Yakut horse

The Yakut breed of horses is the most frost-resistant, having an undercoat and wool 8 to 15 centimeters long. Even in winter, she can feed on grass from under the snow, raking it with her hooves - to shade . In Yakutia, horses live in the open air all year round (at temperatures in the summer of up to +40 ° C and in winter up to −60 ° C) and they seek food on their own. Each leader keeps his herd : from 18 to 24 mares and foals, animals graze in such a family. In 1988, a flock of Yakut horses was released on a 160 km² tundra site that was successfully taken root; it is used to test the theory of the possibility of partial restoration of the Pleistocene ecosystem of “mammoth tundrost-steppes” (see Pleistocene Park ).

Compared to Mongolian horses similar to her in type, the Yakut horse is characterized by greater growth and massiveness. Yakut horses are usually brown , bay and gray , less often savras and mice .

Yakut horses are stocky, with relatively short legs and a large head.

At present, three types of Yakut horses are formed in the Republic of Yakutia: the northern original type of Yakut horses (Srednekolymskaya, Verkhoyansk horses), the southern, smaller type, not subjected to crossbreeding with factory breeds; Southern large type, deviating towards the factory breeds used to improve the local Yakut horse. In 2011, it was officially announced the presentation of a new breed of Yakut horse, the “Mezhezek” breed in the stud farm named after Stepan Vasiliev ( Nyurba district, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)).

The size of the middle Kolyma stallions (cm): height at the withers 143, oblique body length 156, chest circumference 187, metacarpal circumference 22, in mares - 142-150-190-20. The weight of six-month-old foals reaches 105 kg, at 2.5 years of age - 165 kg, in adult horses - 500 kg. The hooves are very stable. The step of the Yakut horses is short. Galloping along a heavy snow track of 3200 meters, they pass in just over 5 minutes, 1600 meters they pass in about 3 minutes. The Yakut horses are late ripe, but durable: reaching full development only by the age of 5–6 years, they are often used in breeding and work up to 25–27 years.

The bulk of the Yakut horses is concentrated in the valleys of the middle reaches of the Lena River , as well as to the north, in the basins of the Yana, Kolyma and Indigirka.

Yakut horses are hardy and quick-witted, well oriented on running on rough terrain.

Traditionally, there are two directions for the use of "Yakut horses":

• Horseback. Despite the short stature and stockiness of the Yakut horses, they are often used as riding horses. Not a single Ysyakh holiday is complete without equestrian competitions, while riding horses are never used for other purposes.
• Meat and milk direction. The most massive. Mare’s milk is used to make the traditional national drink koumiss , and the meat of Yakut horses is a national dish and is considered a delicacy. A distinctive feature of the meat of the Yakut horse is the so-called marbling of meat , that is, interspersed with fat in the meat, because of which the meat acquires a special taste and softness, which is extremely appreciated by gourmets.

Undoubtedly, the unique taste of Yakut horsemeat is facilitated by the fact that only horses that never knew either saddles or bridles are used for this. The meat of the Yakut horse is very fat and high-calorie, ^[1] its production is now put on stream. In general, this is not surprising, since in northern conditions it is one of the few species of pets adapted for breeding.

• List of Horse Breeds
• Bashkir horse
• Przewalski's horse

• YAKUT
• Sylg or Sakha Ata - Yakut horse.