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Germany is definitely more famous for its
warmblood breeds than for its pony breeds, and only has one native pony
remaining - the Dulmen. The Senner pony of the Teutoburg Forest was the only
other German pony breed, and it is now considered extinct. The Dulmen is a
very old breed that was found near the town of Meerfelder Bruch, and area
where ponies have been documented since the early 1300s. The exact origins of
the breed are not known, although it is likely to have developed from
primitive horses, and still has some primitive characteristics.
These ponies used to live in large, wild
herds all across Westphalia, but during the 19th century as land was divided
up and separated, the ponies began to lose their natural habitat. Today there
is only one wild herd left. It is owned by the Duke of Croy, and roams
approximately 860 acres of the Meerfelder Bruch. The Dukes of Croy have had a
long relationship with the Dulmen pony and first helped the herd back in the
middle of the 19th century. Within the Meerfelder Bruch acreage there is a
wide diversity of small habitats ranging from woodland to open moorland.
These
provide the ponies with every environment they may need. They are left to lead
a wild lifestyle and must forage for their own food and seek out shelter, and
cope with illness and death. The members of the herd that survive are
subsequently the strongest and therefore, as a breed, they are very tough and
resistant to disease. Once a year, on the last Saturday in May, the ponies are
rounded up and the colts are separated. The colts are then sold at public
auctions and the mares are returned to the Meerfelder Bruch with one or two
stallions.
Dulmen ponies that are tamed and trained
make excellent children's ponies and adapt to civilized life very well. They
are also useful driving ponies and were used for working the land, maintaining
their inordinate hardiness, which they keep even in captivity. They are quite
primitive looking with coarse features. Some of them retain the dun coat
coloring while others exhibit brown, black, or chestnut coats, which indicates
infusions of foreign blood throughout the breed's past. They tend to stand
between 12 and 13 hh.
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