Rosalie Bakker has been riding horses since she was a teenager.  In 1993 she and her husband Martin established Rakaunui Farms with  a small number of well bred and performed Warmblood mares of Hannoverian breeding.

Rosalie Bakker with Lowenherz, a pure bred Trakehner stallion. Photos Angelique Jurd.

“We had my two mares and some friends asked if we were interested in a stallion,” Rosalie told Rural Living.

“I said if I bred a nice colt I might consider keeping it but they meant were we interested in standing their stallion. We weren’t planning on it but he’s such a marvelous nature we decided we would be silly not to.  So some frantic fencing went on while he came up from the South Island.”

The animal in question was a  Trakehner stallion Loewenherz with which Rosalie began  the following concepts in use in of putting  Trakehner stallions over other European Warmblood to add  quality to their type. The result is purebred Trakehners alongside New Zealand Warmbloods.

Warm bloods are a regional type – for example Hanoverians came from Hanover – that were regionally bred to be cavalry remounts.  Stallions were kept at stations throughout the region and put over the general weight, general purpose farm mares.  The resulting progeny, it was known, would make good sensible mounts for the average soldier in time of war. 

“Trakehners were bred to be the Prussian King’s house cavalry.  They were a bit of a class above the rest with breeding similar to the English thoroughbred.  They have never had open stud book.”

In fact Rosalie explained, the only blood lines allowed in the Trakehner line are Arab, Anglo Arab and Thoroughbreds and other warmblood studbooks use them to bring fresh blood into their lines. 

Rosalie's horses all have laidback friendly nature.

Loewenherz has more than lived up to his breed’s reputation siring some impressive progeny.  One of his daughters, Dunstan Dolly, ridden by Katie McVean won  the 2003 British Junior Rider Championships and was short-listed for the Athens Olympics and with her new rider  Chloe Akers won the Young Rider Series 2006/7.

The idea that Warmbloods are ‘prickly’ is not necessarily deserved. 

“There is a perception that Trakehners are hot tempered but mine pretty cruisy, my son sat on him at age 3.  People need to accept there are always exceptions to every rule and it depends on the individual horse.”

Today Warmbloods are usually used for jumping, dressage, harness work and unsurprisingly are considered a  good riding mount.

According to Rosalie, they are also generally easier to look after than a Thoroughbred, but regardless of the breed the first thing to decide when choosing a horse is what you want to achieve.

“It’s a bit like buying a car.  You need to decide what you want to do.  Are you a beginner? A novice?  Experienced?  Will you be the only rider of this horse or are others going to ride it?  If you want to go riding around the farm, you’re not going to ride a top show jumper.”

HORSE TRIVIA • Of the 5 main domestic animal species, the horse was the last to be domesticated. • The horse was first used by man for food then riding for military use, then for draft and finally for recreational riding. • Mongolian tribes were considered to be the first to domesticate the horse. • Prezewalski horses are still found in that area as the last survivor of the early horse. • Mares generally foal rapidly. After the initial stage before she lies down and is preparing a birth site, the delivery stage follows and is usually over in about 15 minutes.

If you are thinking about breeding conformation – does the horse have nice even feet, are his legs straight or do the knees knock, what are her teeth like – is important and it is a good idea to get advice from someone with experience.

“If you are going to put money into breeding you want to start off with good material. If you’re not sure what to look for get someone who is or even a vet to come along with you.”

If however you are looking for a horse for recreational riding or for the kids to ride Rosalie’s advice is to look for a horse that is fairly sensible with a nice even temperament.

Find out if the horse needs to be ridden every day which could suggest a slightly more nervous animal.

“The number one thing to look at is temperament.  My mare hadn’t been ridden for 3 months until last week when I took her out and rode her down the road on a long reign.

 She was fine – no shenanigans, nothing.  I can put up with some minor conformational problems as long as the horse is nice temperament.”