The birthplace of the Kustanai breed of horses is Kazakhstan. It was bred in the Kustanai region, which has long been distinguished by a developed herd horse breeding. The breed was obtained by complex reproductive crossing of Kazakh mares with Kalmyk, Don, Streltsy, Orlov-Rostopchinsky, Anglo-Arab, as well as high-blooded and thoroughbred riding stallions, in conditions of stable-pasture and cultural-herd keeping in the Kustanai and Maikul stud farms of Kazakhstan and in the Troitsk stud farm of the Chelyabinsk region. Officially, the Kustanai breed was approved in 1951.
Currently, Kustanai horses are of medium height (about 160 cm), dense build and strong constitution. Their head is small with a straight profile and a wide forehead, the neck is straight, the withers are muscular of medium size, the back is wide, strong, the lower back is even, the croup is shortish with a normal slope, the shoulder blade is long and obliquely set, rib cage deep, long ribs, limbs dry and bony with correct setting.
The color is mostly red and bay, rarely gray.
Kustanai horses are unpretentious and economical, adapted to herd keeping. They are distinguished by high performance, great endurance and agility.
Three types of horses are cultivated in the breed: the main, riding and steppe.
Stallions of the main type are used as improvers of the local Kazakh horse. Riding type horses are widely used in equestrian sports. Representatives of the steppe type are used in meat herd horse breeding.
Kustanai horses are improved by the method of purebred breeding, selecting them according to their size, breed and working capacity. There are five lines in the breed: Zeus, Announcer, Reed, Burelom and Zaboya.
The best breeding stock is concentrated in the Kustanai and Krasnodon stud farms in the Kustanai region and in the Saryturgai stud farm in the Turgai region.
Horses of the Kustanai breed are happy owners of a harmonious physique. They have a rather large stature and a strong constitution. The Kustanai breed of horses is undemanding to the conditions of detention and is very hardy in any work processes.
The Turgai region is rich in good pastures, rivers and lakes with fresh water. There were many forest pegs in which horses could wait out a snowstorm or any other bad weather. Local residents have long bred horses here and have experience in horse breeding. However, the horses were not large, although the hull had a massive, as the main food was only pasture, and also because of the low technique of breeding horses. The Kustanai breed of horses originated from them. Since there were snowfalls and frosts, many local horses died. Let me give you an example: 1896. At this time, only 8 kg of coarse quality feed per 1 head. But in the snow it was impossible to graze horses, as a result of which more than a million horses died from jute in 1880, then the disaster repeated, but there were much fewer losses.
Some animals were taken to other areas - about 9 thousand. They were transported to the Urals and Perm, Samara and Orenburg, the Volga region and Chelyabinsk, Kazan and Vyatka zemstvos. The Kustanai region is characterized by
The Kustanai region is characterized by the fact that the winters here are very long, the frosts are quite severe, and the winds are strong. The minimum level of precipitation is 170 mm, the maximum is 300, it is very hot in summer, but a cold wind can blow.
In the Kustanai stable there were all kinds of stallions, mostly riding ones, and the mating was carried out only by hand. At first, as soon as the stable opened, there were less than 80 stallions, but later it became much more - about 300. Dodunkov, a horse breeder from Astrakhan, provided producers from his herds. Local mares and factory stallions gave at first a few offspring, a maximum of 11 foals, but then permission was given to separate stallions to be in schools. As a result, the foal increased slightly, but even if the year was excellent for grazing horses, more than 40 foals did not appear.
A nursery was created at the stable in 1898, where only Kazakh horses purchased in Turgay were kept, in the amount of 330 heads, of which there were 300 mares, and 30 stallions. The nursery was supposed to improve the available horses without using other breeds. This was strictly monitored, the Main Directorate of the State Horse Breeding sent its inspectors to control the purity of the blood and the conditions of the horses. When in 1902 one of these inspectors discovered Don half-breeds in the herds, he immediately ordered them to be immediately excluded from there.
young offspring
The nursery used various methods to raise young horses and maintain the entire population. For this, the Kustanai stallions were protected from mares and kept separately, while the locals did not. This was followed by separation according to the age of the horse. So, for example, 1-2-year-olds grazed separately, and 5-year-olds grazed elsewhere. At the same time, seven-month-old foals were separated from their mothers, placed in barns and kept there, mares were not milked, they were considered ready for mating only at 4 years old. Adult mares were grazed all year round in the steppes, in winter they were given hay.
