Gypsy Vanner Horse

The Gypsy Vanner horse is a horse from Ireland who descended from the horses used by the Irish Romaand Travellers. Gypsy Vanner is a relatively new breed and is best known for its appearance. It is a strong riding horse with a calm temperament. They have long existed in Ireland and in Britain where they were used to pull carriages for passengers of Irish gypsies, known as Travellers.

In other countries, Gypsy Vanner was also known as Irish Cob, Colored Cob, Gypsy, or Romany Horse Horse. There were farmers in England who purchased these horses, which were then colored by the travellers. If it was born skewed the peasants very rarely kept these horses, but they were sold or given back to the travellers.

It is a great breeding horse in England and Ireland. However, many of the Irish gypsies are illiterate therefore Gypsy Vanner horses have arisen because there was no real stud books until well into the 1900s. Unions have begun collaboration on a possible merger in the future. Irish Cob’s standing as a separate race was rewarded with a separation from the Gypsy Vanner horse.

Gypsy Vanner horses have, for generations, been bred and owned primarily by “travelling people” in Ireland and Britain. Their good temperament and beautiful color made the breed ideally suited for nomadic tribes. The first records were on colored horses that pulled wagons Gypsies dating back to the 1600s.

Many different horse breeds have contributed to the development of Gypsy Vanner horses, including heavy draft horses such as: Shire Horses; Clydesdale horses and the little easier Frieserhasten, but also smaller ponies like the Fell Pony and Dale Pony has likely been part of the Gypsy Vanner horse’s development. They simply released their mares and stallions along the way.

In the past these travellers supported themselves mainly on the barter of horses, various kinds of handicrafts and performed chores of various kinds. The Travellers had beautiful hand-painted wagons called Vardo or “Bowtop Wagoner” and their colorful horses were a common sight across the UK fifty to one hundred years ago.

Often it was the lady of the family who drove the wagons and the horses that pulled the wagon was often a mare, who was called Dolly Mare. The man in the family often drove by in a small, open-bed trailer and drove more often horses that were crosses between Gypsy Vanner Horses and Warmblood horses. After World War II, it became more and rare to see horse-drawn carriages, because the travellers began using cars, caravans and smaller vehicles rather than horse-drawn wagons and carts.

Another influence on the Gypsy vanner-horse was Shire Horses as before they were used as the English Queen’s Guard. Shire Horses are no longer allowed in the breed. The British farmers therefore sold all their Shire Horses, and many of them were given a replacement for travellers. In this way, the Gypsy Vanner horse influenced larger Harness horses. Today we launched a re-breeding by crossing Gypsy Vanner Horses with great Shire horses and even Clydesdales. These are called Drum Horses or even Gypsy Drum horses after the Gypsy Vanner Horses.

Farmers in Ireland and England often bought colored Gypsy Vanner Horses of “travellers” for use in agriculture and those not suited to the drawing work they used or sold as hunting horses. It is therefore highly unlikely that Gypsy Vanner horses helped in the breeding process to produce today’s British and Irish hunter horses. Spotted horses were rejected by the British army and thus survived from being confiscated by the British crown in the event of war. Today, these horses remain with these people and have a very well thought out breeding objective.

Today, Gypsy Vanner Horses are popular worldwide and are bred everywhere. The first Gypsy Vanner horses were imported to Sweden in the 1970s. Today there are an estimated 600 Gypsy Vanner Horses in Sweden, most imported from Ireland or England in recent years. Now there’s also Swedish-born Gypsy Vanner Horses and there are several breeding stallions, valued in the country. However, it was not until 2003 that Gypsy Vanner horses were approved as a breed of horse for breeding in the Swedish League and the first breeding stallion was valued.

Attributes

Gypsy Vanner horses are in many ways a good all-around horse and is often purchased as a family horse. They are known for their calm and their will to work and are very easy to learn, although Gypsy Vanner horses grow and develop rather late. They are also very friendly to humans and other animals.

But Gypsy Vanner Horses can be strong and sometimes stubborn. Gypsy Vanner Horses works great as a wagon horse and saddle horse, and even if they do not have the best chance they can also be used for show jumping and dressage in the lighter classes. In the British Isles they are crossed often with thoroughbred horses in order to obtain fast, brave and tough competition horses for show jumping and hunting.

The pile is also somewhat exaggerated and the shoulders are also stirred an unusual amount. Some horses also tend to “throw” with the front leg, which is also allowed as long as it takes place equally on both front legs.

Appearance and character

Gypsy Vanner horses are often spotted, but despite this, all colors and characters are allowed. It is common with white markings on the legs or head, these genes often originate from “lighter” races, and many horses with these colors may be a somewhat nobler exterior than what is considered desirable. Mane and tail are easy to become long and sometimes very thick and wavy.

Temperament tends to be calm and harmonious, but still awake and curious. Tinkrar are often easy to learn, but also a bit headstrong and stubborn. A Gypsy Vanner Horse gives the impression of a heavier, more powerful horse with a short and compact body. The back is short and wide and the neck is strong and muscular. The head is proportionate and may have a straight or slightly outward-curving profile and often have a broad forehead. It gives the impression of being a bit “square” and not noble. Hooves should be tolerant and broad.
The color

Gypsy Vanner Horses that have a different color, as this Gypsy Vanner horse does, is unusual but allowed.

The different types

Gypsy Vanner horses are divided into four different sections, depending on type. Friends are the heavy yet graceful pull type horse with withers at 156-170cm, withers usually at 135-156cm, and the cob with withers at 135-156cm.

It is more common in the UK where it is widely used for towing and Franches. It is much easier than the other types, and is around 135-155cm tall. Common to all four sections is that there is a heavy to medium heavy horse of Harness nature. These are the so-called “Gypsy Drum Horses”, which then usually are crossed with other larger Heavy Draft horses such as Shire horses and Clydesdale Horses.

The name of Gypsy Vanner

The name originated in Scandinavia, mainland Europe and the United States. In Ireland and in England they call the horses Colored Cob, or sometimes Gypsy Horse, Gypsy Friends, Gypsy Cob or similar. This is because Gypsy Vanner was once a byword for the travelling public law in Ireland and Britain.

Gypsy Vanners were also called the Gypsies tinned copper kettles, then the English name for tin is “Tin”, but the tribes did not drive around with a horse and wagon. The name of Gypsy Vanner that we use for today’s horses are from Germany who was the first to use Gypsy Vanner as a denomination of the breed.