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The Royal Hanoverian Creams
This page is in progress, and
some of the statements on here have already been disproved or cast in serious
doubt. It's being updated.
Please give the researchers credit if you copy anything from here.
This page was originally an attempt at tracing the origins of the Champagne color gene.
Now it's simply a collection of some references to golden-colored horses through
the past few centuries in Europe and the U.S.; most references are related to
the Royal Hanoverian Creams in some way.
NOTICE: There is a farm in the US advertising Royal
Hanoverian Creams for sale. The breed is, however, extinct, and THOSE
HORSES ARE NOT ROYAL HANOVERIAN CREAMS, but are American Cream Draft Horses
and crosses. There is no direct link between the two breeds, and it's
unlikely they are related at all. Even the color is from a different
dilution gene.
Newest addition: I keep seeing copies of this painting, and I have
long assumed one was on this page. But, I don't see it there now!
So, here it is, and many thanks to Jennifer Brown, the most recent person to
call it to my attention!
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Jennifer notes, as I did last time I saw a copy of this
painting, that this horse appears to have blue eyes, and so may very well be a double
cream dilute. She's getting a better scan of the photo for us. Also
note that the muzzle skin is a clear pink, seeming free of the heavy
freckling of champagne or even the lighter freckling of pearl.
Bear in mind that, as noted below, authors from these horses'
time stated that these horses bred true to color unless outcrossed,
so they must have been homozygous for whatever dilution gene was
causing their cream color.
Homozygous non-cream champagne horses do not have green or blue
eyes as adults, and neither do homozygous pearl horses.
(Please correct me if I'm wrong.)
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The
Search
In
1999, I emailed Dorothy Beardsley-Smith, an American Cream Draft Horse breeder
in California (since deceased), to ask her to help us determine whether that breed was basically
gold champagne in color. She replied to me that some of them speculated
that the breed - and thus color - might have derived from the now-extinct
Hanoverian Cream. (We later determined through many photographs, and my visit to Cream
Acres in 2001, that the breed is indeed, almost all Gold [champagne],
with a few cream genes in the pool).
When I heard of the "Hanoverian Creams" as a possible source of the ACDH's
(champagne) color, I
immediately contacted everyone I could find who might have more
information on this.
Only a few had anything to say on the subject at all.
Dr. Philip Sponenberg said he thought the color of the ACDH's came through a
Mustang of Spanish southwestern U.S. descent.
The present-day Hanoverian
people said they had never heard of such a thing, and that the color surely would have been
considered undesirable.
Then,
in August 2001, Carolyn Shepard found, and emailed to me, an excerpt from an old
issue of the Palomino Magazine from the 1940's, which mentioned the Hanoverian
Royal Creams (see below).
Around
that time Julia Lord, another online friend, was emailing me excerpts from old
books she had read, about the colors of dun, palomino and champagne (see
below). We shared the Hanoverian Cream information with her, and she
sic'ed a historian friend of hers on it. Soon, she was sending me links,
which I then followed to others, many mentioning "the Creams" and the
British royal family.
But
the coup de grace was when a British online friend of Julia's suggested a particular book
which mentioned "the Creams" quite a lot, scattered throughout
it. She was kind enough to tell me the title, and I (and Carolyn and she)
all promptly ordered used copies online. It's called The Royal
Office of Master of the Horse. I have found it to be an incredible treasure trove of
information and pictures.
I've
attempted to report the essence of all the above information, below.
The
Palomino Horse magazine excerpt that Carolyn Shepard mailed me:
"Hanoverian
Royal Creams are sometimes mentioned in connection with Palominos,
although any close association is now doubtful. The Hanoverian Royal
Creams were brought to England from Prussia by George I in 1714, but it is
generally believed they originated in Spain. (Although John Lawrence,
writing in 1809, says these animals 'may not improbably be of Persian
origin'). Some say Prussian nobles received such horses for services in
the Spanish army."
"Hanoverian
Royal Creams were a coach breed, more buff or ivory than golden, with
light but not white mane and tail. They had pink skins and eyes with white
irises and red pupils, and often had coarse heads with Roman noses, so
would not be admired by modern Palomino breeders."
"From
1724 to 1921, with few exceptions, these horses were always used on State
occasions, such as the opening of Parliament. They were bred at the royal
stables at Hampton Court. They dwindled in numbers until in 1921 the
remaining Royal Creams were sold, and no longer used by British royalty.
Most of the animals went to circuses, but a few were purchased by Sir Hugh
Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake, who is trying to preserve the strain."
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Julia Lord's
notes from an older book called "America's Horses and Ponies",
published in 1969.
Under
"Color Breeds" they have "Albino",
"Palomino", and "Buckskin".
