In the 15 years since I started breeding these colorful horses I have seen changes many changes. What stays the same is the wonderful fun nature of the horses, but we have seen them gradually morph from the chunky solid workmanlike horses into graceful athletic beasts, usually without losing their wonderful minds and generous natures. We currently have more Knabstruppers here in the USA than ever before and several of them are making their way into the competitive world, at least 3 are competing in FEI dressage and several are working their way up the eventing ladder. Much of their success is due to their cooperative nature, plus the addition of more athletic outcrosses means they have the athletic ability to match their work ethic. This is psrtly due to the insistence of the KNN that ALL stallions have to pass a ridden (or driven) performance test, which means that athletic ability as well as great temperaments are what is bred from. Kudos to all the breeders who work so hard to get their stallions fit and ready for the ridden test.
