#Dülmen Horse

[dogwise]

Dülmener (Equus ferus caballus)

[suspiciousmammal]

Annual roundup of Dülmen Horses, a wild horse breed in Germany

[vivalatinoamerica-blog1]

Ein kleiner Kindheitstraum ging endlich in Erfüllung: ein Besuch bei den Dülmener Wildpferden :-)

Im Merfelder Bruch bei Dülmen leben rund 400 Pferde in einem Reservat. Kein Tierarzt oder Hufschmied legt Hand an die Pferde. Lediglich im Winter wird ihnen an einigen Stellen zusätzlich Heu angeboten.

Spektakulär ist der Wildpferdefang am letzten Samstag im Mai. Die einjährigen Hengste werden dabei von Hand gefangen und versteigert. Das ist notwendig, um Rivalitäten unter den Hengsten zu vermeiden, die unweigerlich durch die flächenmäßige Begrenzung des Reservats entstehen würde.

Von März/April bis zum 1. November kann man die Wildpferde an den Wochenenden besuchen. Der Eintritt kostet drei Euro. Es gibt außerdem ein schönes Picknickgelände und Toiletten. 

[art-now-germany]

Dülmener Wildpferde bei Nacht (Dülmener wild horses at night), Ander Staffelei

painting acrylic on canvas, inspired by the wild horses in Dülmen

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-D-lmener-Wildpferde-bei-Nacht-D-lmener-wild-horses-at-night/881997/3820839/view

[theframelines]

Wild Horses Dülmen (Germany) by Pasqual-Pictures

[stumbleimg]

Wild Horses Dülmen (Germany)

[likegram]

Wild Horses Dülmen (Germany) by @Pasqual-Pictures

[fredalsheim]

. Wildpferde aus dem Merfelder Bruch . Feel free to follow @michelle_friedrich09 @manuela_friedrich _______ _________ #dülmen #wildpferde #mustangs #horses #wild #wildhorses #merfelderbruch #animal #dfphotography #dfphotographydortmund #cute #instagram #hübsch #nice #tiere #baby #instadaily #instagood #picoftheday #bestoftheday #photooftheday #photography #sweet #wild #lovely #love #beautyofnature #natgeo

[travelokapi]

I love the color of lavender - and never noticed that I love painting with it! Will definitely use it more often 😊 Also, this is a Dülmen wild horse, Germany's only wild horse breed. They are super beautiful and no painting will ever be better than seeing them in person! . Horse belongs to @daniwe :) . . . . . . . . . #dülmen #dülmenerwildpferd #pferdeblumee #horse_p0st #pferdepost_123 #pbl_postkleinacc #pferdeflocken #yhpposts #horseart10 #caballo #cavallo #horseofinstagram #instahorse #horsestagram #europaspferde #horseportrait #horsesketch #horsedrawing #horses_of_instagram #equine #equineartists #horseart #horseriding #horselove #tempuradesign #artists_rescue #watercolorblog #top_watercolor #inspiring_watercolors https://www.instagram.com/p/BqYNQ-Jj5G2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jjmczln0gqth

[dogwise]

Dülmener (Equus ferus caballus)

[suspiciousmammal]

Horseblr, let me tell you about the Dülmener Wildpferd (or Dülmen pony), Germany’s wild horse breed.

These pony-sized fuckers almost died out in the 1800s, but some german politician thought that they were pretty cool and rounded a few of them up. That dude was the Duke of Croy.

It’s a very primitive breed, and you’ll rarely see any coat color other than dun. Nowadays, there’s mainly one big wild herd of them living in some big ol’ fenced fields near Dülmen. Since there used to be less than a hundred, some Exmoor and Welsh Pony stallions were used to add some fresh blood to the breed. But apart from that the goal is to preserve the character and build of this old breed.

So they just let them chill there, you may ask? Eh, mostly. Once a proper herd size of roughly 400 ponies had been established, they quickly noticed that just letting them breed like rabbits wouldn’t be the best thing to do. To avoid inbreeding and a rapid population increase, the stallions only live with them for a fraction of the year. They are left alone apart from that. No vets, no medication and no training. Due to a lack of predators, the most common cause of death is starvation due to dental damage.

