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The Nooitgedacht (also 'Nooitgedachter') is a South African breed of a light, sometimes gaited, horse.
Not a pony:
Although the Nooitgedacht is also known as 'Nooitgedacht Pony', the Nooitgedachter Breeders' Society defines it as a horse, not a pony, that can be as tall as 16hh.
An unintentional creation:
Like many other horse breeds, the Nooitgedacht was created at a specific stud and out of specific crosses. Unlike most other breeds, it was created unintentionally, when a breeding program for another breed took an unexpected turn.
The story begins in 1952, with the arrival of six Basuto mares and one Basuto stallion at the Nooitgedacht Veterinary Research Station in South Africa (SA). The Basuto is a South African breed of a legendary mountain pony. At the time it faced extinction, and so the 'Basuto Pony Project' was launched to save this unique breed.
The project hit a wall when the staff at Nooitgedacht, led by Dr. Nien Barrie, realized that, even after adding more Basuto mares to the program, their stock will still suffer excessive inbreeding.
Old blood in a new package:
Ditching the project altogether and let a remarkable piece of SA's history go extinct was out of the question. So was continuing as is and letting the excessive inbreeding to cause genetic defects that will impair the Basuto's qualities.
Therefore, Dr. Barrie decided to incorporate outside blood to lower the factor of inbreeding. He knew this will impair the Basuto's purity, and will result in a completely new breed, but it was the only way to save the bloodlines of the original Basuto, even if within a new package.
Thus a new breed was born:
Crossing Basuto ponies with Thoroughbreds proved disastrous in the past (see 'Basuto'). So, he used Arabians and Arabian/Cape crossbreds instead, to conserve the immense endurance of the original Basuto.
The new breed was named Nooitgedacht, and the breeding aim shifted from conserving of a dying pony to developing a fine breed that carries the old Basuto bloodlines while also catering to the timely needs of the modern rider.
(The Basuto was later saved thanks to unexpected support from a country at the other side of the globe. See 'Basuto' for the full story.)
Happy ending:
The official program progressed at full speed until the future of the Nooitgedacht was certain and bright. Then, it was closed, and the breeding of Nooitgedachts was fully handed to the Nooitgedachter Breeders' Society, who continue its breeding to this very day.
The Nooitgedacht today:
Today, the Nooitgedacht is a well-known breed in SA, and while its numbers are small its situation is stable.
It is roughly divided into two groups: gaited individuals that are used primarily for trail riding, and non-gaited individuals that are used for recreational hunter shows and dressage.
Still, it is mainly bred to easily traverse the mountainous terrain characterizes SA, so it could serve as a workhorse and for trekking.
An ideal African breed:
The Nooitgedacht is bred to survive well outdoors in the heavy heat, and to be resistant to most equine diseases that can affect non-African horse breeds. In addition, it always has dark skin and lacks blazes and stockings to avoid getting sunburned.
Breeding - beware the double-cream:
While the colors of smoky-black, buckskin, and palomino, exist in the Nooitgedacht, any blue-eyed individuals or those with pink skin are banned from registration and breeding.
This means that double-cream dilutes (smoky-cream, perlino, and cremello) are all ineligible for registration. As such, crossing two cream-diluted Nooitgedachts has 25% chance of generating a double-cream grade foal.
Breeding - do not cross gaited with non-gaited:
The Nooitgedacht breeding rules specify that all gaited individuals are welcome to the studbook except for pacers.
In Horse Isle, ambling horses are also pacers. Still, in order to comply with the breeding rules to some degree, heterozygous Nooitgedachts for GaitKeeper gene are banned from registration (as they trot instead of amble but pace instead of canter).
Conformation:
Real Nooitgedachts might vary in build, with some being chunkier than others. Still, they all display a set of traits that are required in the breed standard regardless of their build.
The head is short in length and with a straight or slightly concave profile, broad on the front but tapers into a fine muzzle. The eyes and nostrils are large, but the ears are small and pointed.
The neck is medium-to-long in length, with its topline longer than its underline, and connects high to the withers. The shoulder is sloping and the back is short, with the topline far shorter than the underline. The croup is low and rounded but is not flat.
Overall, the body is nicely muscled, the chest is large, and the girth is deep. The legs have large joints and strong hooves that rarely require shoeing.
The mane is short or medium in length, but the tail grows long.
Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Nooitgedachts in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.
Speed: 13.9-15.5, 14.7 (0.4), 0.07.
Sprint: 35-48, 41 (3), 0.59.
Accel: 0.79-0.96, 0.87 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.81-0.96, 0.90 (0.03), 0.01.
Jump: 5.07-5.37, 5.22 (0.06), 0.01.
Pull: 2.02-2.89, 2.46 (0.19), 0.04.
Turning: 42.97-55.89, 49.47 (2.85), 0.56.
Reverse: 2.2-2.8, 2.5 (0.1), 0.02.
Stamina: 42.48-48.24, 45.28 (1.27), 0.25.
Reaction: 0.68-0.79, 0.74 (0.02), 0.00.
Coats & Height:
Colors: bay, black, brown, chestnut, grey, smoky-black, perlino, and palomino.
Note: double-cream dilutes are banned from registration.
Additionals: flaxen, minimal-mealy, roan, sooty, dark mane & tail. The coat is always solid.
* blazes and stockings are discouraged and will be penalized.
Height: 13.2hh to 16hh.
* many sources state that the maximal height of the Nooitgedacht is 15hh. While 15hh is the ideal max height for this breed, Nooitgedachts can be as tall as 16hh.
