Horse
Pronunciation:
Don
Breed Description:
The Don breed of horse (also called the Russian Don) is well-suited both to harness and saddle. The Cossack Calvary bred the rugged horse to serve as its mount. The Don breed of horse has a refined head with a straight or sometimes hooked nose, larger than average nostrils, and expressive eyes. The neck is lean and often straight, the chest substantial and muscular, and the back long. The Don breed of horse appears in varying solid colors, most notably bay, chestnut, and gray. The Don breed of horse is increasingly well-regarded as a saddle horse, but is also still used in harness, often in the traditional "Tachanka," in which four horses are harnessed side-by-side.
Temperament:
The Don breed of horse is renowned for its mild, even temperament.
Height:
The Don breed of horse stands between 15.1 and 16 hands high.
Health Problems:
The Don breed of horse is exceptionally hardy.
Living Conditions:
Traditionally, the Don breed of horse roamed in herds, enduring extremely harsh winters with little food.
Origin:
The Don breed of horse originated near the Don and Volga Rivers in southern Russia, and was named after the Don River region where the horses have been bred since the 1700s. The roots of the Don breed of horse go back to ancient times, to the Nogajy tribes who inhabited the regions east of the Caspian Sea. These ancestral horses were famous for their exceptional stamina and ability to survive both the freezing winters and searing heat of the southern steppes.
Dons became the mounts of the Don Cossacks, the traditional community living in the southern steppe regions of Eastern Europe and Asian Russia. The Cossacks were also a mounted unit of the Russian army, and their horses' full potential came to light in the 1812 war against Napoleon, when the Cossacks across Europe to Paris.
It was originally a small horse, but over the past two and a half centuries, the breed received blood from Persian Arabs, Karabakhs, Orlov Trotters, and Thoroughbreds, resulting in a larger, more refined but still exceptionally durable horse. 