Dutch Harness Horse
The Dutch Harness Horse:
For centuries Dutch Harness Horses were bred in the Netherlands. This unique and original Dutch Show Horse Breed is known for high and outstanding natural action and upright carriage. The natural high trotting DHH is used in hand, under saddle and in fine harness. These horses are strong, athletic, friendly and intelligent. Their magnificent, correct action and "show horse attitude" is the result of strictly regulated breeding and decades of conscientious improvement.
History of the Breed:
The early history of the Dutch horse breed is indistinct. It started certainly many centuries before Christ. The first official document about the Dutch horse dates back to the Antiquity. For a long period of time horse breeding was ruled by private people.
The Netherlands, at that time known as the low lands, was situated at the seaside. Because of this positive location, the country developed in the middle ages in a prospering trading centre. The low lands were in many respects a melting-pot of different cultures. During business and war the Dutchmen became acquainted with many foreign horse breeds. It is very plausible that they bought, exchanged or captured horses to use for their own breeding program.
The attempts to establish an obligatory stallion approval started in 1610. For several centuries the authorities of different provinces tried to improve the horse breed by enacting laws on an obligatory approval system for stallions. Since that time the Dutch breed was partial ruled by governmental policy.
The Dutchmen developed through the years an excellent feeling for breeding. Although people from different areas and classes didn?t have the same breeding goal, they all preferred high stepping horses. Aristocratic and royal families bred for high trotting, fancy, elegant horses to ride and use for their beautiful carriages. Farmers also bred for high trotting horses with a lot of attitude. Their breeding goal depended for a part on the soil the horses had to be used on. Heavy clay-grounds asked for a smaller and stronger type. On lighter sand-grounds they preferred refined and longer legged horses. The development of lighter agriculture implements diminished this difference.
The Dutch breeder has always bred horses for commercial reasons. Horse-trading was for many people an important source of income. The breeding goal was defined by the demand of the market. High trotting, fancy, upright show horses were always highly appreciated. The DHH developed to fulfil this need. The fanciest DHHs were selected by rich Dutchmen to lend distinction to their family outings, business trips and social gatherings. One's position in the community was defined by the same type of horseflesh that turns heads today. The most beautiful, highest stepping horse was then, as today, a measure of prestige.
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