Here
is a quote Julia sent from the book:
"There
is another kind of palomino, and although the PHBA does not register it,
the PHA does. The difference between the two is that the second kind has a
pink or yellow skin instead of black. The coat of the light-skinned
palomino stays gold the year around, with the winter coat slightly darker,
but the dark-skinned palomino's coat may turn cream or white in the
winter, only regaining its golden sheen when the winter coat sheds
out."
(My
note: this is a very good comparison of Gold champagne to
cream-gene-based Palomino)
Another
quote from the same book, on the American Cream Draft: "To
get the proper shade of cream each time, only horses with pink skins are
used, for dark-skinned creams have changeable coat colors. The eyes are
amber, an unusual color and a shade peculiar to the American Cream.
The young foal's eyes are almost white, but as the animal matures they
gradually darken until a deep honey color is reached."
(Again,
my note: I have found this to be true of the ACDH's I have seen and
heard about, and also -- of course -- of GOLD CHAMPAGNES.)
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This, plus photos and information from Chris
Ertl, my visit to Carol Pshigoda's Cream
Acres, and other reading, convinced me that the ideal ACDH was and is a true
gold champagne. But that's for another page.
This search
took another turn here, as I looked to see whether the Hanoverian Royal Creams were
the origins of the American Cream Draft Horse. The timing was almost
right; the creams were dispersed around 1920, and Old Granny, the foundation mare of
the ACDH breed, appeared in Iowa around 1911.
The
Hanoverian Royal Creams
First,
the book recommended by Julia's British friend:
The
Royal Office of Master of the Horse
by
M. M. Reese
Threshold Books, London, 1976 (out of print)
All graphics and information (not direct quotes) in this box are
from that book. Click on the thumbnail pictures to see the full
sized ones.
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How
Hanoverian Creams got to England in the 18th century; some horse
color lore; and how they came from Spain to Hanover, as "Isabels",
in the 15th century. |
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The
caption from the book says a lot. Look closely to see the
rumps continue all the way down the row of stalls. They all
matched, and they bred true to color. |
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George
III used this "Cream" as his personal charger when it
turned out to be not strong enough* for coach work. Note the
amber color of the iris and the "swirled" pattern in the
leg color, both common Champagne traits.*Why
"not strong enough"? Look at this quote: "The
eight specially-trained horses needed to pull the four-ton coach... " |
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"Pistachio",
"a Cream stallion". Photo taken at the Royal Mews
(stables). |
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What
became of "the creams"? Here is all we know so far.
This happened around 1920. |
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This
event (with "eight creams") is described by Queen Victoria
in her diary, which I found here:
oops, sorry, that site has been redesigned and the link is now
invalid. The British Royals' site no longer has any diary links,
and does not respond to my emails about the subject. |
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Another diary entry of Queen Victoria's, mentioning "six creams",
here: http://www.royal.gov.uk/history/journ06.htm
Sorry. The diaries appear to
have been completely removed from the official British royal site. I
should have copied it. I've tried many times and many ways to find them
again, but have never received an answer to any of my emails about it, nor found
them. I'm learning to not link to others' info, but instead, make a copy.
I hate to do that, but...
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Julia
also sent a link, which had this photo at the bottom of George III being pulled by
Creams (click thumbnail at left to see full size). The whole web
site on which these pictures and information were located is now gone. |
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"The Coronation procession of William IV (detail of the
frieze by Richard Barrett Davis on display in the Royal Mews)."
(The full-size, undistorted version was on the web site, and is now gone.)
Anyone having a copy of this, or knowing of a link to it, please let me
know. bak@one.net |
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The
coronation of Edward VII (again, the web site this was on is gone.)
Not sure if these horses (pulling the coach) are the Creams or later
grays, but they LOOK like the creams. (Need a date for the event.
Anyone?) |
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Trivia: The earliest reference I can find to the color name "champagne"
in Europe so far is applied to the color of the
FJORDS, which do not carry the actual champagne gene.
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The
Queen Mum's coach, from "Queens Elizabeth the Queen Mother: Chronicle of a
Remarkable Life 1900--2000" (Hardcover) by DK Publishing (Author).
Sorry, not clickable.
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The
coronation of George V, coach pulled by "creams", from a
postcard, provided by Carolyn Shepard. Click to enlarge.
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The following excerpt is from this page:
http://www.thehorseguide.com/breed/hanoverian.htm (Thank goodness I
quoted it here and did not merely link to it, as this web site is gone, too!)
Thanks to Gwendolyn Gregorio for
pointing it out.
"Elector Ernest Augustus (1629 - 1698) adopted the white horse for
his coat of arms. The Electress Sophia began the development of the famous white
or cream Hanoverian coach horses. A long tradition already existed in preference
for white German horses. The Hanoverian Creams, also known as Isabellas, were
used in British royal processions from the reign of George I to George V, when
they were replaced by the Windsor Greys."
