The History of the Trakehner by Sacha Rowson, September 2005 With a history that spans more than 400 years, the Trakehner was originally called the East Prussian horse, taking its name from the central stud in Trakehnen which was established in 1732 by a royal edict from Friedrich Wilhelm II, whose desire was to breed a modern, faster and tougher cavalry horse. To refine the breed, Thoroughbred and Arabian stallions were used and the stud became the centre of breeding in Prussia. By the mid 19th century more than 15,500 mares were in foal to Trakehner stallions and by the early 20th century the figure exceeded 48,000. However, the breed was to be dealt a heavy blow in the winter of 1944-45, when thousands of horses were forced to flee west across north Poland ahead of the advancing Russian army. Some of the valuable stock was left behind, others were released to their fate and of the thousands on the trek, many died. The treacherous "flight of the horses" is now one of the great historical equine stories. Only 1600 horses made it to west Germany. Very few mares were in foal, thus reducing the herd even further. To save the breed from extinction, the Trakehner Verband was created in 1947. For many years now the Trakehner has been a very important breed not only on its own but within other breed societies as well, and known for upgrading, improving and modernising the warmblood horse. It has been closely linked with the Hanoverian breed for more than 150 years, with the famous Abglanz being one of the most important Trakehners used, right through to modern day breeding where the influence of the Trakehner stallions Caprimond and his son Hohenstein can be seen within the breed.