PROBLEMS OF HORSE BREEDING DEVELOPMENT IN PEASANT FARMS IN THE SOUTH OF UKRAINE (1860s – 1910s)

Nataliia Chernikova

doi:10.23856/4504

Abstract

The paper analyzes the state of development of horse breeding in the peasant farms of the South of Ukraine in the post-reform period. The dynamics of quantitative development of the industry is traced. The relationship between the increase in the number of horses and the growth of the population and farms in the region has been established. It is proved that the peasants were the main owners of horses. The thesis about the “peasant” nature of horse breeding in the South of Ukraine is argued. It was found that the use of work horses in farming contributed to the development of the industry. Government measures to encourage the development of local horse breeding have been traced: creation of a network of state stables and copulation stations in order to improve the quality characteristics of work horses, holding exhibitions, etc. The price level and place of equestrian trade in the region are analysed. Attention is focused on the lack of “entrepreneurial” horse breeding in the region, the excessive situational nature of the horse trade among the peasants, and its local centers – fairs were clarified. The reasons and factors that led to the decline of the industry in the South of Ukraine are analyzed: high cost, low level of knowledge and culture on keeping, care, breeding horses, etc.

Highlights

An important role in the development of horse breeding was played by the region of Southern Ukraine1, where herds of wild horses grazed on the endless steppes for many centuries
The increase in the number of horses in the region was explained by the growth of the population and peasant farms
The development of horse breeding was facilitated by the growth of the share of working horses in peasant farms, which was manifested in the expansion of the range of their exploitation

Summary

Introduction

During the 19th cent. the Russian Empire ranked first among European countries in the number of horses: in 1882 there were more than 21 million of them. From the 1860s radical changes took place in horse breeding: along with the preservation of traditional trends, a new one developed – agricultural, or peasant, which became decisive in the development of the industry until 1917. This was due to the formation of capitalist relations in the agricultural sector of the economy and the formation of peasant farming in the South of Ukraine. The purpose of this study is to clarify the peculiarities of the development of peasant horse breeding in southern Ukraine and the reasons for the decline of this promising industry in the post-reform period. The research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity, systematization and historicism with the use of general scientific and special-historical methods: historical-genetic, historical-comparative, descriptive, historical-typological, system-structural

Quantitative analysis of the state of horse breeding in the South of Ukraine

Areas of state support

Trade in horses and pricing

Findings

Conclusions