Notice
these interesting excerpts from the
"The
Palomino Horse Association is the Original Palomino Registry incorporated
in 1936. Today's Palomino Horse Association is the continuation of the
registry which officially began in California in 1935, when Dick Halliday
registered the golden stallion El Rey de Los Reyes to begin the records of
his envisioned true Palomino Breed. Mr. Halliday researched the
golden horses for many years. He started writing magazine articles that
brought the Palomino into public attention. His articles created a great
deal of interest in the Palomino, and within a few years, hundreds of
breeders were specializing in the production of this color."
"The
Palomino has come down through the pages of history. There are stories of
the Golden Ones linked to the Crusades; the mail-clad Crusaders saw them
on the battlefield when they fought the desert chiefs of Saladin who rode
them. You will find stories about them among the Arabs and the Moors.
During the days of the Crusades the Emir Saladin presented
Richard-Coeur-de-Lion with two splendid war horses, one was a gray and the
other a Golden Palomino. The place of origin of the Palomino probably
never will be conclusively determined. Myths and legends of various
countries shroud the beginnings of the golden horse which is no modern
phenomenon. The golden horse with ivory-colored mane and tail appears in
ancient tapestries and paintings of Europe and Asia, as well in Japenese
and Chinese art of past centuries."
"Nowhere
has the history of the Palomino been recorded, but most horsemen agree
that all light bodied horses have descended from the Arab and the
Barb."
"These
splendid golden horses were favored by her Majesty Ysabella de-Bourbon,
that beloved queen who pawned her jewels that the expenses of the
expedition which discovered the New World might be paid. In the Remuda
Real of Spain, Queen Ysabella kept a full hundred of these animals and as
the chosen favorites of the crown, only the members of the royal family
and the nobles of the household were permitted to ride them. A commoner
might not even own one. It is recorded that Queen Ysabella sent a Palomino
stallion and five mares to her Viceroy in New Spain, which is to say
Mexico, to perpetuate the golden horse in the New World. From this
nucleus, the blood spread into Texas plains, and from Texas it came to
California."
(Webmaster's
notes: the golden horses of Queen Isabella are said, in the "Master of
the Horse" book, to be foundation stock of the Hanoverian
Creams. Today, the AFCCC, the French champagne horse registry,
describes a dark pointed horse in their brochure as "Isabelle
+ champagne = ivory". )
"The
word 'Palomino' is a Spanish surname. Many feel that Palomino is
only a color and not a breed, which is true in that the color of Palomino
comes in all breeds, but the Palomino of Spanish times, the Golden Dorado,
was as close to being a breed as any strain of horse. The Dorado was of
Arabic-Moorish-Spanish blood and breeding, closely akin to the Arabian and
the Moorish Barb. The Palomino of Spanish
times was not bred by being crossed with sorrels. The Spanish had many
shades of golden horses, and when they did use 'Corral
Breeding', a light color Palomino mare would be mated with a very
dark-colored Palomino stallion. This point has been noted in an old book
and printed in Barcelona in 1774."
(My
note: this is the way one would expect GOLD CHAMPAGNES to be bred.
Cream-gene-based Palominos would produce cremellos and chestnuts if bred
this way. This webmaster has not applied this principle to see if
they were PEARL as of this writing.)
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• Also known as Golden Horse, Buttermilk Horse, Golden Horse of the West,
Cafe-au-Lait in France, Royal Hanoverian Cream, Hanoverian Cream in England,
Isabella, Y'sabella and Golden Horse of the Queen
• The ancient golden palomino colouring occurs in a variety of horses and ponies
- the Palomino is therefore registered as a type, as opposed to a breed
• The Spanish brought the palomino colouring to America which is the only place
where the horses is recognised as a breed
• The American Palomino Horse Association registers horses measuring between
14.1 and 16 hands high. To qualify for registration, one parent must be
registered and the other must be Quarter Horse, Arab or Thoroughbred
• The name of this horse may derive from a Spanish don, Juan de Palomino or a
golden Spanish grape
• This horses origins are likely to come from ancient China. History tells
stories of early Chinese emperors riding golden horses. However, as mentioned
they came to American from Spain
• When the Spanish were defeated the Palominos escaped and joined wild mustang
bands. They became a popular mount for cowboys.
• The Palomino was developed by Queen Isabella of Spain in the 15th century for
her personal use
• The mane and tail are silvery white and should not contain more than 15% dark
hair
• Eyes are dark or hazel and both same color
• There may be white markings on face
• An alert, curious horse who despite being fiery, works well with people
• Popular Uses: Riding, parades, stock work, driving and pleasure
SO
...
