CHAPTER XIII 

 THE GERMAN COACH HORSE 



In America we are accustomed to considering all horses 

 imported from Germany as German Coach horses; 

 whereas, Germany has several distinct breeds of horses 

 varying greatly in size and conformation. This has led 

 to much confusion as to the correct form of a German 

 Coach horse. 



The native home of the German Coach horse. — This 

 breed was developed in northwestern Germany, particu- 

 larly in the fer-tile lowlands drained by the Elbe, Weser 

 and Ems rivers, a district in which the conditions are 

 very .favorable to the development of the horse. It was 

 in this section that the great draft horse of Europe was 

 originally found. The states that contributed to the 

 development of the German Coach horse are Hanover, 

 Oldenburg, Schleswig-Holstein and East Friesland. 



The origin of the German Coach horse. — The German 

 Empire is composed of numerous states and principalities. 

 Owing to the number of separate governments involved 

 prior to the consolidation of the Empire, there was no 

 single fixed policy followed, for which reason there are 

 many marked differences between the various strains of 

 horses found in Germany. The multiplicity of states 

 likewise renders it difficult to reach very accurate con- 

 clusions regarding the early history of most of the strains, 

 but there is no doubt that in point of antiquity these 

 horses rank with any of the other coach breeds. 



The German Coach horse owes its origin to horses im- 

 ported from the Orient, and other countries, which were 

 crossed on the native mares of Germany. As early as 

 1552 Count Johanna imported horses from Turkey and 

 southern Europe to Oldenburg, and took an active in- 



15X 