The mother herd was bred to graze only under good weather conditions. The rest, that is, young horses and producers, were kept separately, usually in barns. In addition to hay, young animals and stallions were given concentrates and oats. In 1902, there were already more than 500 heads, of which 23 were stallions, and 306 were mares. The circulars indicated that since October all horses were transferred to oats. The stock of hay was very large - 170 thousand pounds, and if translated into modern system calculation, then 36 centners, per 1 horse annually. But this reserve could be easily stretched for 2 years. There was also a sufficient amount of oats, almost 15 thousand pounds, that is, 11 centners annually. At the same time, the queens were not given oats.
Due to good conditions keeping and feeding local horses became larger, their physique improved. Each foal was much larger than its ancestor, more harmonious, that is, generations changed in better side. In addition, the Kustanai breed of horses was selected. For this, horses with suitable parameters were selected: height and correct body composition.
The versatility of the breed Options
The Kustanai breed of horses has certain parameters recorded in the state book (volume No. 1).
So, for example, manufacturers were measured, while the measurements are average, they are indicated in centimeters:
- Chest circumference - 180 or more.
- Length (oblique) - 156.
- Height (measured to the withers) - 155.
- Pastern girth - 20.
These animals are successfully used both in harness and under saddle, in horse travel and in national equestrian games, as well as in races and a wide variety of types of equestrian sports. These are massive Kustanai horses on low legs, successfully combining certain features, Kazakh and Don breeds.
The heads of the Kustanai horses are medium, with humpbacks, and are set rather low, and they are very long. There are necks of the Adam's apple type. As for the withers, they are long and high. The lines of the backs of animals are excellent, and their croup is often short and drooping, among other things. The chest is wide and deep, and the forelegs are very firm and dry.
Muscular development Brushes are not available. And well repulsed. The pasterns of these horses have a normal slope and are of medium length. Their hooves are small, but very strong. Levers and musculature are very well developed. The suit of the Kustanai horse breed is roan, black, gray, bay and red. This horse breed always differentiated into three types at once - the main, riding and steppe.
The main species includes such horses that manage to successfully combine the properties and characteristics of both riding and steppe types. Kustanai horses were bred on special horse breeding farms of various state farms and collective farms in the steppe territories of Western Kazakhstan. The breeding core of the breed had a chance to concentrate precisely in the Maikulsky and Kustanai stud farms. Actually, this horse breed itself was bred in the time period starting from 1887 to 1951.
Since the 1920s, hard work has begun on the development of new breed at the Kustanai stud farm. And already from the thirties, horses of this breed were bred, taking into account two different types of growing technology. The first of them belonged to the stable-pasture species, which occurred in the process of manual mating and weaning of young animals, at the age of six to eight months.
But the second way, was of a cultural herd character, with year-round grazing and keeping in barns in the process of some kind of bad weather, along with the implementation of feeding with concentrates and hay, along with mowing mating. The very first of these technology options was used in the Troitsk and Kustanai stud farms.
Voronaya and red suit And here is the second option, in the Maikulsky plant, as well as on breeding farms. The formation of two intrabreed species was carried out immediately. Such as steppe and riding. The livestock with a higher blood count at the time of the thoroughbred riding breed had a concentration in the riding form. But in the steppe, Verkhovo-Donokazakh and other crossbreeds, which were bred "in themselves", gained special distribution.
Surprisingly, the fertility rates of Kustanai horse breeds in individual farms can reach as much as ninety percent. Despite the most diverse technological regimes of growing processes, Kustanai horses can often have a life expectancy that will exceed twenty years.
In the Kustanai breed, there are three intrabreed species, six families and five lines. As many as three volumes of the State Breeding Book were published. And the leading farms include the Saryturgai and Krasnodar stud farms. As well as the Kustanai regional experimental station, which was previously a stud farm. Purebred breeding is considered very promising with limited corrective crossbreeding along with purebred riding horse breeds.
Tribal stallion Abstract Modern usage
In some Kazakhstani cities, with the help of these breeds of horses, police regularly patrol, and the townspeople no longer pay any attention to this, they are so used to it. Cavalrymen also purchased about 30 horses from local horse breeders. It is worth noting that a breeding Kustanai horse costs about $3,000 or more. At the same time, the regional budget allocated money for the purchase. If earlier the farms were not very large, and the owners bred simple and undersized horses, now the situation has changed radically. Local tribal forms are expanding, being created Better conditions, and the breed has become larger and outwardly much more attractive.
To patrol areas in the suburbs, the police use the Kustanai breed. The Kustanai horse is quite large and can scare people who have gathered a crowd in the wrong place. However, this is done only as part of the fight against riots in order to disperse the crowd.
