The Novokirghiz or New Kirghiz is a modern

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of horse. It was developed in the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic in the mid-twentieth century through cross-breeding of the traditional

Kyrgyz Horse The Kyrgyz Horse or Kirgiz Horse is a traditional breed of small horse from the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan). Kyrgyz people associate it with their nomadic past. During the Soviet era of Kyrgyz history, the Kyrgyz Horse was cross-bred with ...

of the region with introduced horses of Thoroughbred, Don and Anglo-Don stock.

History

The Novokirghiz was bred in the mid-twentieth century in

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member ...

s of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, a constituent Union Republic of the Soviet Union. Horses of the traditional

of the region were

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

with horses of a variety of other breeds, principally Thoroughbred, Don and Anglo-Don stock; some Turcoman and

Kabarda Grand Principality of Great Kabarda or East Circassia was a historical country in the North Caucasus corresponding partly to the modern Kabardino-Balkaria. It had better political organization than its neighbors and existed as a political commun ...

stock may also have been used. The resulting horses closely resembled the Don. They were larger, faster, heavier and more powerful than the traditional Kyrgyz horses, but did not have the same rusticity or the same level of adaptation to the mountainous terrain of Kyrgyzstan. Three principal types developed within the new breed: the original or standard, the saddle and the heavy. A stallion named Banket, foaled in 1946, won a five-day cross-country endurance contest over five hundred kilometres of mountainous terrain; he completed the distance in fifty-four hours with a rider and equipment weighing a hundred kilograms, outrunning a Don horse. A group of the horses from the Naryn state collective, carrying between rider and gear, took 11 hours to complete a distance of 110 kilometres on paths through the mountains. The Novokirghiz was officially recognised in 1954, and a

stud-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders ...

was started. In 1980 a census of the population found some head, representing over half the horses in the Kirghiz SSR; a population of is also reported for the same year. In 2002 a population of head was reported; no population data has been reported since.. The conservation status of the breed was listed by the FAO in 2007 as 'not at risk'; in 2022 it was listed in DAD-IS as 'unknown'.

Characteristics

The Novokirghiz is a small horse. In its early years heights at the withers were in the range ; this later increased to an average of about . In 1989 the average height for stallions was reported to be , and that for mares . The coat is usually either

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

. It is larger, heavier, faster and more powerful than the original Kirghiz horse, but has a less rustic constitution and is less well adapted to the harsh mountainous terrain of Kyrgyzstan. Three principal types are identified within the breed: the original or standard type, the saddle type and the heavy or massive type.

Uses

Unlike many purposely-created breeds, the Novokirghiz was not bred for excellence in any one attribute, but to fill the same needs as the indigenous Kirghiz horse – as a riding horse, a draught horse, for horsemeat and for

mare's milk Mare milk is milk lactated by female horses, known as mares, to feed their foals. It is rich in whey protein, polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin C, and is a key ingredient in kumis. In several European countries, including Germany, it is so ...

– but more successfully. Mares of the heavy type can give up to of milk per day.

References

{{Horse breeds of the Russian Federation Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Kyrgyzstan