Danish Warmblood
# Danish Warmblood

The Danish Warmblood or Dansk Varmblod is a Danish breed of modern sport horse, established in the mid-twentieth century and used mainly for dressage and $show-jumping.^{:66}$ Like other European warmblood breeds, it is a performance breed: any suitable horse of any origin may be admitted if it passes a strict performance test. Hanoverian, Holsteiner, Swedish Warmblood and Trakehner are among those that have contributed to the $breed.^{:459}$

## History

The Danish Warmblood came into existence in 1962 with the formation of a breed society, the Dansk Sportsheste Avlsforbund; in 1979 this merged with another association, the Danmarks Lette Hesteavl, to form the present association, Dansk $Varmblod.^{:66}$ The first volume of the stud-book was published in 1964, and listed 150 $mares.^{:66}$ Most were imported from outside Denmark – more than 100 were of German breeding – and of the 22 born in Denmark the majority were of Oldenburger origin.

## Characteristics

The horses usually stand some 160–173 cm at the $withers.^{:459}$ The coat may be of any solid $colour;^{:148}^{:179}$ bay is the most common, but chestnut, grey and dark bay also $occur.^{:66}$ Limited white markings may be $present.^{:66}$

