Albanian Horse Breed
Albanian Horse Breeds
The Albanian Horse Breeds are known for their small size. This animal originated from Balkan, which is hardy and very efficient. The influence of Arabian blood during the reign of Ottoman Empire in Albania contributed significantly the current form of Albanian Horse Breeds. People believed that the original stocks of the breeds were the combination of Tarpan, Terkmene, and Mongolian horses.
As a matter of fact, Albanian Horses are divided into two kinds, the Mountain breed and the Plains breed which is also called the Myzeqea. The Mountain type is smaller in size equals 12.2 to 13.2 hands high. Meanwhile, the Myzeqea horses have bigger size worth about 13.2 hands. In spite of these differences, the Albanian Horse Breeds are heavily interbred which cause a difficulty to compare between the two types given. Yet, the coat colors of the animals are not really various, consisting of chestnut, black and gray.
Long times ago, most of Albanian Horse Breeds were functioned as transportation. What make these horses so special for difficult terrain navigation and endurance purposes are the small stocky stature. That’s why people used Albanian Horse Breeds for pulling a wagon or carriage traditionally. Entering 1980, the number of Albanian Horses increased significantly. Few years later, a plenty of horse breeders are giving big interest in Albanian Horse Breeds in an attempt to enhance the horse’s usefulness when dealing with agriculture related applications.
The Zootechnic Station at Shkodër is one of the breeding centers that concerned with local horses development through cross-matings. There are still many breeding centers improved their horse’s quality resulting in newly emerging types. In addition to Albanian horse breeds, the Haflinger pony, which is originated from Austria, was also involved within the improvement programs to produce better working abilities of horses in hilly regions. It seems that the agricultural work functionality remains to be the primary interest of Albanian horse breeders up until today.
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