Contents
The modern Don horse is no longer the fruit of folk selection, although the breed was born that way. From the XNUMXth to the XNUMXth centuries, in the region of the Don steppes, there was what was called the “Wild Field” in chronicles. It was the territory of nomadic tribes. A nomad without a horse is not a nomad. In the XIII century, the Tatar-Mongol tribes invaded the same territory. Naturally, the Mongolian horses mixed with the local steppe livestock. Part of the Tatar tribes remained on the territory of the Don steppes and, after the name of their leader, Khan Nogai, took the name Nogais. Hardy, fast and unpretentious Nogai horses were highly valued in Our Country and were one of those that were called argamaks in those days.
After the introduction of serfdom, the peasants began to flee to the outskirts of the state, where the central government could not yet reach them. The fugitives huddled in gangs, hunting for robbery. Later, the Moscow authorities acted according to the principle “you can’t stop the outrage, lead it”, declaring these gangs a free Cossack estate and now obliging the Cossacks to guard the borders of the state.
The position was convenient, since it was still not possible to stop the Cossacks from robbery, but it was possible to direct their energy to external enemies and call a serious force into service during the war years. When raiding in peacetime, one could always shrug: “But they do not obey us, they are free people.”
The origin of the breed
The Cossacks raided the nomads by land, for which they needed good horses. They either bought horses from the same Nogais, or stole them during a raid. Getting to the Crimea and Turkey on ships, Turkish, Karabakh and Persian horses were brought from there. Turkmen horses of the Akhal-Teke and Yomud breeds came from the East to the Don. The Karabakh and Akhal-Teke horses have a characteristic metallic sheen of wool, which was inherited by the horses of the Don Cossacks.
In the Don Cossack villages, mares and young animals were kept in breeding herds on free pasture. The wombs belonged to different people. In the spring, stallions were launched into herds by stallions that distinguished themselves in equestrian campaigns or were especially valuable from those captured in battle.
From the middle of the XNUMXth century, stallions of domestic breeds began to appear on the Don: Streletskaya, Orlovo-Rostopchinskaya, Orlovskaya riding. Even Thoroughbred stallions began to appear. Since that time, the Don breed of horses began to acquire the features of a factory, and not a steppe breed. But the primitive content and the most severe natural selection did not allow the Don breed to seriously improve, although the livestock was consolidated and became more of the same type.
The breed that began to form during the development of the left-bank part of the Don was later called Starodonskaya. The rich lands of the Zadonsk region made it possible to maintain a significant horse population, and state purchases of Don horses for cavalry contributed to the flourishing of the Don horse breeding. In the Zadonsk region, the number of stud farms is rapidly increasing. But the rent introduced in 1835 for each head of 15 kopecks per year (a decent amount at that time) made horse breeding accessible only to large owners of factories. What went to the Starodon breed only benefited. Before the First World War, 40% of the royal cavalry was equipped with horses of the Starodon breed.
Destruction and restoration of the Don livestock
The First World War smoothly flowed into the Great October Revolution and the Civil War. And in all cases, a large number of horses were required to conduct hostilities. As a result, only a few hundred horses remained from the many thousands of Don herds. And even those origins were not reliable. Work on the restoration of the Don breed began in 1920. Horses were collected everywhere, focusing on testimonies, brands of breeders and typical appearance. Only in 1924 was it possible to establish 6 large military stud farms. They were large only in those days: in 1926, there were only 209 queens in the Don breed.
At that time, it was widely believed that the Thoroughbred was the best horse in the world, and during the restoration of the Don breed of mares, Thoroughbred stallions were actively winged. But after 4 years, the pendulum went in the opposite direction and purebred was put at the forefront. Horses with ¼ English blood and above were identified as the Budennovskaya breed. Just at that time there was a state order for the creation of a “commander” horse.
Today, the Black Sea breed no longer exists, and those who have a mother of the Don breed and a father of a Thoroughbred riding stallion are recorded in the Budyonnovsky breed.
