$ℱ~ Doing the Never Before: (English) Württemburgers

[Sawd10]

Sawd10's Farm ($ℱ~) Presents:
The English Württemburger.

Other Farm Logs:
$ℱ~
$ℱ~ Doing the Never Before: Heavy American Saddlebreds
$ℱ~ Doing the Never Before: Creating the Racing St. Lawrence

The ORIGIN of my Württemburgers:

I've been breeding Württemburgers since December of 2019. What are they bred for? My Württemburgers are bred specifically for English competitions. Or more, competitions that require MOVEMENT. The Württemburger is a unique breed. And an uncommon one to pick, too. So why did I pick it? I wanted to find a unique horse breed that I took a particular liking to. When looking through the Breeds Wiki I didn't find too much I was interested in. I hadn't known I wanted to breed English horses at the moment, either. I was interested in the Breton, the Dutch Draft, the Ban-ei, as well as the Black Forest and many others. The question comes down to this. Out of over 300 breeds, how did I come across- or why did I pick the Württemburgers? Ah, the question of all time; why did I pick this? Why did I do this?
To be honest with you, right when I saw the name "Württemburger" I was instantly interested. The amusing German name completely charmed me... and so did the low population and possibilities for the breed. After a while of thinking I decided to go with the Württemburger mostly because of my instant liking towards the breed. After that I, of course, checked out the breeds needed to create the horse and started working on making it. When I finally succeeded (after many tries) in creating my first Württemburger I then realized I wasn't sure what I should compete them in. Why did I choose English competitions?
It was quite simple, really. I already was breeding Thoroughbreds for Racing, and had no interest whatsoever in creating Racing Württemburgers. I thought about Western, and an interesting thought had struck me: "Württemburgers seem like an English horse! They don't seem Western to me!" (Even though Germany is located in Western Europe... ahah.) That concludes why I didn't want to pick Western disciplines for my Württemburgers. I was really interested in breeding Driving Württemburgers, but I was also very interested in English Württemburgers. Over long separate periods of thought I decided I'd do English because I'd also be able to do Driven Dressage! If you've seen my Württemburgers you are probably wondering why their build is "medium" rather then "light", like the breed usually is?
I thought about making light horses, but you get bored of the same thing, you know? All my Thoroughbreds are light so I wanted to make something different. A getaway, or a vacation from that build. I didn't really want chunky Württemburgers, either because then they'd seem better at Log Pulling or Pole Bending. I also take quite a liking to medium or medium-light English horses, anyway, so it worked out pretty nice.

The ORIGIN the Württemburger breed:

The Württemberger, Baden-Württemberger or Württemberg is a Warmblood horse breed originating in Germany. They are primarily riding horses, and are selectively bred for dressage and show jumping.

[quote]The breed registry studbook was founded in 1895, and around 1896, the Marbach stud began concentrating on the original Württemberger type, which was a multi-purpose horse used for both draft and under-saddle work. The original horses were produced by introducing Arabian, Trakehner, Anglo-Norman, Friesian, Spanish, Barb, and Suffolk Punch blood to local warmblood lines. An Anglo-Norman stallion named Faust was a significant early influence on the breed, and contributed to the original shape of the breed. This type lasted until the mid-1950s, when Marbach recognized, and began breeding a lighter, more athletic horse for modern competition.

The Trakehner stallion Julmond (1943–1965) was the foundation stud of new type, and helped to shape the modern Baden Württemberger. Additions of Hanoverian, Holsteiner, Oldenburg, Thoroughbred and additional Trakehner blood helped to further refine the breed into its current form.[/quote]

Other names: Baden-Württemberger, Württemberg
Country of origin: Germany

Breed Characteristics:

[quote]The best Württemberger horses have excellent temperaments, combining a sensible attitude with lively and free action. These traits may have originally been installed by the use of draft horse and Arabian blood. They are tough and economical to feed when compared to Thoroughbreds.

