I was fascinated by the idea of creating a horse design with the braiding of the mane to evoke the English riding style. Now I see that there are several breeds of horses that wear their mane in a braid, a style that I think looks very sophisticated indeed.

One of the horse breeds that I see with this style is the lovely Trakehner horse. From what I’ve read, this horse has had quite a bit of thoroughbred and Arab blood in its lineage. It has had a very colorful history and as recently as World War I was used by the cavalry. In between the World Wars this breed gained new popularity and in the Olympic Games in the 1920s and also in 1936 they had victories. I’m sure this only increased their popularity.

The breed was almost wiped out after the second World War, but with diligence in Germany it was recreated and now this horse is a very popular competitor. We certainly have some very dedicated German breeders to thank for bringing this horse back from the brink of extinction.

My gold English Horse pin pendant is not particularly meant to represent a Trakehner, but since the braid is often present in competitive riding, I wanted to discuss it a little.

 

My handsome quarter horse gold pin pendant is one of those found at the gold horse pin pendant home page.