![]() A mare being milked in
Suusamyr, Kyrgyzstan | |
Conservation status | FAO (2007): not at risk [1]: 81 |
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Other names | |
Country of origin | Kyrgyz Republic |
Distribution | nation-wide |
Use | |
Traits | |
Height |
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Colour | dark colours grey |
Breed standards | |
The Kyrgyz Horse or Kirgiz Horse is a traditional breed of small horse from the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan). [2] Kyrgyz people associate it with their nomadic past. [4]: 12 During the Soviet era of Kyrgyz history, the Kyrgyz Horse was cross-bred with imported foreign breeds, including Don and Thoroughbred strains, to create a new and larger breed, the Novokirgiz or New Kirgiz. [3]: 489
In the late nineteenth century there were some two million Kyrgyz horses in the area that is now Kyrgyzstan. [5] During the Soviet era, the traditional Kyrgyz horse was cross-bred with larger but weaker imported foreign breeds, including Don and Thoroughbred strains, to create a new breed, the Novokirgiz or New Kirgiz. [3]: 489 [5] Numbers of the traditional native breed were greatly reduced, [5] but have since shown some recovery. [6] The population of the Kyrgyz breed was last reported to DAD-IS in 2002, when the total population was 78 300 head. [2] In 2007 its conservation status was recorded by the FAO as "not at risk". [1]: 74
An association for the protection of the Kyrgyz Horse, the Fondation Kyrgyz Ate, was set up in Bishkek in the early twenty-first century. A breed standard was drawn up, based partly on a description found in archives in Saint Petersburg, and was approved by the national ministry of agriculture. [4]: 14
The Kyrgyz Horse is a small mountain horse. It is sure-footed and agile, with the necessary stamina and endurance for the mountain environment. [4]: 14 [7] The coat may be dark or grey. [3]: 480
The Kyrgyz Horse is used as a riding horse, for horse-racing, and as a light harness horse. It is important for production of meat and milk. [3]: 480 Horsemeat production in Kyrgyzstan in 2002 was 24 800 tonnes, about one eighth of the total meat produced in that year. [8]: 14 The mare's milk is often fermented to make kumis. [4]: 14
With traditional mounted games such as kok-boru (also known in Kyrgyzstan as ulak-tartysh), oodarysh (mounted wrestling) and kyz-kuumai (meaning roughly "chase the girl"), the Kyrgyz Horse may be perceived as a symbol of the pre-Soviet nomadic past of Kyrgyz people, and thus as an element of post-Soviet Kyrgyz culture and national identity. [4]: 14 [5] [6]