Kisber Felver Horse

The Kisber Felver is a Hungarian breed of horse that is not really known about outside of Hungary.

In Hungary there is a proud tradition concerning the horse and its reputation as the second fastest horse in the world, after the English full blood race horse.

The fastest time is held by a mare owned and run by a man called Oslagna whose mares name was Kincsem. The breed is endangered with only 2 000 registered animals of which only a handful is of the pure bred Kisber Felver.

The largest number of horses of the breed in North America.

The Kisber Felver horse breed was developed over one hundred years ago at Kisberstuteriet in Hungary beginning in 1853, originally though the stud was breeding the English thoroughbred.

The breed has a cross bred animal registered and developed as a sports horse, that is really beautiful. The two breeds were the foundation of the Kisber Felverrasen developed from the early 1900s.

Hungary, however, was very vulnerable during the many wars that plagued Europe over the centuries. The First and Second World War in Europe saw the almost total elimination of horses in Hungary.

In 1945 more than half of all the horses were taken as spoils of war and 150 of them were shipped to the United States, for use by the cavalry.

In 1947 the division was dissolved and the remount horses were sold at auction. There were only a handful of people who understood the true value of these animals, and who purchased them at auction to ensure that the breed survived.

As the breed has so few specimens, mares are allowed for out crossing but colts are carefully vetted and inspected by an appointed committee before they are registered and approved for breeding.

Attributes

The Kisber Felveris horse is an athletic and flexible animal capable of participating in most equine sports. The breed is also slim and muscular with an exterior confirmation that looks much like the English full blood.

The breed allows all whole colours are allowed including black.

The breed allows outbreeding in order to save the breed from extinction, and almost any breed may be used for this.

The outbreeding stallions may be of breeds of the Trakehner, Thoroughbred, Arabian horse, Anglo Arab, Shagya Arabian and Selle Francais and must have a pedigree that goes back at least four generations.

Stallions may not be over 152 cm, these requirements are in place to ensure that the Kisber Felverrasen maintains the breed standards and quality of the animal and to ensure that the confirmation and appearance of the animal only varies slightly in keeping with the breeders intentions.