When the races were held in 2013, it was the Kustanays who became the winners. In addition, 2013 brought victory to the breed in running at distances of 80 and 120 km, where the Kustanai won the championship of Kazakhstan. The Kustanai horse is not in vain considered the national pride of the Kazakh people. There are plans to cross the Kustanai with purebred horses of two other breeds: English and Arabian.
It was bred in the period 1887-1951 on horse breeding farms in Western Kazakhstan. It was created on the basis of crossing the Kazakh steppe horse with Astrakhan, Don, half-breed, archery stallions.
Kustanai breeds have a harmonious physique, relatively large growth, strong constitution, endurance in work and unpretentiousness to the conditions of detention. They can be effectively used in harness and under saddle, in horse travel and games. It is a massive breed with low legs, which includes all the advantages of purebred Kazakh, horse and Don breeds. The average size of the head of the animal is located on long neck. The withers of the horse are high and long, and the back line is straight with a short and drooping croup. Well developed muscles, small but strong hooves. The most common colors of the breed are red and bay.
The species is divided into three types: main, riding, steppe. The main type corresponds to the horse, which includes the features of riding and steppe types. The riding type has the features characteristic of a thoroughbred riding breed. Horses are demanding on the conditions of keeping and feeding. They are the least adapted to the conditions of herd life in comparison with steppe horses. But if they are fed with high quality, then they are able to show high performance. The steppe type is characterized by increased massiveness with a pronounced presence of traits of the Don and Kazakh breeds. Well adapted to herd content, quickly overgrown with fat. They are a dairy breed and quite prolific. Fertility rates for individual farms sometimes reach 90%. The average life expectancy of this sometimes exceeds 20 years. The data are well adapted to a sharply continental climate.
They have stable defects, which include biting, periodic rocking from side to side, being in a state of restlessness, self-damaging parts own body. The bite defect is that the horse grabs the edge of the feeder with its teeth, swallowing air. After the development of this defect, the horse begins to swallow air, not grasping anything with his teeth, provoking the appearance of an air bite. To save the animal from this vice, a belt is fixed on its throat, which does not allow the animal to make swallowing movements. In the case of a horse swinging from side to side, to eliminate such a defect, it is necessary to increase physical exercise. To save the animal from anxiety, it should be used intensively in work.
The history of the Kustanai breed of horses began in 1889. Kustanai region has been the leader for many years herd horse breeding Kazakhstan. It was here that the Kustanai breed of horses was bred. Local Kazakh horses were then kept in herds. They were remarkably adapted to the conditions of year-round grazing. However, they were distinguished by short stature and the presence of unproductive movements in them.
Factory breeds began to be used in order to improve the quality of local horse stock. This would make it possible to obtain a high-quality and cheap army horse. It was with the aim of achieving such results that a decision was made to organize state stables: Orenburg, Kustanai and Turgai. The state stables were rich in stallions, which represented thoroughbred riding, Don, Streltsy, Kalmyk and other breeds.
At the same time, low efficiency was inherent in the absorption crossbreeding of breeders of horses belonging to factory breeds with local mares. The harsh conditions that characterize herd keeping were difficult for high-blooded hybrids to endure. Later, it was decided to create a breeding nursery on the territory of the state stable, in order to improve the local Kazakh horses, taking advantage of breeding, the basis of which would be transformations within the same breed.
Young horses of any age throughout the winter were provided with basic barn content, including top dressing from oats and hay. The army drill horse had to meet a certain number of requirements, which the animals still could not meet, despite the improvement in their quality.
Leap Forward in the Twentieth Century
At the beginning of the twentieth century, crossbreeding of Streltsy and Don stallions with Kazakh mares was common in nurseries. The sires characterizing the purebred riding breed were suitable for mating with the resulting crosses. The feeding and maintenance of the breed was also given a higher level. TO good results cited tests of interbreeding within the nursery, which was not effective in conditions corresponding to nomadic horse breeding, which were primitive. Strong legs, massive body and good movements have become the main differences between the three-breed hybrids.
In the twenties of the same century, the transformation of the state stable and nursery into the format of the Kustanai stud farm was carried out, platform work was carried out in it, aimed at breeding horses representing a new breed. Reproductive crossing was allocated the main role that breeding work provided. Smooth races served for testing and training of young animals. 
The end of the thirties was marked by the removal of the Mykulay stud from the Kustanai. It also paid increased attention to breeding work aimed at breeding a new breed. Twenty years later, Kazakhstan was already famous for its significant array, rich in good riding horses. Soon they approved a new domestic breed, which everyone now knows as Kustanai.
The authors of the work include not one, but several names, a whole group of creators, which includes professors. Cultural and herd content now has a very beneficial effect on these horses. 
