Michael Schäfer (hippologist)

Michael Schäfer ( 1937 - 2001 ) was a German veterinarian in Munich, rider, since 1965 horse breeder (initially Holsteiner and trotter), horse behavior researcher and anatomist. His work "The Language of the Horse" (1974) became a standard work on horse behavior , translated into several languages ​​and reprinted several times.

Career

In his youth, Schäfer was a pack animal handler, trainee at the stud farm, then studied veterinary medicine, a. a. also in Portugal and Spain, and practiced as a veterinarian. Early on, he advocated keeping horses as appropriate to the species as possible so that they could be observed under natural conditions. Among the animal behavior researchers, he counted himself to the followers of field observation in the tradition of Konrad Lorenz , and as an opponent of the school of behaviorists ( Sprach des Pferd , 1994, p. 12f). He had a long friendship with Eberhard Trumler . Schäfer also bred Exmoor ponies , kept equidae such as Catalan giant donkeys and wild asses for the purpose of comparative behavioral research, and observed the wild fjord horse herd of the biologist Jürgen Zutz in the Bavarian Forest for several years .

In 1974 he and his wife Heide Schäfer, also a veterinarian, with whom he ran his equine research station in Erdinger Moos near Munich, managed to import seven Sorraia horses from Portugal under difficult political conditions and to continue to breed the breed, and for a long time they maintained the largest breed population in the world . His publications made the Sorraia horse (archetype of the Iberian horse breeds) known and made a decisive contribution to preserving the breed. His book " Andalusian Horses " (1980) made the Spanish horses known to a wider audience in Germany. He also received his doctorate on the Sorraia horse in 1986. Characteristic of his research method are the developmental, anatomical and radiological studies.

The hippologist spent his last ten years, seriously ill with multiple sclerosis, confined to bed, but this did not prevent him from writing. In the year 2000 the " Handbook of Horse Assessment " appeared, in which he also deals with the origin of domestic horse breeds from several parentage groups (4-type theory according to Speed ​​/ Ebhardt), and explains the morphological and behavioral differences of the domestic horse breeds in detail. He described himself as a supporter of the multiple wild horse descent theory ( Handbook Horse Assessment . P. 32ff) and was its strongest advocate in the German-speaking area.

Further publications are " How will I become a horse connoisseur " (1971) and " The year of the horse " (1987), in which he described the peculiarities of the behavior of the Sorraia horses. His wife continues to breed Sorraia after his death.

Works

• The horse, my hobby. A practical guide for the recreational rider. Nymphenburg, 1970.
• How do I become a horse connoisseur. A modern doctrine of assessment from a biological point of view. Nymphenburger, 1971, ISBN 3-485-01713-2 .
• Large ponies and small horses. Nymphenburger, 1972, ISBN 3-485-01714-0 .
• The language of the horse. Nymphenburger, 1974, ISBN 3-485-01724-8 .
• The practice of the recreational rider. Which horse for which purpose. Nymphenburger, 1975, ISBN 3-485-01733-7 .
• with Heinrich Pirkelmann, Heinz Schulz: horse stables and horse keeping. Ulmer, 1976, ISBN 3-8001-4329-1 .
• The horse, my hobby. A guide for the recreational rider. Fischer, 1977, ISBN 3-436-02498-8 .
• Which horse for leisure and sport. Humboldt, 1980, ISBN 3-581-66380-5 .
• Andalusian horses. The horses of Spain and Portugal. Nymphenburger, 1980, ISBN 3-485-01771-0 .
• Live with horses. Nymphenburger, 1982, ISBN 3-485-01779-5 .
• Observations on the behavior of the South Iberian primitive horse (Sorraia horse). Vet.med.Diss., Munich 1986.
• The year of the horse. Kynos, 1987, ISBN 3-924008-34-5 .
• The demands of the horse on its environment , in: Pirkelmann (Hrsg.), Horse keeping. Ulmer, 1991, ISBN 3-800-14357-7 .
• Handbook of horse assessment. Kosmos, 2000, ISBN 3-440-07237-1 .