The Kisber Felver (, which means half-bred from

Kisbér Kisbér () is a town in northern Hungary, in Komárom-Esztergom county. It is the administrative centre of Kisbér District. The town was first mentioned in 1277. Royal Stud Kisber was home to the Imperial-Royal Stud where a Thoroughbred Horse r ...

) is a rare sport horse breed developed at the former Kisber Stud in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The Kisber Felver is not widely known, but has merit in sport horse disciplines. Only a handful of people continue breeding Kisber Felver horses today.

History

The Kisber Stud was founded in 1853, and initially bred

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

s. It successfully produced racehorses and was the origin for champions such as the unbeaten mare

Kincsem Kincsem (; Hungarian language, Hungarian for "My Precious" or "My Treasure"; March 17, 1874 – March 16, 1887) was a Hungarian Thoroughbred racehorse who has the longest undefeated record of any racehorse after winning all of her 54 races. The ne ...

, who was entered in

The Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

. Through a carefully controlled breeding program, a distinct horse type evolved. The Kisber Felver was bred by crossing

Thoroughbreds The Thoroughbred is a horse breed developed for horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered ...

with Furiosos,

Trakehner Trakehner () is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name. The was established in 1731 and operated until 1944, when the figh ...

Arabians Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Anglo-Arabian The Anglo-Arabian, also known as the Anglo-Arab, is a horse breed that originated in France by cross-breeding a Thoroughbred with an Arabian. The Anglo-Arabian has origins tracing back to the Limousin Horse. It was officially recognized by Empe ...

s, and

Selle Français The Selle Français (SF) is a horse breed, breed of sport horse from France. An athletic horse with good horse gaits, gaits, it is usually bay (horse), bay or chestnut (coat), chestnut in color. The Selle Français was created in 1958 when se ...

, while maintaining the a high ratio of Thoroughbred blood. The Kisber Felver is a relatively young breed, developed over the past hundred years, and they display good conformation, athletic ability, movement, and a lively temperament. Like many other horse breeds, the Kisber Felver was endangered during the World War I and World War II. In 1945, more than half of the breeding stock were taken as war spoils. 150 Kisber Felver horses were imported for the US Remount, but were sold at

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

in 1947 when the remount disbanded. Unlike other European imports such as the

Lipizzan The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner (, , , , , , ) is a European horse breed, breed of riding horse developed in the Habsburg Empire in the sixteenth century. It is of Baroque horse, Baroque type, and is powerful, slow to mature and long-lived; the coa ...

er, the imported Kisber Felvers were widely

crossbred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

, reducing the count of purebred animals. In 1961, the Dalmand Stud took hold of the remaining purebred Kisber Felvers. The stud has continued the breeding to the day.

Foundation sires

The existing sire lines for the breed include Fenek (Buccaneer- Helen Triomphante), Filou (Gunnarsbury- Fidget), Dunure (St.Simon- Sunrise), Maxim (St.Maclaou-Crested Gable) and Honpolgar (Duncan Grey-Short Holiday). Another influential stallion was the Trakehner stallions Szeplak (Templehüter-Héldenlégende) and Formas (Lancealot xx - Foramint).The Kisber Felver
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Characteristics

Kisber Felvers are a sporthorse breed developed to perform in a variety of modern sport horse disciplines. They stand between and can be any solid color but are often

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

. All stallions intended for breeding must be inspected and licensed by the breeding committee.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Oklahoma State University page
Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Hungary