Breeding stallions are distinguished by the following average measurements in centimeters, which are recorded by the state book, within the framework of the first volume:
- Bust - more than 180.
- Oblique length - more than 156.
- The height of the withers is more than 155.
- The girth of the metacarpus is about 20.
They are represented by such basic suits: and red.
These horses are divided by specialists into two types:
- The steppe type is more characterized by the massiveness of horses; the Don and Kazakh breeds with their degrees of signs are clearly expressed in them.
- The riding type includes lightweight horses, reflecting a thoroughbred riding breed.
Not only general form, but also constitutional features distinguish this pair of types.
Cavalry Present
Some cities in Kazakhstan are already accustomed to the fact that police officers patrol the streets on horseback thoroughbreds of the Kustanai breed. Approximately 30 horses are at the disposal of the cavalrymen of several cities at the present time. All animals were purchased from owners of local breeding farms. Every horse is worth more than three thousand US dollars. They were purchased within the framework provided for by budgetary expenditures, regional budgets. In the past, small farm owners bred horses locally. The horses were short and looked very simple.
The police use mostly horses to patrol suburban areas. If such big horse rushes at a crowd of people, it will look very scary, however, it can help to easily disperse them, if necessary, provided for by the restoration of public order.
Horses of the Kustanai breed easily won at the races in 2013. This year has been especially successful for this breed. They also became two-time champions of Kazakhstan in 80 km and 120 km. It is also planned to create the national pride of Kazakhstan by crossing the Arab and English with the Kustanai breed.
The Kustanai horse breed comes from Kazakhstan. Its history began at the end of the 19th century, when there was a need for army combat horses. The blood of the Don, Streltsy and Thoroughbred riding breeds flows in the veins of these animals. Today, Kustanai horses are used by the police to patrol the streets of cities and show good results in sports.
Origin and development of the breed
Local Kazakh horses were distinguished by endurance and were well adapted to the climate of the Turgai region, where winters are quite severe and summers are very hot. In this area, a cold wind constantly blows, and the humidity is at high level. Kazakh horses easily endured such conditions, but in some respects they did not meet the requirements for combat horses. In this regard, it was decided to improve the breed.
In 1887, 2 state stables were opened - Turgai and Kustanai, and 3 years later - Orenburg. These stud farms have purchased stud stallions belonging to the following breeds:
- Kalmyk;
- Don;
- thoroughbred horse;
- streltsy.
Crossing Kazakh mares with factory horses did not give the expected results. The resulting crossbred descendants were unadapted to the local climate. Then, in 1898, a breeding nursery was organized, where local Kazakh horses began to be bred clean, selecting the best individuals for further breeding work. Foals from childhood were taught to herd content.
The best mares were crossed with stallions of the Streltsy and Don pedigree lines, and their descendants were infused with the blood of thoroughbred riding horses. Crossbreeds obtained in this way met the stated requirements - they had a massive body and strong limbs, and were distinguished by productive movements.
In 1920, the breeding nursery was transformed into the Kustanai stud farm, where selection work continued. The breed was registered in 1951.
Description of the Kustanai horse
The following characteristics and measurements are defined for this breed:
- growth from 1.55 to 1.6 m;
- the oblique length of the body must exceed 1.56 m;
- metacarpus in girth - 20 cm;
- chest girth - at least 1.8 m.
Attention! In addition to the main one, there are 2 more types of Kustanai horses - steppe and riding. The first one is massive. The traits of the Don ancestors predominate in the genes of these horses. Representatives of the second type are lighter and faster, they largely adopted the genetic characteristics of purebred English ancestors.
External features:
- dry physique;
- a small head of regular shape with a straight profile;
- large dark eyes;
- dry neck of medium length;
- well-defined forearms;
- the limbs are sinewy, strong;
- deep chest;
- croup oval, compact, muscled;
- the predominant colors in the breed are bay, red, roan, black.
Modern usage
The main breeding points for Kustanai horses today are a stud farm in Krasnodar and in the village of Sarytorgai, which is located in the Atyrou region of Kazakhstan. The tribal book consists of 3 volumes. It contains intrabreed types of horses, and also contains detailed information about 6 families and 5 generic lines.
Today these horses are used by the police of Kazakhstan. Law enforcement officers patrol the busy streets of cities, moving on Kustanai horses, because they have proven themselves to be hardy and fast animals. During the races organized in 2013, representatives of this breed became winners.
Horses of the Kustanai breed line are the national pride of Kazakhstan. These are hardy, strong, unpretentious and obedient animals, adapted to the harsh local climate. Scientists plan to inject blood into the breed in the near future Arabian horses to improve it.