But you can’t just ask all colts to kindly gather over there, right? So each year, these horses are round up for the one year old colts to be separated.

So far, so good. The herd is right there, you just have to... find and capture the colts. Nothing easier than capturing the hormonal teenage horses!

Okay, this is just the round-up from a different angle, right? Yes. But look at those guys with red collars and blue shirts on the right. Those are the batshit insane lads who were selected to capture the colts. There’s a total of 30 mad lads from the nearby villages each year.

Their traditional method looks like this:

-separate a small group of horses from the big herd by uuuuuhhh running straight at them I guess

-corall them in a small secluded area, small enough to observe the horses but big enough for them to get around without panicking and getting agressive

-look for some balls

-stallion spotted? Get him!

-yeah okay, first try would’ve been a bit ambitious, but just try again

-and again

-wonder why you even wanted to do this in the first place, as an angry mare tries to kick you in the knee

-while your mates are wrestling with the stallion, t-pose at the mothers to establish dominance

-bully the yearling into wearing a halter, then get dragged around a bunch for public entertainment before finally managing to get the foal into a separate little stallion pen

After a couple of hours when the herd has been combed through, the yearling colts are auctioned off. The mothers and fillies set free again.

Before the actual roundup and auction, they like to show off horses that were captured in previous years just to show what these ponies are capable of:

Like this little gelding that does some nice dressage! Just look at him being all fancy and well-behaved!

And these - these aren’t even Dülmen ponies. Why are they doing the hungarian mail thing? This is just the Warendorf stallion parade all over again, isn’t it?

Those aren’t even horses. THAT’S A LADY WITH HER GOATS. Why were they invited

Look, at least we’re back to horses. But that’s still not a Dülmen pony. And wHY ARE THERE DOGS NOW?? I could’ve wrapped my mind around another nice dressage performance but DOGS???

Goats are on a car now? While the lady is doing dressage? Why do german horse events always end up like this. And let me remind you, the wild horses have not even made their entrance yet. The real show hasn’t even started yet. I’m so confused

By the way: While PETA would shut this down as soon as they’d get the chance, this method of preservation seems to work well for this breed. The event has been criticized because it’s stressful for the horses, but one stressful day a year seems like a fair price for preventing inbreeding and maintaining a managable population size.

[mike-b-lancero]

Visiting my parents over easter ... The only City with real wild horses in Europe #picoftheday #mikeblancero #instacollage #djontour #bearded #gay #beardedgay #travel #2k18 #fun #easter #roadtrip #follow (hier: Dülmen, Germany)

[fredalsheim]

. Wildpferde aus dem Merfelder Bruch . Feel free to follow @michelle_friedrich09 @manuela_friedrich _______ _________ #dülmen #wildpferde #mustangs #horses #wild #wildhorses #merfelderbruch #animal #dfphotography #dfphotographydortmund #cute #instagram #hübsch #nice #tiere #baby #instadaily #instagood #picoftheday #bestoftheday #photooftheday #photography #sweet #wild #lovely #love #beautyofnature #natgeo

[fredalsheim]

. Wildpferde im Merfelder Bruch . Feel free to follow @michelle_friedrich09 @manuela_friedrich _______ _________ #dülmen #wildpferde #wildpferde #pferde #mustangs #horses #wild #wildhorses #merfelderbruch #animal #dfphotography #dfphotographydortmund #cute #instagram #hübsch #nice #tiere #baby #instadaily #instagood #picoftheday #bestoftheday #photooftheday #photography #sweet #wild #lovely #love #beautyofnature #natgeo

[fredalsheim]

. Baum durch eine Glaskugel im Merfelder Bruch . Feel free to follow @michelle_friedrich09 @manuela_friedrich _______ _________ #dülmen #wildpferde #blue #sky #tree #crystalball #Glaskugel #mustangs #horses #wild #wildhorses #merfelderbruch #animal #dfphotography #dfphotographydortmund #cute #instagram #hübsch #nice #tiere #baby #instadaily #instagood #picoftheday #bestoftheday #photooftheday #photography #sweet #wild #lovely #love #beautyofnature #natgeo