The Tori ( et, tori hobune) is a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

originating in continental

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Characteristics

The Tori comes mainly in the colors

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, bay, palomino, chestnut and liver chestnut. Today's Tori is a harness

that has a clean and solid build. It has a large to medium-sized head, a shortened poll, a neck that is medium in length and fleshy, withers that are average in height, a back that is long and flat, a loin that is broad as well as a croup that is broad, and the horse is well muscled. The Tori has a very broad and deep chest, and limbs that are clean and properly set. Tori stallions at the studs are usually 162 cm high at the withers. This breed has a high fertility ratio, with 86 foals per 100

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

History

From 1890 to 1950, this breed was developed in Estonia at the stud in Tori, Pärnumaa. It was developed by crossing native Estonian

s with European crossbred stallions. This breed was mainly founded by a stallion named Hetman, whose sire was Stewart, a crossbreed of a

Norfolk Trotter The Norfolk Trotter is a historical horse breed once native to East Anglia and Norfolk, England. It was said to be "a large-sized trotting harness horse originating in and around Norfolk". In 1542, King Henry VIII required the wealthy to keep a ...

and an

Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to: *Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066 * Anglo-Norman language **Anglo-Norman literature * Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...

. The Tori breed was formed by breeding Hetman and his sons. Thus, a valuable breeding nucleus rapidly formed, that slowed as signs of

inbreeding depression Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness which has the potential to result from inbreeding (the breeding of related individuals). Biological fitness refers to an organism's ability to survive and perpetuate its genetic material. ...

were found in the 1930s. This deteriorated performance and robustness. To eliminate this inbreeding depression, Toris were crossed with Breton Post-horse stallions, and as a result, the massive type of Tori became widespread while the quality of the gaits declined. The need for a combination of utility and sporting qualities in horse led to crossings with Hanoverian,

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

and

Trakehner Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name. The state stud ( :de:Hauptgestüt Trakehnen) was established in 1731 a ...

stallions. Recent horse breeders have been trying mainly to get a very light

sport horse A sport horse or sporthorse is a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term is usually applied to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving, but ...

-type of horse, resulting in a rapid loss of purebred Tori.
Mihkel Ilmjärv, who worked as the head of the Tori Horse Farm in 1926–1947, and

Arved Toots Arved Toots (17 September 1930 – 18 January 1992) was an Estonian agronomist and breeder of Tori horses. Early life and career Arved Toots was born near Aravete in Kantküla, Albu Parish, into a farming family. He received his basic e ...

, who was founder and head of the Aravete Tori Horse Farm in 1955–1992, have great merits in breeding the Tori horse breed. In 1990, there were 55 farms in Estonia where Tori horses were bred, 15 of these were first class breeding farms. Since 04.06.2012 exists a separate studbook for the purebred and so called Old-Tori horses to stabilize and confirm the small number of these horses. In spring 2014 are fewer than 100 purebred Old-Tori horses left in Estonia.

Associations

* Estonian Horse Breeders Society * Old-Tori Horse Society

References

External links

equiki.wikidot.com
{{Equine, state=collapsed Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Estonia