Rio Olympic Games, of 223 horses entered – including reserves – 70 were bred in Germany. That means almost 30 percent of all of the horses entered into the dressage, showjumping and eventing disciplines hailed from Germany.
• In the showjumping, 24 out of 89 horses were bred in Germany – that is 27 percent.
• Of 69 dressage participants, 26 of the horses were bred in Germany – that is 37.7 percent.
• There was a considerable increase in eventing with 20 horses of the 75 bred in one of the German breeding associations, which is 26.7 percent. In 2008 in Hong Kong, only four horses bred in Germany were among the 73 eventing horses (5 percent); by London 2012, this had risen to 23 percent.
• With five gold, five silver and seven bronze medals, horses bred in Germany won 17 out of a total of 45 possible medals (37.8 percent). Nine of these 17 medals were won by German horses in dressage, and six came from eventing.

The quantity of German-bred horses at Olympic Games and their success prove that the breeding, training and assessment systems in Germany are ideally aligned. The development of young horses through state competitions and through the ultimate showcase of the Bundeschampionate, the German national championships for young horses, appears to form the foundations of the long-standing success of German horses.

Success of German breeding by Olympic Game

Quality in German pony breeding

If there were a world ranking of ponies, then the German breeding areas would be very well represented at the very top, as is the case with German riding horses. This is because German ponies are not just suitable for leisure riding and recreational sports, but they are also achieving significant competitive success in all disciplines, in national and international competitions.