In the post-war years, the Don breed flourished. But it didn’t last long. Already in the 50s, there was a sharp decrease in the total number of horse stock in the country. The Don breed also did not escape this fate, although it was in demand as an improver of working horses and ranked second in number after the Oryol trotters.
The current state of the Don breed
In the 60s, the Don horses were considered promising in tourism, rental and mass equestrian sport. At that time, the Don breed was bred at 4 stud farms. With the collapse of the Union, the stock of Don horses instantly halved, since 2 out of 4 stud farms remained outside of Our Country.
Due to the general economic situation, the remaining plants also could not sell the young. Even the main tribal core was very difficult to feed. Horses began to be handed over to slaughterhouses. After the factories were transferred to private ownership, the situation worsened even more. The new owners need land, not horses. Already after 2010, the Zimovnikovsky stud farm was liquidated. The main breeding core of the Don queens was bought in the Cossack stud farm, the rest of the horses were dismantled by private traders. But private traders do not breed. The current situation in the Don breed is such that a little more than 50 Don foals are born a year. In fact, the Don breed is already on the verge of extinction.
Exterior types of the Don breed
Modern Don horses have a strong constitution. The Oriental intrabreed type may be prone to a delicate constitution. Rough and loose type are unacceptable.
The head of the Don horses is most often small, the profile is straight. Ears are medium in size. The eyes are large. Ganache wide. The back of the head is long.
The neck is of medium length, dry, light with a correct set and high extension. In the Eastern riding and riding types, a long neck is preferred.
The upper line of the body is smooth due to poorly defined withers. This is a trait that is highly undesirable in a riding type horse, but acceptable in a draft horse. Once upon a time, the Don breed was classified as a horse-drawn breed, and a low withers was quite acceptable. Today, Don horses are used only as riding horses, and selection work is being carried out on the correct structure of the withers. Theoretically, since it is practically impossible due to the too small number of breeding stock. The best structure of the withers in riding types.
The back is strong and straight. A soft back is a disadvantage. In this case, a straight top line, when the dorsal, lumbar and pelvic spine form a horizontal line, is undesirable. Previously, such a structure in the Don breed was very common, but today it is undesirable, and a horse with such a structure is withdrawn from the producing composition.
The loin is wide and even. Defects are a convex, sunken or long lumbar region.
Croup most often does not meet modern requirements. Ideally, it should be a long, well-muscled croup with a medium slope.
The thoracic region is wide, long and deep. The lower line of the chest is most often located below the elbow joint. Another structure is considered a disadvantage, undesirable for breeding.
Legs with a correct and wide set. On the front, there may be markings of varying degrees of severity. On the rear, an X-shaped set may occur, most often the result of underfeeding in foaling. When viewed from the front, the front legs should cover the hind legs and vice versa.
The structure of the limbs is the main problem in the Don breed. The front legs may be short and straight shoulder blades. The forearm of good length is often insufficiently muscled. Until now, a “sunken”, that is, a concave shape, wrist can be found. Also, the joints may be too small in relation to the overall size of the horse. Sometimes there is an interception under the wrist. The fetlock joint may be raw. There are soft and headstocks, although usually the slope is normal. Hoof with a good horn, small in size.
There are fewer complaints about the structure of the hind limbs, but there are also. There is insufficient muscularity of the thighs, sometimes straightened hocks. The addition of the blood of the Arabian and Thoroughbred horse breeds to the Don horses significantly improved the structure of the hind legs. The highest quality hind limbs are most common among representatives of the riding type.
Intra-breed types
There are 5 types in the Don breed:
- Oriental;
- Eastern Karabakh;
- east-massive;
- massive oriental;
- riding.
The types differ somewhat in size and structure. Even in the photo of intrabreed types of Don horses, these differences are clearly visible. Except growth.
Oriental type horses must be at least 163 cm tall. They often have a graceful head with a fine snore and large, thin nostrils. In the photo above, the Don stallion Sarbon is an oriental type.
