Yakut horse

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Yakuts
Yakuts

Yakuts

Important data
Origin: Sacha, Russia
Main breeding area: Sakha (Yakutia)
Distribution: Sakha Republic, Eastern Siberia
Stick measure : 135-141 cm
Colors : brown, gray, white, fawn
Main application area: Riding and pack horse, meat and milk supplier

The Yakut horse (short: Yakute ) is a robust and strong breed of horse or small horse from the Eastern Russian Republic of Sakha (also Yakutia ) , which has been used there for centuries as a riding and pack horse, but also as a meat and milk supplier.

The breed, which is again divided into three types, shows an average height at the withers of 139 centimeters for stallions and 135 cm for mares. The Yakuts share their stature, thick mane and heavy coat with other northern breeds such as Shetland ponies , fjords and Icelandic horses , including the sturdy stature, thick mane and heavy coat. Like the Icelanders, Yakuts belong to the group of gaited horses , as most of them not only have the basic gaits of walk, trot and canter, but also the genetically fixed gaits of tölt and / or pass.

The most outstanding characteristic of these small horses, however, is their ability to adapt to the extremely cold East Siberian climate : They can withstand temperatures of up to −70 ° C and are able to find grass and pasture herbs even under a deep blanket of snow. For biological science it is significant that this adaptation of a livestock breed through natural selection under the harsh conditions of northern and central Siberia developed within just a few centuries.

Breeding history

Yakut horses in autumn

Genetic studies in 2015 revealed that Yakut horses did not descend from the “wild” (strictly speaking feral) Przewalski horses of Central Asia. Most authors assume that they go back to the already domesticated domestic horses of the Yakuts , who immigrated from the southwest to central eastern Siberia from the 13th to the 15th centuries. The extremely rapid adaptation to the subarctic climate , however, also allows the conclusion that the Yakut horse can be traced back in whole or in part to late Pleistocene wild horses that are now extinct and that lived long before in the cold steppes . However, the few genome samples that have been examined so far tend to support the immigration hypothesis.

Since then , the Yakut people have successfully developed a traditional form of economy based on horse and cattle breeding , whereby the horses were previously mainly used as meat and milk suppliers.

Characteristics

Yakut from the village of Oymyakon with his horse

The Yakut horse is the horse breed in the world that is best adapted to an extremely cold climate and deep snow cover (7–8 months). While the Yakut cattle are kept in stables in winter, these horses live semi-wild in the taiga and tundra , preferably in grassy meadows that are free of trees and bushes. This adaptation has led to typical body characteristics: The skin is thick and the hair is exceptionally dense with up to 15 cm long guard hairs in the winter coat. These features not only protect against the cold, but also against the stings of summer swarms of insects.

According to Allen's rule for warm-blooded animals in cold climates, the Yakut horses also have shortened limbs, small ears and a short tail and an overall compact physique. If one compares only little breedingly changed horse breeds, Bergmann's rule also applies , according to which the body size of warm-blooded species increases towards the pole. Both adaptations reduce the size of the body's surface in relation to its mass and thus reduce heat loss.

The metabolism and the hormonal balance of Yakut horses also show some peculiarities: During the short vegetation period they are able to build up fat reserves very quickly. In spring, the carbohydrate metabolism is particularly increased in pregnant mares; presumably to accelerate the growth of the fetus. In winter, on the other hand, the animals' metabolism is significantly slowed down. In extreme cold, the volume of your circulating blood is reduced and there are more substances in the blood that act like antifreeze.

The head of the Yakut horse is large and is called coarse. The neck is straight and broad, the trunk compact and deep with a long back and sloping croup. The limbs are stable with short tubular legs. The wide hooves reduce sinking into bog and snow.

Adult horses produce around 228 kg of fresh meat, mares between 1200 and 1700 kg of milk in six months.

Types

Group of Yakut horses in winter

The Yakut horse breed is divided into three types:

North Yakute

The northern type (also called Kolyma or Verkhoyansk horse ) is the purest Yakut horse . It is usually red-brown, gray or light gray-brown, more rarely mouse-colored with wild horse features such as eel line, shoulder cross and zebra stripes on the legs. Stallions measure an average of 139 cm at the withers, mares 137 cm. This homogeneous type with a particularly thick and long coat is considered the most valuable.

Little South Yakute

The smaller, southern type is also purebred, but is less respected due to the less well-trained Yakut characteristics. The average height is 135 cm for stallions and 132 cm for mares.

Great South Yakute

The larger, southern type (variants Suntar , Megezh and Olekminsk ) is the most common. However, he is less valued, as the features of the crossed trotters and (to a lesser extent) cold-blooded horses are clearly visible. The stallions have an average height of 141 cm at the withers and the mares measure 136 cm.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. a b Pablo Libradoa et al .: Tracking the origins of Yakutian horses and the genetic basis for their fast adaptation to subarctic environments , edited by Andrew G. Clark, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, online (pdf version; 1 , 8 MB), November 23, 2015, accessed on July 17, 2020. doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1513696112
  2. a b A.N. Kosharov, EM Pern and GA Rozhdestvenskaya: Yakut (Yakutskaya) in Animal genetic resources of the USSR , FAO Animal Production and Health Paper No. 65, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 1989, online (pdf version; 21 MB), accessed on July 17, 2020.