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The Tarpan was, for many years, confused with the Asian
Wild Horse, and thus no distinction was made between the two. More recently,
however, the two breeds have been recognized to be quite significantly
different. While the Asian Wild Horse is believed to be the ancestor of the
Mongolian pony and other heavy-headed breeds, the Tarpan has been attributed
with the development of the lighter horse breeds such as the Trakehner and the
Arabian.
The importance of the Tarpan is key to understanding the development
of the modern horse breeds. It is very tragic that the breed has been allowed
to become extinct. The last true wild Tarpan died in 1879, while an attempt
was being made to capture it, and the last Tarpan in captivity died in 1887 in
the Munich Zoo.
The modern version of the Tarpan
is a reconstructed breed based on the Tarpan's close relatives, the Konik and
the Hucul. The most primitive examples of the Hucul and the Konik were
collected by the Polish government, as these specimens were considered likely
to contain a high percentage of Tarpan blood. They were then crossbred, and
the progeny interbred to establish a fixed type.
The modern Tarpan does
greatly resemble the original breed but, of course, can never be completely
the same. Today, they are selectively bred in the Polish forests of Bialowieza
and Popielno, and they have retained some of the inherently wild
characteristics of the old Tarpan breed. They are very hardy and tough,
economical feeders, long-lived and resistant to many equine diseases, and
highly fertile. They have been ridden and used for light draft in the past,
but are now primarily kept in feral herds.
The old Tarpans were captured by the local farmers and
kept and tamed for work because of their amazing strength and toughness. These
captured Tarpans would have bred with the domestic Hucul and Konik. The fate
of the old Tarpan is though tot be almost directly a product of hunting for
meat.
The Tarpan has a long head with a slightly convex
profile, long ears, a short, thick neck, and sloping quarters. They are mouse
or brown dun, with dorsal stripe and two toned manes and tails. Sometimes they
have zebra stripes on the legs and their coats change in winder to white. they
stand around 13 hh.
Tarpan Pony Breed Info
The Story of the Modern Tarpan
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