[5][6] It is named for the Senne, a natural region of dunes and moorland in Nordrhein-Westfalen, in western Germany, and lived in feral herds there and in the Teutoburger Forest to the east.

Herds of feral horses in the Senne moorlands are documented in several Mediaeval sources, one of which dates from 1160.

[6] The centre of breeding was at Detmold until 1680, when it was moved to the stables of the Jagdschloss Lopshorn [de] near Augustdorf.

[2][5] In 2015 the total breeding population was reported at twenty-five head – nineteen mares and six stallions.

[3]: 502 [9] Some horses show primitive markings including a dorsal stripe and zebra-striping on the legs.