In 1931, the party tasked the horse breeders to create a hardy and unpretentious army horse based on the local population of the Kazakh steppes. The ugly and small steppe horses were not suitable for service in the cavalry, but they had unsurpassed qualities that allowed them to survive in the steppe in winter without food. The horse breed planned by the authorities was to adopt these abilities, but be larger and stronger, in other words, suitable for service in the cavalry.
A thoroughbred Kazakh horse, as you can see in the photo, was akin to the Mongolian breed and was only suitable for a wagon train.
Stallions of the Thoroughbred riding breed were brought to the Kazakh steppes for crossing with local mares. Until the moment of the German attack on the USSR, they did not have time to withdraw the necessary horse. Actually, they did not manage to withdraw it at all until the moment when the cavalry was disbanded as unnecessary in the army. But "each republic should have its own national breed." And work on a new breed of horses continued until 1976, when, at last, they were able to register the Kushum breed of horses.
Withdrawal methods
To increase growth, improve appearance and speed, Kazakh aboriginal mares were bred with Thoroughbred riding stallions. But Thoroughbreds are not frost-resistant and tenacious. For the selection of foals of the necessary qualities, brood herds were kept in the steppe all year round. Weak foals do not survive in this case.
Even today, traditional races on one-year-old foals are organized in Kazakhstan. Considering the scarcity of resources of the Kazakh steppe, such an attitude is more than justified: the sooner the weak die, the more food will remain for the survivors. A similar selection was practiced in the selection of Kushum horses.
Later, in addition to purebred riding, Kazakh mares were crossed with Orlov trotters and Donskoy stallions. The offspring, from 1950 to 1976, were used in complex reproductive crossbreeding. When registering, the Kushum horse breed was named after the Kushum river in Western Kazakhstan, in the area of which a new national breed was bred.
Description
The Kushum horse today is one of the highest quality Kazakh breeds. These horses are of decent size compared to the steppe aboriginal livestock, but they lead the same lifestyle.
The growth of Kushum stallions is not inferior to the size of many horses of the factory breed: the height at the withers is 160 cm with an oblique body length of 161 cm. In fact, this means that the breeding Kushum stallion has a square format. In native steppe horses, the format is a reclining rectangle. The girth of the stallion's chest is 192 cm. The girth of the metacarpus is 21 cm. The bone index is 13.1. The live weight of the stallion is 540 kg.
The format of Kushum mares is somewhat longer. Their height at the withers is 154 cm with a body length of 157 cm. The mares are quite powerful: the girth of the chest is 183.5 cm and the girth of the metacarpus is 19.3 cm. The bone index of mares is 10.5. Live weight of the mare is 492 kg.
In connection with the cancellation of the need for cavalry horses, the Kushumites began to be reoriented to the meat and milk direction. Today it is considered an achievement that the average weight of today's Kushum horses has increased slightly compared to the 70s of the last century. But back in the 70s, the Kushum stallions brought to VDNKh of the USSR weighed more than 600 kg.
Today, the average weight of a newborn foal ranges from 40 to 70 kg. Young animals weigh in the range of 400-450 kg already at the age of 2.5 years.Mares at the peak of lactation and good feed give 14-22 liters of milk per day. From 100 mares, 83-84 foals are born annually.
Kushum horses have the correct proportions of the stock breeds. They have a medium-sized, proportional head. The neck is of medium length. The body is short and compact. The people of Kushum are distinguished by a deep and wide chest. Long oblique scapula. Smooth, strong back. Short loin. The croup is well developed. Healthy, strong, dry feet.
There are actually two colors in the breed: bay and red. The brown color found in the descriptions is in fact the darkest shade of the red color.
Kushum horses are perfectly adapted to life in the steppes and do not differ from other Kazakh breeds in their fertility. They are resistant to necrobacillosis and blood-parasitic diseases.
The breed today has three types: massive, basic and riding. In the photo below, the riding type of the Kushum horse.
The massive type is more suitable for obtaining meat products. These are the heaviest horses and are good at fattening weight.
Today, the main work with the Kushum breed is carried out in the TS-AGRO LLP stud farm, located in the city of Aktob.
Today TS-AGRO is the main pedigree of the Kushum breed. Only 347 brood mares are under his jurisdiction. Young breeding stock is sold to other farms.
In addition to this pedigree reproducer, the Kushum horse breed is also bred in the Krasnodon and Pyatimarsky stud farms.
TS-AGRO conducts systematic breeding work under the leadership of S. Rzabaev. The work is carried out with the already existing highly productive lines and the basis for new lines is laid.
Character
Like all breeds with aboriginal roots, Kushum horses are not particularly flexible. This is especially true for mowing stallions, who guard their harem from various dangers all year round. Kushumites are characterized by independent thinking, a well-developed instinct of self-preservation and their own opinion on the events taking place around them and the demands of the rider.
Application
In addition to providing the population of Kazakhstan with meat and milk, Kushum horses are capable of serving in the transportation of goods and horse-drawn cattle. Tests on the runs have shown that Kushumites can cover more than 200 km per day. The travel time for 100 km was 4 hours 11 minutes, that is, the average speed exceeded 20 km / h.
Residents of Kushum show good results in harness tests. The time to cover a distance of 2 km at a trot with a pulling force of 23 kg was 5 minutes. 54 sec. With a step with a pulling force of 70 kg, the same distance was overcome in 16 minutes. 44 sec.
Testimonials
Conclusion
The Kushum breed of horses today belongs to the meat and dairy direction, but in fact it turned out to be universal. Depending on the type of horses, this breed can be used not only for productive horse breeding, but also for long trips in nomadic livestock breeding.
