The Rural Voice, 1983-02, Page 8HERE COME THE TRAKEHNER
by Rhea Hamilton
It was love at first sight. Ever since he
was a two year old and his father
seated him astride the broad back of a
grey Trakehner, horses have played a
major role in Herb Boettcher's life and
he in theirs.
It is the kind of love and dedication
the Boettcher family and a few others
have lavished on this remarkable breed
that has stopped it from going the
same way as our passenger pigeon.
As Herb walks down the wide aisle of
his newly constructed barn at R.R. 2
Walton, a variety of chestnut and black
noses poke out of the stalls and soft
brown eyes follow his every move with
keen interest.
Originally a farm horse from East
Prussia, now north east Poland, the
Trakehner is a muscular horse with a
certain amount of leaness to allow them
to move with grace. They average 16.1
Yo 16.2 hands tall a little larger than a
quarter horse and despite their rural
beginnings they have come to be known
as excellent riding stock as well as
unsurpassed jumpers and cross country
competitors.
The Boettchers have always had
PG. 8 THE RURAL VOICE. FEBRUARY 1983
Trakehners and when they immigrated
to Canada from their home in Germany
they brought with them two stallions
and seven mares and fillies to raise in
Canada.
Since making their home here in 1978
the horses have grown to twelve in
number discounting the six that have
already been sold.
Raising horses is not the fun and
games many would like to think it is.
The big animals need plenty of atten-
tion and Herb has discovered the more
attention and care lavished on them the
easier they are to manage.
In the wintertime, the horses are
treated to daily workouts in the en-
closed arena. The ground is covered
with several inches of sand with a small
amount of salt added to it to keep it
loose and light in the cold winter
months.
In summertime. Herb confesses the
work on the 500 acre crop farm takes
precedence and the horses are put out
to pasture.
When the Boettchers bought their
farm north east of Walton.there were no
barns and so work began immediately
to get shelter built for the stock.
From the outside the buildings ap-
pear to be a series of drive sheds. In
fact Herb has planned carefully for the
future. The huge arena can be converted
to a drive shed for large equipment or
may he used to house sheep with a
capacity for 300 ewes.
Herb and his three sons breed the
horses with their own studs brought
from Germany and the lineage is care-
fully guarded and recorded with the
Canadian Trakehner Horse Society un-
der the guidance of the Canadian
National Livestock Records.
The mares are late maturing and may
be bred until they are in their mid
twenties. Labour and delivery is swift.
A mare may take anywhere from five to
30 minutes to drop a foal. Birthing
takes place in the barn under the
watchful eye of Herb but even he
cannot always be on hand and some-
times he has come into the barn just in
time to see the gangling young colt try
to get to it's feet within twenty minutes
after being born.
Herb has noticed a mare's tempera-
ture will drop a fraction of a degree
before delivery and this gives him a
closer indication of when the foal will