Wildpferdebahn, Wild horse stud farm in Merfelder Bruch, Dülmen, Germany

Wildpferdebahn is a fenced wild-horse stud in the Merfelder Bruch near Dülmen, about 500 hectares of pasture, moor, heath, birch scrub and high forest with pines and oaks. Around 400 Dülmener horses live here year-round without stables or supplementary feeding except hay during hard frost and snow. The herd is owned by the Duke of Croÿ.

Wild horses at Merfelder Bruch were first recorded in 1316, when the Lord of Merfeld secured rights to the "wild horses" alongside fishing and hunting. The reserve itself was created in 1847 by Duke Alfred von Croÿ, who had the 40 remaining horses of the former Dülmen herd captured and moved into an enclosed area. The annual stallion catch began in 1907.

Each year since 1907, on the last Saturday in May, riders from neighbouring villages catch yearling stallions by hand during the Wildpferdefang. The captured stallions are chipped, then raffled and auctioned; tickets usually sell out months ahead. Stallions not kept for breeding are sold as riding ponies for children or as carriage horses.

The Wildpferdebahn lies on the L 600 between Merfeld and Borken, reached from the A31 or A43 exits at Dülmen. It opens in good weather from mid-March to early November, Saturdays, Sundays and North Rhine-Westphalia public holidays, 10:00 to 18:00. The annual wild horse catch on the last Saturday in May sells out months ahead.

The herd exists with almost no human intervention in daily life, receiving supplementary hay only during harsh winters. This hands-off approach allows the horses to maintain natural behaviors rarely seen in managed herds elsewhere.