The Einsiedler or Einsiedeln is a historic Swiss population or breed of warmblood horse with roots going back to the eleventh century. It was – and still is – bred at the Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz, and is sometimes known as the Cavallo della Madonna. In the mid-twentieth century the stud-book was discontinued and the Einsiedler was merged with the Swiss Halfblood and with traditional local breeds including the Ajoie, the Erlenbacher and the Entlebucher to create the Swiss Warmblood, a modern sport horse. Although it is reported to be extinct, the traditional type is still bred at the abbey; there are perhaps a hundred of them in all, with fewer than ten foals born each year.
Breeding records were kept at the abbey from 1655; a more detailed stud-book was begun in 1784.
See also
Erlenbach horse
References
Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 23 June 2020.
Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .
Breed data sheet: Einsiedler / Switzerland (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed April 2023.
Elwyn Hartley Edwards (1994). The Encyclopedia of the Horse. London; New York; Stuttgart; Moscow: Dorling Kindersley. .
Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. .
[s.n.] (2016). Nutztierrassen und -schläge der Schweiz (in German). Basel: ProSpecieRara Schweiz. Archived 7 December 2016.
[Monitoring Institute for Rare Breeds and Seeds in Europe] (2003). Agricultural Genetic Resources in the Alps; Landwirtschaftliche Genressourcen der Alpen; Ressources génétiques agricoles des Alpes; Risorse genetiche agricole delle Alpi; Kmetijski genetski viri v Alpha. Zürich: Bristol-Stiftung; Bern, Stuttgart, Wien: Haupt. . Archived 24 May 2022.