The Eastern Karabakh type is smaller: about 160 cm. But the horses are wide, well muscled, with dry legs. Horses of this type can be well suited for races. In the photo Don stallion Heroism of the Eastern Karabakh type.
Riding type horses are most suitable for use in modern equestrian sports. An especially good combination of qualities has a riding type, which combines the qualities of a riding horse with an oriental breed. In the photo Donskoy stallion Collection of riding type.
Eastern-massive and massive-eastern types are animals of large sizes: from 165 cm at the withers. Suitable not only for riding, but also for work in a harness.
The nature of the Don horses
The characteristics of the Don horses are often unflattering in this regard. There is a belief that these are vicious animals, at best, “a horse of one owner.” The nature of the Don horses, who grew up on year-round grazing in the steppe, is often really not sugar. But for dogs, not humans. In winter, Don horses are often forced to fight off wolves, as in the old days, and there is a case when a one and a half year old filly from the Salsky steppes killed a wolf in front of herdsmen with one blow of her front legs. With the traditional fear of wolves, this can really impress.
Otherwise, the Don horses do not have a vicious character, but a wild state. Until now, young animals are often shipped at factories, until the moment of sale they saw a person only from afar. But according to buyers, Don foals are tamed in just a week, without showing any malicious character.
Fat
Even 5 years ago, it was believed that the horse of the Don breed had only a red suit, dividing into excuses:
- redhead;
- golden red;
- brown;
- dark red;
- light red;
- light golden red;
- light brown;
- golden brown;
- light golden brown;
- dark brown.
But that was until one corrosive owner of the Budennovskaya mare doubted the color of her animal. Although the horse is listed in the Budyonnovskaya breed, in fact it is an Anglo-Don horse. With the development of genetic research, many horse owners have been able to make sure what color their pet is. The result of the DNA analysis turned out to be very interesting. The mare turned out to be a kaura. Further collection of material showed that there are not so few Don and Budyonnovsky horses of kaura color in the breeds.
Thus, kauraya was added to the generally recognized red suit of the Donchaks. For unknown reasons, VNIIK does not want to admit this fact, although there are even bay Don horses in the database, which received their color from the Akhal-Teke or Arabian stallion, which are allowed to join the breed. The gene that determines the brown color is inherent in steppe horses. That is, the Donchaks received this suit much earlier than the blood of Arabian, Akhal-Teke or Thoroughbred riding stallions was added to them. Yes, and the brown horse also looks red for an inexperienced look.
Kauraya mare Mystic – “the culprit of the color coup.” Kaurai suit she received from the Don mother.
This is due to the fact that in those years the blood of Thoroughbreds was actively poured into the Don breed.
In addition to kaura and red, in the Don breed there is also a piebald suit of the sabino type. True, these horses are also entered into the CPC as red ones.
The piebald Donskoy stallion Bagor, recorded in the CPC as golden-red.
Application
But today all fans of the breed are trying to find an application for the Don horse. Today, the Don breed performs well in short and medium distance runs, but running sports in Our Country are still very poorly developed. Yes, and there it is more profitable to take Arab or Arabo-Don crosses. Don horses were not used in dressage even during Soviet times. Races for them were abolished. Individual representatives of the Don breed performed well in the competition, but due to the small number of livestock today it is difficult to find not only talented horses, but even just a photo of the Don breed of horses at competitions. Although at low altitudes, the Don horse is quite competitive.
Traditionally, horses of the Don breed are taken to horse riding, but only a few are engaged in this sport. It is possible to use a massively riding type in mounted police patrols.
Reviews
Conclusion
The main problem of the Don breed is the location of the factories away from most developed cities in which equestrian sports are developing. Not everyone from Moscow will go to the Rostov region without a guarantee of buying a quality horse. In general, the Don horses could well serve to equip horse rentals. But farms that breed trotters are closer.