Te Knabstrupper horse exhibits similar color patterns as the American Appaloosa—not surprising since they share the same color genes from shared distant ancestors. Te most popular color pattern is the leopard with its solid white background covered with black, bay or chestnut spots. Other patterns include the blanket, snowflake and roan as well as the homozygous patterns of snowcap and the “few spot leopard,” which is born almost solid white with perhaps only a few spots. When bred, the homozygous patterned horses always produce a foal with characteristics of one of the Knabstrupper-type spotted patterns.
Building the Breed in the U.S. For years, various individual Knabstruppers have been imported
into the United States, but the first declared importation of a breed- ing stallion was in 2003 by Elizabeth Hall of Silverwood Farm. Liz imported the already approved black leopard stallion Apollon, who had been bred in Denmark and had stood at Gestuet Falkenhorst for most of his life before being sold to Liz. Frozen semen from Apollon had been used by a few breeders for a short time prior to his importation. Apollon was later sold to Patrick Truxillo of Anza, California, where he stood at stud until his death in 2005. In 2002, Ashburne Mitchell imported the black leopard German-bred year- ling colt Ambrosius af Asgard, whom she marketed as “Atlantis.” Atlantis was the first Knabstrupper stallion inspected and approved for breeding in the U.S. He stood at stud in Virginia for several years and has since been sold to Karri Henning of Altamont Sport Horses in Alabama, where he now resides. In 2006, Melyni Worth at Virginia’s Cedar Creek Stables bought
and imported frozen semen from two other Knabstrupper stallions: Ecuador Skrødstrup and Ravaldi. Tat same year, the Truxillos imported the stallion Pegasus v. Niehaus-Hof. Tese three stallions
More About Teir Color by Sheila Archer
and Atlantis have been the basis for Knabstrupper breed- ing in North America after Apollon’s passing in 2005. Initially Knab-
strupper inspections and registrations were all done by the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International (RPSI). As popular- ity of the breed continued to grow, the Knabstrupper mother registry, the Knabstrupperforeningen for Danmark (KNN), began to travel to the U.S. for stallion and broodmare inspections and performance testing, as well as foal grading and branding. Te first tour of the KNN was in 2009 and after multiple visits they have settled into an every other year schedule with inspections in 2013 and 2015. Te RPSI continues to inspect Knabstruppers and run a Knabstrupper book to this day. In 2006, the stallion Colorado
Top: Apollon, the first Knabstrupper stallion imported to the U.S. Bottom: April Shultz and CCS Tinuvel at the 2012 KNN inspection.
Skrødstrup was imported by Lisa Williams of Arizona. Colorado, also known as Fable, began a successful show career in show jump- ing and later moved into dressage competition. He has subsequent- ly been standing at Avalon Equine in Oklahoma, with Kathy St. Martin and Jos Mottershed. In 2007, the few spot leop-
Te Knabstrupper horse exhibits coat patterns similar to the American Appaloosa, thanks to dis- tant common ancestry. Coat patterns vary between individuals, as they are governed by a gene complex rather than a single gene. In general, patterns with numerous dark spots indicate the horse has one copy of LP, the main gene in the complex, while patterns with few or no dark spots indicate the horse has two. White patterning occurs on a continuum from horses born with full- body patterning down to those with none. Horses with extensive white patterning and spots are called “leopards,” while the “few spot leopard” is born mainly white with few or no spots. Horses with lower amounts of patterning are said to have “blankets,” which may be spotted or relatively free of spots. Additionally, all horses born with LP exhibit a secondary form of patterning that is acquired as the horse matures called varnish roan. Tis is most easily seen on horses born with lower amounts of white patterning.
ard weanling colt Halifax Mid- delsom was imported along with a few spot mare Paula v Falken- horst. Halifax was later bought by Donna Current and subse- quently sold to Cedar Creek Stables, where he now stands at stud and is shown and competed by head trainer April Shultz. Another KNN-approved stallion, Lammegardens Liberty, is standing at stud in Canada. An eight-year-old leopard spot- ted chestnut, he was approved in 2009.
Tese relatively few stallions
are the basis of the Knabstrup- per breeding in North America as it presently stands. Fortu- nately, there are a few young stud colts waiting in the wings to mature and go through the inspection process. Addition- ally, there is a limited amount of frozen semen from various Knabstrupper stallions available.
44 November/December 2013 SPECIAL Knabstrupper SECTION
Courtesy Silverwood Farm
Karri Henning
Knabstruppers
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