Hutsul horse breed is an aboriginal breed of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract

Hutsul horses are the oldest Ukrainian breed and belong to the local and endangered breeds of farm animals in Ukraine. The formation and preservation of the Hutsul horse breed took place in Ukrainian lands. Proof of this are built: the state factory stable in the village. Drohobych in the Lviv region in 1822, a horse-breeding station for Hutsul horses in the Luchina meadow in Southern Bukovina (1877), in the Galician Hutsul region two stables of Hutsul cucumbers: in Kosovo (1891) and in the village of Zhabye (1895). State Herd of Cucumbers in Sudova Vyshna (1907) in Lviv Region. Of the 6 genealogical lines of prominent Hutsul stallions, 3 ogres were born in the Ukrainian lands – Goral, Gurul and Polyan. Measures for the conservation and development of Hutsul horses are held in the Hutsul and Verkhovyna National Nature Parks in international cooperation within the framework of the Poland-Belarus-Ukraine cross-border cooperation program. Hutsulshchyna National Nature Park in 2015 took part in the project “Creation of the Polish-Ukrainian Center for Breeding and Promotion of Hutsul Breed Horses”, and Verkhovynsky National Nature Park in 2020 takes part in the international Ukrainian-Polish project “Knowledge of Nature and Wealth Carpathians with a Hutsul horse”. According to the State Breeding Register 2011–2017, in Ukraine there is an annual reduction in the number of breeding farms, the total and breeding stock of Hutsul horses. Today, only 2 farms (NGO “Plemkonecentr” and FG “Polonynske farm”) for breeding Hutsul horses have the status of breeders. According to calculations, in accordance with the FAO recommendations, these animals are at critical risk status, and according to the assessment system of the European Livestock Association, Hutsul horse breed is at high risk of losing the gene pool of the breed. To preserve the Hutsul horse breed, the joint cooperation of owners (breeding and private farms) of purebred and the most typical herd of Hutsul horses, scientists and specialists is necessary.