According
to the "Masters of the Horse" book, cream-colored horses go back
as far as Spain in the 15th century (1400's) when Queen Isabella presented
horses called "creams" to certain German knights in reward for service
in the Spanish army. In 1714 they were still being bred in Germany,
including Hanover, and sometimes called Isabels because of the queen.
However, it is still not known which gene(s) was (were) producing these
colors.
Received August 26, 2004 from Julia Lord:
>From another list:
--------
Subject: Notice in Virginia Gazette
Hi (list member),
As you were compiling a list of imported horses to England I thought you
might be interested in an item from the Virginia Gazette of 8 July 1737,
reporting on news from London.
'On Saturday last, about Two 'oClock, his Majesty, attended by his Grace the
Duke of Richmond, the Lord in Waiting, and Sir Robert Walpole, went in a Chair
to the Royal Stables in the Meuse at Charing-Cross, and viewed the Eight
beautiful Horses which were landed at the Tower on Friday last, Four of which
were Mouse-color'd, and the other Dun and somewhat Cream-colour'd; and according
to their appearance, and their being so finely moulded, the Gentlemen skilled in
Horsemanship are of the Opinion, that they are the best they ever saw bred in
Germany.'
And someone has written (not I) :
King
George I of Hanover brought "the famous cream horses" from his
homeland into England during his reign from 1714 - 1727. They pulled the royal
state coaches until 1920 when the herd was dispersed for economic reasons. The
paintings and photos all show apparent black-based champagnes. (As shown
in the few in the pertinent box, above.)
MORE
COMING
Napoleon used these same "Hanoverian Creams" to pull HIS royal carriage,
which gave the British royals a fit.
There
is a possible Appaloosa connection. Not sure if we'll get more into that,
but the first graphic of text from the Masters of the Horse book, in the box
above, says that "some of the creams from Hanover were bred to
"certain tiger-coloured horses, apparently creams with darker spots."
American
Cream Draft Horses
I haven't found a connection to the
American Cream Draft Horses yet, especially with
the horses in these pictures all being E based (dark points) (with one possible
exception so far.) But it's pretty obvious that the color came to America
from Europe, either from Spain in the 1400's (when Queen Isabella sent a small
group of her precious golden herd to Mexico, "New Spain") or from
England, or France, or many different places, in the 1900's.
Perhaps
right around 1911, around when the British crown's Hanoverian Royal Creams were
nearly ready to be sold off, and Old Granny "appeared" in Iowa...
This webmaster has seen one older shipping document refer to the color as "dun",
which of course it is not, but that may be one reason why it was not correctly
identified in this country until recently ... that and the fact that many were
believed to simply be regular "cream-gene-based" Palominos and
buckskins, but with light skin ...
I've
always said that discovering rare colors of horses alive today seems like finding
"buried treasure", but finding the history of the colors is
-- perhaps -- even more exciting.
Napoleon:
Napoleon was said by one of my sources to have procured some Hanoverian
Creams to pull HIS coach, as well. Here is what I found on that subject:
 A
postcard I now have, depicting Napoleon's coach and advertising bouillon cubes!
Click these thumbnails to see the quite large scans I made of its front and
back. The back describes the carriage and its escort, etc. which roughly
translated is:
"Any external luxury is banished on this simple 'barouche' style carriage,
whose imperial eagle is the only ornament making it possible to recognize the
occupant. It was in this modest car that the emperor, escorted by his red
lancers, used to go to inspect the fields, and it was also this which drew him
to the battle fields until the time when he would mount his famous white horse
to direct the battle."
 watercolor and ink impression of carriage horses from
Napoleon's coronation and marriage. I've lost the link, will try to find
it.
 an eBay PRINT of Napoleon's coach and horses for sale, also
about $5.99. These just look like two grays and two bays, though.
The latest (12:50 am Feb 1, 2010) -- I found a directory to the Royal
Academy of Art. One portion is: " 1820. 133. Portraits of old carriage horses in
his late Majesty's stud at Windsor. " I see that the painting is by
Richard Barrett Davis, and apparently 1820 is its date, so they very well may be
Creams.
http://www.archive.org/stream/royalacademyofar02grav/#page/266/mode/2up/search/carriage
Anyone who wants to help, please contact me at bak@one.net
. Thanks, and hope you enjoyed this page! |
Silk scarf prints of
Napoleon's coach & horses. Click to enlarge. From
http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanyarts/napoleon-hermes-lucca/
A
postcard I now have, depicting Napoleon's coach and advertising bouillon cubes!
Click these thumbnails to see the quite large scans I made of its front and
back. The back describes the carriage and its escort, etc. which roughly
translated is: 
an eBay PRINT of Napoleon's coach and horses for sale, also
about $5.99. These just look like two grays and two bays, though.