The ideal Württemberger stands around 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) high, and is usually bay, chestnut, brown, or black in color. They have an average-sized head with a straight profile, a good neck, and prominent withers. Their chest is deep, the shoulders sloping and well-muscled, the back is long and straight and the croup sloping. They have muscular legs with hard, well-formed hooves.[/quote]

Features:
Average height 16.1 hands

Physique:
Head has a straight profile
Shoulders are sloping & powerful
Chest is deep & broad
Back is short & strong
Legs are short & muscular
Hooves are well formed and strong

Traditional Colors:
chestnut | black | bay | grey

Temperament:
Friendly attitude

Sites used:

Württemberger - Wikipedia
Wurttemberg Horse (Wurttemburger) Info, Origin, History ...
Württemberger Horse - The Equinest
Horse Breeding Association of Baden- Württemberg

[Sawd10]

Notable Württemburgers I've bred:

I created my first Württemburger! Link

I bred my first 60k+ HGP Württemburger! Link

I trained my second 60+ Movement Württemburger! Link

I bred my first green Movement Württemburger! Link

I bred my first Württemburger with over 65k HGP, the best Movement comment, and that scores over 60 in Western Pleasure! Link

I bred my first Württemburger with gold Movement and 69 Movement! Link

Special mare! Link

[Sawd10]

Held

[Sawd10]

Held

[Sawd10]

Post #1

A little while back I had come across a devastating problem within my stock... all my mares died! I decided that instead of creating new Württemburgers I'd grab some good Dressage horses (from Eugene/Aubergine) and breed them to him, slowly breeding my stock back to pure. Since then I've been working on it, and while it's coming out nicely, I have to keep in mind that I am going to be losing the looks they once had because of so much inbreeding.
When these 'new' lines are completed I'll likely have better stats inside them from both my stallion and Eugene's horses blood inside the lines, but worse looks.

I'm hoping that when I'm out of this hole I'll be able to get the conformations back into order. When I make my first pure I'll get back to you!

Until then,
Sawd10

If you have anything to say to me please do so here or catch my in the Chat Room!

[Sawd10]

Post #2

Yesterday I succeeded in creating my 'first' pure Württemburger... He has an all right confo, however, it lacks Balance and Tempo. He does have green movement and was born even-tempered, which is something to work with. While the confo, looks, and color are quite off, I cannot force myself into my regular picky self because it, I feel, would only degrade my lines because I'd be... too picky.
I also got another one which is the start of the generations. 4 stat//62k//62-39-33-28//+1 also happens to lack in Tempo and Balance --especially considering the green tempo-- but is otherwise a good start. I am getting extremely bored with these Brown Roans, so I'm hoping that after a little bit more establishing I'll be able to breed a little more pop into them.

-Sawd10



If you have anything to say to me please do so here or catch me in the Chat Room!

[Sawd10]

Post #3

Yesterday I finished training a pretty nice Württemburger... can you guess the color? 64k//4 stat//64-36-34-31//green mov//+1 is a Brown Roan like almost every other Württemburger in my current stalk. Oh, well. One day I'll breed color in. He is medium-light. I don't know how I like the build for them, though. I think I might like horse-type medium. Pony-type is a little too heavy for me, so I think horse-type would be better. I have not gotten any medium-heavy ones yet so I can't judge that build. The one I recently trained is medium-light and is too light for my liking.
I got a horse-type medium Württemburger that I trained and I am really proud of, and I think it was him that made me like medium for the build. $ℱ~ Bear Is just a Brown which is really very handsome in my opinion. Bear is no doubt one of the best Württemburgers I've bred to date. He has almost everything I look for! He's got a whopping 43 Strength (along with a nice Strength comment), 45 Balance (very nice Balance comment as well), 63 Movement (he has the second best Movement comment!), over 65,000 HGP, gold Balance, Tempo, & Intelligence. He does lack in 2 Tempo at the minimum, though. His scores are pretty good, too.
So Bear is not quite perfect but very nearly!
Finally, the biggest accomplishment in this post... I bred my first GOLD Movement Württemburger!
$ℱ~ Bronzeback

He is indeed a Brown Roan, but maybe my irritation towards that subsided a little bit because he has gold Movement... and his Movement confo is 69 which is the highest I've gotten- and the highest Movement confo currently recorded.
His Strength comment lacks as it is only average, he's medium-light, his Balance confo lacks by at least 2, and his Balance is green, not gold. Because of these faults I may not breed him, or at least not a lot. Besides, it would be quite complicated; I'd have to breed him to a heavier mare and hope he produces a medium and then hope that his faults don't pass through.

Yesterday and today have been a milestone in my project so I'm happy with what I've got.
Until the next post,
Sawd10


If you have anything to say to me please do so here or catch me in the Chat Room!

