It is bred at the stud of the same name near Lanaken, in the provinceofLimburg in eastern Flanders, close to the Dutch border. Breeding and selection are directed at performance in show-jumping.[3]: 166
The Zangersheide stud was established in the 1970s, with the aim of breeding and selecting horses on the basis of their performance in show-jumping. A stud-book was started in 1992[4]: 444 or 1993; registered animals have a Z suffixed to their names.[3]: 166 Registration is based on selection for show-jumping performance, and the stud-book is open to any breed of performance horse; it includes horses of Thoroughbred, Hanoverian, Holsteiner and Selle Français origin.[3]: 166
In 2014, the breeding stock amounted to some 2700 animals, of which 340 were stallions.[2] In 2019 its conservation status was reported to DAD-IS as 'at risk'.[2] Gem Twist Alpha Z (b. 2012), a clone of the Thoroughbredshow jumping gelding Gem Twist, was exported to Belgium and registered with the Zangersheide studbook to help promote breeding.[5][6]
These are the horse breeds considered to originate wholly or partly in Belgium and Luxembourg. Many have complex or obscure histories, so inclusion here does not necessarily imply that a breed is predominantly or exclusively from those countries.