Not a pony:
Although the Nooitgedacht is also known as 'Nooitgedacht Pony', the Nooitgedachter Breeders' Society defines it as a horse, not a pony, that can be as tall as 16hh.
An unintentional creation:
Like many other horse breeds, the Nooitgedacht was created at a specific stud and out of specific crosses. Unlike most other breeds, it was created unintentionally, when a breeding program for another breed took an unexpected turn.
The story begins in 1952, with the arrival of six Basuto mares and one Basuto stallion at the Nooitgedacht Veterinary Research Station in South Africa (SA). The Basuto is a South African breed of a legendary mountain pony. At the time it faced extinction, and so the 'Basuto Pony Project' was launched to save this unique breed.
The project hit a wall when the staff at Nooitgedacht, led by Dr. Nien Barrie, realized that, even after adding more Basuto mares to the program, their stock will still suffer excessive inbreeding.
Old blood in a new package:
Ditching the project altogether and let a remarkable piece of SA's history go extinct was out of the question. So was continuing as is and letting the excessive inbreeding to cause genetic defects that will impair the Basuto's qualities.
Therefore, Dr. Barrie decided to incorporate outside blood to lower the factor of inbreeding. He knew this will impair the Basuto's purity, and will result in a completely new breed, but it was the only way to save the bloodlines of the original Basuto, even if within a new package.
Thus a new breed was born:
Crossing Basuto ponies with Thoroughbreds proved disastrous in the past (see 'Basuto'). So, he used Arabians and Arabian/Cape crossbreds instead, to conserve the immense endurance of the original Basuto.
The new breed was named Nooitgedacht, and the breeding aim shifted from conserving of a dying pony to developing a fine breed that carries the old Basuto bloodlines while also catering to the timely needs of the modern rider.
(The Basuto was later saved thanks to unexpected support from a country at the other side of the globe. See 'Basuto' for the full story.)
Happy ending:
The official program progressed at full speed until the future of the Nooitgedacht was certain and bright. Then, it was closed, and the breeding of Nooitgedachts was fully handed to the Nooitgedachter Breeders' Society, who continue its breeding to this very day.
The Nooitgedacht today:
Today, the Nooitgedacht is a well-known breed in SA, and while its numbers are small its situation is stable.
It is roughly divided into two groups: gaited individuals that are used primarily for trail riding, and non-gaited individuals that are used for recreational hunter shows and dressage.
Still, it is mainly bred to easily traverse the mountainous terrain characterizes SA, so it could serve as a workhorse and for trekking.
An ideal African breed:
The Nooitgedacht is bred to survive well outdoors in the heavy heat, and to be resistant to most equine diseases that can affect non-African horse breeds. In addition, it always has dark skin and lacks blazes and stockings to avoid getting sunburned.
Breeding - beware the double-cream:
While the colors of smoky-black, buckskin, and palomino, exist in the Nooitgedacht, any blue-eyed individuals or those with pink skin are banned from registration and breeding.
This means that double-cream dilutes (smoky-cream, perlino, and cremello) are all ineligible for registration. As such, crossing two cream-diluted Nooitgedachts has 25% chance of generating a double-cream grade foal.
Breeding - do not cross gaited with non-gaited:
The Nooitgedacht breeding rules specify that all gaited individuals are welcome to the studbook except for pacers.
In Horse Isle, ambling horses are also pacers. Still, in order to comply with the breeding rules to some degree, heterozygous Nooitgedachts for GaitKeeper gene are banned from registration (as they trot instead of amble but pace instead of canter).
Conformation:
Real Nooitgedachts might vary in build, with some being chunkier than others. Still, they all display a set of traits that are required in the breed standard regardless of their build.
The head is short in length and with a straight or slightly concave profile, broad on the front but tapers into a fine muzzle. The eyes and nostrils are large, but the ears are small and pointed.
The neck is medium-to-long in length, with its topline longer than its underline, and connects high to the withers. The shoulder is sloping and the back is short, with the topline far shorter than the underline. The croup is low and rounded but is not flat.
Overall, the body is nicely muscled, the chest is large, and the girth is deep. The legs have large joints and strong hooves that rarely require shoeing.
The mane is short or medium in length, but the tail grows long.
Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Nooitgedachts in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.
Speed: 13.9-15.5, 14.7 (0.4), 0.07.
Sprint: 35-48, 41 (3), 0.59.
Accel: 0.79-0.96, 0.87 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.81-0.96, 0.90 (0.03), 0.01.
Jump: 5.07-5.37, 5.22 (0.06), 0.01.
Pull: 2.02-2.89, 2.46 (0.19), 0.04.
Turning: 42.97-55.89, 49.47 (2.85), 0.56.
Reverse: 2.2-2.8, 2.5 (0.1), 0.02.
Stamina: 42.48-48.24, 45.28 (1.27), 0.25.
Reaction: 0.68-0.79, 0.74 (0.02), 0.00.
Coats & Height:
Colors: bay, black, brown, chestnut, grey, smoky-black, perlino, and palomino.
Note: double-cream dilutes are banned from registration.
Additionals: flaxen, minimal-mealy, roan, sooty, dark mane & tail. The coat is always solid.
* blazes and stockings are discouraged and will be penalized.
Height: 13.2hh to 16hh.
* many sources state that the maximal height of the Nooitgedacht is 15hh. While 15hh is the ideal max height for this breed, Nooitgedachts can be as tall as 16hh.
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