They can be any color, with bay, gray, chestnut and black being the most common, though the breed also includes few roan and tobiano pinto horses.

It is considered to be the lightest and most refined of the warmbloods, due to its closed stud book which allows entry of only Trakehner, as well as few selected Thoroughbred, Anglo-Arabian, Shagya and Arabian bloodlines.

Owing to its Thoroughbred ancestry, the Trakehner is of rectangular build, with a long sloping shoulder, good hindquarters, short cannons, and a medium-long, crested and well-set neck.

Beginning in the 14th century, knights used it to breed their military horses, and descendants of the Schwaikenpferd were later used by Masovian and Ostsiedlung farmers for light utility work.

In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles limited Germany's army to 100,000 troops and so the breed's focus was again turned to producing horses suitable to farm duties.

Horses such as the Trakehner were used in World War II which, at the end, nearly destroyed the breed as Soviet troops advanced from the East, causing flight and expulsion of Germans during and after WWII.

Among the greatest obstacles the organization faced was that unlike other German breeds, the Trakehner had no mother state and could not depend on government funding.

True pure-bred Trakehner show the Ostpreußische Elchschaufel (East Prussian moose horn) branding (see Image above).

The Trakehner is used as a "refiner" of other breeds, allowing an infusion of Thoroughbred and Arabian blood without the risks often involved in first generation outcrosses.

Abdullah, by Donauwind, is particularly famous for his show jumping team gold and individual silver medals at the 1984 Olympics and 1985 World Cup win.

Trakehner mare TSF Dalera BB, ridden by Jessica von Bredow Werndl, is the no.1 ranked dressage horse in the world as of September 2023,[1] and has won gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for both team and individual.