The Sokolski, or , is a Polish breed of

draught horse A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less oft ...

. It is named for the town and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Sokółka Sokółka (; lt, Sokulka, Sakalinė, be, Саку́лка, yi, סאקאלקע, Sokolke) is a town in northeastern Poland, seat of the Sokółka County in Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is a busy rail junction located on the international Warsaw–B ...

, near Białystok in north-eastern Poland, where it was first bred in the 1920s. It derives from

cross-breeding 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 ...

of local Polish mares of Polish Coldblood type with imported Trait Belge and Ardennais stock. It is distributed mainly in the

voivodeships A voivodeship is the area administered by a voivode (Governor) in several countries of central and eastern Europe. Voivodeships have existed since medieval times and the area of extent of voivodeship resembles that of a duchy in western medieval ...

of Lublin and Podlasie. It is clean-legged; the usual coat colour is chestnut. The draft horses bred in Poland can be subdivided in a few horse types of which the most widespread and consolidated are Sztumski and Sokólski horses. Sokólski horses are shaped primarily due to the environment near Białystok in North-Eastern Poland, which is known for its harsh climates and poor soil quality. Sokólski were primarily small in size but adapted to their colder and poor living conditions they were soon characterized as draught horses. Sokólski were not able to be transported due to their body mass, so they later became suitable for various sledging and riding tasks.

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