[Sawd10]

Post #4



I had a recent bump in my stock, but thankfully it's clearing up. I was narrowed down to one mare, and she was old and didn't have highlighted movement. So I had to breed her and hope just for some fillies decent enough to keep, even if that meant no highlighted movement. I got some, and since then I was breeding and getting better ones, slowly. Generations passed and I'm back into it, thank goodness.
Since then, I bred and trained a beautiful (Brown) colt that's just near perfect!


Cons:
-Tall
-HGP is a little low
-Close to too light of a build

Perfect otherwise. Look at the confo and especially the movement comment! It's the second best one on the charts. He's got an exceptional confo, too, which I'm proud of. I've yet to test him, but I'm hoping to soon. If he does well he's definitely a breeder.

And finally, in the previous post I talked about my first gold movement, Bronzeback. Well, I tested him, and he's average to below average. Bronzeback He's definitely not a breeder, and I'm not quite sure how much more I'm going to compete him. I'll probably keep him in my "nostalgic/accomplishments/special" horses barn.. because he's not a desirable breeder, and he's not a great competitor, but he was an accomplishment. My highest movement to date, and my first gold movement.

Until the next post,
Sawd10


If you have anything to say to me please do so here or catch me in the Chat Room!

[Sawd10]

Post #5


I've successfully made it to post #5... haha.

Hello, a little bit has happened since I've last posted here, I'll try and reach it all in this post.

To start things off, I matured my Record Holder in hopes of breeding him to my stock to get his good lines and scores in my lines. I bred to him 3 times, and so far nothing worth keeping. But I'll keep trying, he'll probably bring me something good one day. It was only 3 times- all to different mares.
Speaking of breeding to a Record Holder, I've been breeding to some of Eugene's to get higher HGP (because my old range was around 64k, and that's high, but I thought I could increase it a little) and so far I'm successful. I'm going to get this boy trained. His father is the current Driven Dressage Record Holder in a majority of levels. He was worth keeping in my eyes. He was born Bombproof, but that could possibly raise. He also has 65.9k HGP which is above-average.
I also got this colt, who's father is [A] Golden Oldie, the current Western Pleasure levels 9 & 10 Record Holder. I tested him, and his scores were great, so I sent him to get trained. His Movement is on the low side, but I think he's got good heart all things considered, so he was a keeper. Not to mention he's also got that high HGP I'm looking for. I'm getting 3 things by breeding to these Record Holders: New lines (somewhat), higher HGP, and some heart!
I also am doing picky foal testing and doing my normal hard culling. I test the newborns using a chart I created based off of what I read here, but then I changed it to my liking for my own stock. This is testing for my UNTRAINED horses. Anybody is free to use this chart, however, I only have Western Pleasure, Dressage, and Driven Dressage done. The exact percentages are still in work, so right now the chart is more of a base. I'll do this in-depth in time to come... just stick with me.

Dressage

Below-average: 31%. & below
Average: 32%.- 33.55%
Above-average: 34%. - 35%.

Driven Dressage

Below-average: 38%. & below
Average: 39%. - 40%.
Above-average: 41%. - 42%.

Western Pleasure

Below-average: 45 & below
Average: 46 - 47
Above-average: 48 - 49


I also got a pretty great stallion which I trained. $ℱ~ Rusty has low Movement, but high Balance and the second best Balance comment! He also has 66.8k HGP which is wanted, and finally, he has an amazing Strength comment! The best I've ever gotten. "This stallion won't be winning gold medals at the Olympics, but he's still stronger than your average horse." is a comment that could be highlighted green, not to mention. He has very low Movement, but with all of that I just couldn't rehome him. And he also has good scores, so he worked out all right.
$ℱ~ Taxed Condition

I thought I'd wrap up this post by featuring this mare. Taxed Condition is an actual trained mare. Ahah. She throws great foals, and I'll be sad when she moves on to greener pastures, because she's a very reliable mare. A lot of people tend to disagree with me on this, but mares are the backbone of your project! I think I'll try featuring more mares and fillies in these posts... they don't get enough attention.
I don't have too much to say about her. Her scores, stats, and progeny speaks for herself.

Until the next post,
Sawd10


If you have anything to say to me please do so here or catch me in the Chat Room!