Hucul pony
A Hucul Pony shown in-hand
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| Other names | Carpathian Pony |
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| Country of origin | Carpathian Mountains |
The Hucul or Carpathian is a pony or small horse breed originally from the Carpathian Mountains. It has a heavy build and possesses great endurance and hardiness. The breed is also referred to as the Carpathian pony, Huculska, Hutsul, Huţul, Huţan or Huzul. The breed gets its name from the Hutsul people, who live mostly in the Carpathians in Ukraine and in Romania, but also in an area in the East Carpathian Mountains north of the river Bistritz, officially named "Huzelei".
Hucul ponies are usually calm with a good disposition, and are used for both hacking and pulling timber in otherwise inaccessible forested areas. They are usually bay, black, chestnut, or the grullo variation of dun, with a dorsal stripe and zebra stripes on the legs characteristic of the breed. Their conformation traits include a short head with a relatively short neck, compact body, short legs, and sound feet.
The Hucul bears some resemblance to the now-extinct Tarpan. Said to have originated in the Carpathian Mountain range of Eastern Europe covered by present-day Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia and Romania, it is named after the small sub-ethnic Ukrainian group of Hutsuls. However, the horse breed is much older than the Hutsul people. The Huculs are probably depicted on the monuments erected by Roman Emperors Domitian and Trajan, as Dacian draft horses. The breed was mentioned for the first time in written resources around 400 years ago (as the "Mountain Tarpan"). Unlike the Polish Konik, the Hucul has been only rarely cross-bred with domestic horses.
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