Kazakh Pony

Origin: USSR - Kazakhstan.

Height: 12.2-13.3hh.

Color: Mainly bay, chestnut, gray or black. Sometimes odd-colored or dun.

Physique: Typical Central Asian pony, similar to the Mongolian, to whichit is related. Short-backed, deep-chested, with very hard legs and feet.

Bred over a wide area, it varies in height and refinement of type accordingto the severity of the climate. The more elegant Kazakhs owe their improve-ment to the introduction of Don blood. Some Kazakhs amble rather thantrot, and these are especially valued as riding ponies because the gait issmooth and comfortable. These steppe ponies are exceptionally hardy, ableto endure extremes of heat and cold and to forage for themselves in knee-deep snow, or pick a living on the edge of the desert.
Kazakhs come from a region in which the horse has always been im-portant. Seventh-century burial mounds, recently excavated, show thatKazakhstani nomads were buried with their ponies. These men depended ontheir horses for food and drink as well as for transport, and a study of thebones discovered shows that the ancient Kazakhstani ponies were muchlike their modern counterparts in size and build.

Nowadays, Kazakhs are still used to produce milk, and a mare will yieldroughly 10 litres a day. This is usually made into the alcoholic beverageKumiss. Young animals are fattened up for meat and are generally slaughter-ed when they reach a weight of about 1,0001b.

Kazakhs are used as cow ponies. They also make good cavalry animalswhen crossed with quality horses such as the Don, Budyonny or Akhal-Teke. Their endurance is such that they can travel 300 kilometres in 24 hours,and this accounts for their success in Russian equestrian sports such as thelong-distance test which is called the baiga