NO 38
PAGE 12
Therefore, the type
podveležac, due to habitation on poor soil and rocks, has the characteristics of te-
nacity and perseverance but is of a delicate build, while the type
glasinac, a horse raised on the flat-
lands and richer pastures, besides also tenacity and perseverance, is stronger and more massive. The
perseverance and diligence of these horses I witnessed during my time spent in the army in the moun-
tain cavalry. I did not know them earlier, only from books. But, on my return from the army, where I
gained experience I carried with me a deep respect towards these praiseworthy animals.
It is small but
carries a load for hours, without taking a rest and just
for a handful of grains of oat, a bit of hay and wa-
ter, even over the areas where only goats and wild animals pass by. I felt obligated to say several sen-
tences about them, remembering the loyal mare by the name of Lidija, which carried a cannon, all army
equipment and even helped me on the climbs whenever
I held onto her pack saddle, tired from the long
journey over the wasteland.
At the time of migration of humans, interbreeding of the descendands of the horse breeds
Przewalskii
and tarpana occured, consequently new breeds were formed from which descended the Spanish types
of horses, but not all of them. Taking as an example the Andalusian horse, as per research it has not
been derived from any of the already mentioned starting groups, respectively not from the Arabic
horse, but it is believed it survived in this area the last Ice Age. Paintings fron the Neolithic period wit-
ness this and an indigenous breed as a starting group exists in the hilly parts of Portugal, and is called
the Soraya pony. It’s a primitive ancestor of the Andalusian horse. From this example can be seen how
many parameters influence the probability of forming a single breed, and in regard to this, what needs
to be taken into consideration if we try to make an accurate judgement.
Photo
by Zdenko Vanjek
The descendants
Equus gracilis Ewart, which remains date back to the Pliocene are a starting group of
Middle European and English horses. Their direct ancestor is the Celtic pony. The original wild forms
left their morphologically and physiologically trail in their domesticated descendants. While mention-
ing these movements and the original groups, I’m trying to come generally closer and condense the
great time distances and huge geographical vastness where the horse was moving through, however it
would take much more text and time, which is not the goal of this introduction.
Is it possible to imagine the wars in Ancient times without chariots
and carriages and pairs, without Ro-
man arenas and without races? Or the Singis Khan’s warriors who did not know how to live without
this animal.
NO 38
PAGE 13
They were born with it; they lived and died on it. Great empires were conquered on a horse and with its
help. To mention only a few: old Greeks with their chariots, Romans, the army of Alexander the Great
of Macedonia, Turkish troops, Crusaders, Indian hordes, the American troops of the North and South.
Cowboys and cattle drivers (vaqueros) still use horses in herding throughout South America.
In the past, almost all transport
depended on this animal; it depends even today only in a motorized ver-
sion. Only the name has been saved, to the memory of an excellent postal institution – the Pony Ex-
press. We should remember Jochim Murat and his books about Napoleon’s marshal Marcel Dupont
and quote him: “…with his faithful Belliard as the head of general staff he stepped to the head of the
huge cavalry army, the world had not seen yet: 4 nukutary corpses - Nansouty, Montbrun, Grouchy i
Latour-Maubourg – with 48 regiments, 78 cannons and 50.000 horses…* altogether. That’s how Na-
poleon prepared his attack on Russia.
The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, too, had a fantastic calvary, giving a job to all possible breeds of
horses, from the heavy breeds, which served for towing cannons, all the way to the light cavalry. We
cannot bypass the Second World War, drawing artillery horses, mountain guerrilla horses, the Cos-
sacks’ horses. There are many examples.
Besides the military purpose, this diligent hardworking animal played a large role in transport, nutri-
tion, agronomy and today as a reward after all, in sports. As the tehnics advanced, machines replaced
horses in almost all domains, except forthe transport of food and raw materials in inaccessible areas
and
in sport, recreation and physical therapy.
Horses as we know them nowadays are the result of evolution but also a breed aimed at with goals of
certain purposes and all the necessary circumstances which have accompanied the mentioned proc-
esses. Man bred and sorted horses as per their genetic heritage, organization and a number of other
characteristics. Namely, the horses which lived in the same conditions and attained and kept certain
joint attributes, man marked as certain breeds. Some hypologists induce two basic breed groups: the
breed of horses with “a quick gait”, respectively oriental, light horses which in praxis are called the
warm-blooded horses, and the horse breeds “for pace”, that is oxidental, heavy horses which we call
cold-blooded horses as well.
Josee Hermsen in his encyclopedia gives a wider and specific classification of horses thus segmenting
them into seven groups: Arabian, full-blooded, warm-blooded, Ambler, cold-blooded horses and po-
nies. He also describes the difference between a horse and the pony, where the basic difference be-
tween the two is the height of the withers. Ponies are animals which criterion for the determination of
the breed includes horses up to 152 cm of the withers’ height. Beside that, ponies, due to their shorter
legs and stronger body have a different pace. Of course, there are different categories of ponies. They
are not of the same height, as for example a Shetland pony or the
New forest breed of pony, for which
are responsible genetics, conditions, user and nature requirements which formed them.
Grooming of Sokol is close to an end. Still, I have to clean his hoofs with a wooden knife. He raises
his leg obediently; I need not reach for the pastern-joint, just underlay my knee as a support and do
what’s needed. He had heard enough of my preaching and reflections so he will be neighing agreeably
for greeting shake his mane and start on his snack. Here, my Sokol, man might think you
were lucky to
have been born in my stable from such a good mother and enjoy such treatment, but my thoughts don’t
go in that direction.