Celle State Stud

The State Stud of Celle, located in what is now known as Lower Saxony, was founded in 1735 by order of George II, King of Great Britain, Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

[2] It was established by the decree of King George II of Great Britain, also the Elector of Hanover and Duke of Braunschweig-Lüneburg.

In times of war, cavalry horses were recruited locally from farmers, and the quality of remounts affected the outcomes of battles.

Establishment of a state stud meant that fine riding and driving horses could be purchased locally, reducing trade dependence on other autonomous regions.

[2] Despite the close connection between Hanover and Great Britain, Thoroughbred horses could not play a role in the founding of the stud, as the breed was in its infancy in Celle's own early years.

[2] In the aftermath of the wars, King George IV assisted in the repopulation of the State Stud of Celle with about 50 of his own stallions.

From 1866, the state equerries of Hanover were two brothers, August and Frederick von Spörken, who imported over 100 Thoroughbred-influenced stallions from England.

[2] This demographic resulted in horses that were too physically and temperamentally refined for farm work, and a period of consolidation followed much Thoroughbred influence.

[7] The prestige associated with the cavalry made many nations slow to replace them, but the role of the horse in warfare dwindled steadily with the advent of tanks.

This market change was not limited to any one part of Germany, and as a result, Celle supplied breeders with heavier, stronger stallions with which to breed their mares.

Today, such regional breeding centers are located in Aurich, Dorum, Landesbrück, Oberndorf, Bargstedt, Roydorf, Verden, Ankum, Süstedt, and Adelheidsdorf.

This link has made Hanoverian stallions frequent subjects and beneficiaries of research into equine artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and fertility.

A certain number of the young Hanoverian stallions are candidates to stand at Celle, pending their completion of the 11-month performance test at Adelheidsdorf.

[14] Licensing, a process by which a panel of experts determines whether a young stallion is suitable for breeding, began in association with the State Stud at Celle in the mid-19th century.

[5] Locals complained that there were many privately owned stallions of poor quality offered at stud in the Kingdom of Hannover.

[5] This process had the desired effect of eliminating major heritable defects, and helped Celle remain the most prominent source of breeding stallions.

Herrenhausen was a royal property, used as a summer house, which bred its own strains of well-known horses for ceremonial use.

Cream-colored carriage horses, possibly of Persian extraction, with the distinct Baroque type fashionable for the time, had been bred at Herrenhausen well before George II of Great Britain first brought them to England.

Similarly, the bay Mecklenburger Norfolk, who stood at Celle from 1849 to 1871, is counted among the foundation sires of the Hanoverian horse because of his contribution through his daughters rather than his sons.

Apart from Zernebog, several early Thoroughbred stallions who founded lasting dynasties in the Hanoverian genepool were selected to stand at the State Stud of Celle.

Finally, there was Goldschaum xx born in 1891, whose descendant Goldfisch II has survived in the male line to modern day.

These stallions have all had unusual starts to their careers: Gotthard, and his offspring, are notoriously slow to mature, and he was nearly passed over for his ugly-duckling appearance.

The State Stud of Celle in 1956
George II of Great Britain established the State Stud at Celle by royal decree.
Holderness, a grey Yorkshire Coach Horse stallion painted by Emil Volkers (1831-1905) in 1855, named for Holderness in Yorkshire , England . Holderness covered mares at the Celle State Stud from 1844 to 1861.
This exhibition of black and dark bay stallions is part of the annual Celle Stallion Parade.
The Pomeranian -bred Jellachich stood at Celle from 1850 until his death in 1866. Celle frequently purchased stallions from Mecklenburg and Vorpommern throughout much of the stud's history.
Zernebog (1845–1871) was a foundation stallion for the Hanoverian breed, and his descendants in the male line make up the F and W families. He was born in Mecklenburg and was purchased by Celle.
Alnok , a Celle stallion born in 1888, was sired by the Thoroughbred Adeptus . Adeptus is represented by male line descendants like E.T. FRH and Eiger.