The Siberian Horse

The Siberian horse is bred on vast open lands, spreading from the Eastern slopes of the Ural mountains to the river Yenisei, in the northern and eastern Siberia. This breed is a purebred form of the Mongolian type, in which there are recognized several indigenous types not well known to the public. All of them are offering to their owners their strength, speed with endurance, meat, fat, milk, fur/hair for “twines” and skin for coats, because in the winter they grow very long and thick coat/hair. The northern horses are heavier and rounder. Even though they are smaller in the withers than the Manchurian horses (120 to 130 cm/11’ 3 to almost 13 hands) they are/were quite often imported to China to be used in agriculture, similarly as the Balkaj and Amur horses, whose height varies between 128 to 140 cm (12’ 2 to almost 14 hands) and the average weight is 300 kg (661 pounds).

In southern Mongolia is bred the Gobi horse, who in his exterior differs only slightly from the wild Przewalskii horse.

In northern China is bred a rounder type of kertag. This horse was bred in China in the ancient days, shown in the art (paintings, engravings etc.) as not saddled. He shows a high level of zoo technical refinement; hence many of the forms resemble a small Belgian horse. In the southern part of China is bred a horse of the tarpan type.

The most valued from the southern Siberian horses is the Altai horse, who is in the bone structure stronger than the Kirgiz horse; he is excellent (soumar) pack horse, has very solid back, solid and strong legs and hoofs, and very undemanding in feed and care; he easily caries on his back the weight of 150 kg (330 pounds) during long trips in the high mountain terrain. The northern Siberian horses are bred under very harsh living conditions; in the cities of Tomsk, “Stalinogorsk” and others are conducted races of 3,200 m (2 miles) in length, which these horses will run in the time of 4 minutes and in trot in six minutes.

The cross breeding of these small horses with the Orlov trotter or with the English thoroughbred was never satisfactory, because the progeny was on a longer leg and lost the undemanding quality of the Siberians.

In consistent crossbreeding with the oriental horses and the English thoroughbreds, also with improvement in the living conditions and with the help of endurance tests to choose by, the Kabardian (Kabardin) horse was bred, who forms the transition between the Mongolian group of kertag type and the eastern group of tarpan type.