Horses – celebrities

In gratitude for the good service, Kazakhs have long composed songs, legends and fairy tales about tulpars. The ancient Greeks and Romans went even further – mausoleums were erected for outstanding equids, marble columns were erected in their honor, images were minted on coins and carved in stone. And Richard III – he generally promised half his kingdom for a horse. If you look, he promised much more. Quote from Shakespeare’s tragedy A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse “literally translates” Horse, horse! My kingdom is for a horse.”

And we, in turn, decided to pay tribute to the horses, talking about the most prominent representatives of this species, both mythical and real.

Absinthe, his son and grandchildren

The most famous horse of the USSR. In 1960, at the Olympic Games in Rome, he won the first highest Olympic award in the history of Soviet equestrian sport in dressage. Absent was raised at the stud farm of the Lugovskoy state farm (Merkensky district, Dzhambul region), where grateful people erected a monument to the horse. Recently, researchers have concluded that Absent was not a purebred Akhal-Teke, since his father is an Arabian stallion Kazbek (one of the favorite horses of Marshal Zhukov), and his mother is an Akhal-Teke mare. Absinthe served Soviet sports until the age of 18, then they almost cooked kazy out of it due to the negligence of the stud farm workers. After such a strong moral shock, the horse ended up in the stable of the Moscow army. “Demobilized”, Absinthe again returned to his homeland, and then was transported to live out his life at the 54th stud farm, which is on the shore of Issyk-Kul. Absent’s son, Abakan, also left his horseshoe imprint in history: in 1976 he won the world championship in dressage, and for eight years he was a member of the national team. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Absent are the strongest in the world and win prizes.

Lipizzan horses

In Styria (Austria), learned waltz horses are bred and raised in the imperial residence in Vienna. They are born completely black, and after a few years they turn completely gray. They are equated with civil servants and at the end of their artistic career they receive full state allowance, returning to the same stall of their native farm where they were born.

Pegasus

The winged horse is the son of Poseidon and Medusa Gorgon, but was born with the help of Perseus, emerging from the body of the Gorgon he killed. Pegasus ascended to Olympus to deliver thunder and lightning to Zeus. It symbolizes creativity, because with his hoof he knocked Hippocrene out of the ground – the source of the muses, which has the ability to inspire poets.

Przewalski’s horse

Przhevalsky went to Tibet for the truth, but found a horse. It turned out that the Przewalski’s horse is not the ancestor of the modern horse, as previously thought. It’s all about one single gene! Modern horses did not originate from this unsightly steppe horse, but from another – the tarpan. Tarpans were a rarity already in the last century, but they were still found in Poland and in the south of Russia.

Rosinante

“Rocinante was usually not very zealous, but then, sensing freedom, he cheered up, and since, no offense to him, he did not know how to make courbets, he limited himself to starting to touch with his feet. Don Quixote, looking at Rocinante, thought that this was a good sign – a sign that it was time to engage in a fierce battle.

Bucephalus

Horse of Alexander the Great. Translated from Greek, his nickname means “bull-headed”. In addition to this not very beautiful characteristic for a horse, let’s say that he had two underdeveloped toes on his front legs, like the distant ancestor of horses, meriguppus. In all likelihood, Bucephalus was little more than a clapper. In the old days, a horse up to 140 cm at the withers was generally considered a tall horse! When the horse died, Macedonian founded the city and named it after him. It is generally accepted that Bucephalus is the only city in the world named after a horse. However, it is not.

Arvaikheer

The monument to the stallion Arvaikheer is the pride of the inhabitants of the small Mongolian town of Arvaikheer. Note that the name of the horse is not given by the name of the city, but the city got its name from the name of the horse. And the stallion Arvaikheer became famous for the fact that for 20 years he won at the races of all rivals.

Taiburil

Horse Koblandy batyr. According to legend, he could “fly” all countries in 40 days.

Baishubar

The horse Alpamys batyr, distinguished by unprecedented strength, was a match for the owner. Much bigger than other horses, smarter and braver. He saved Alpamys more than once thanks to his magical qualities.

Centaurs

Well, we are Scythians, well, centaurs! So you can paraphrase the famous expression of Blok from the poem “The Twelve”. The myth of the centaurs appeared, most likely, as a result of the very frequent raids of the Scythian cavalry on the Greek cities. The ancient Greeks, faced with nomads, decided that these were special creatures: half people, half horses. When the Scythian was sitting in the saddle, from the outside it seemed that the horse and the man were one.

Bolivar

“I’m sorry, Bill, that your Bay broke her leg, but Bolivar can’t bear two!..” (“The Roads We Choose”). It is not known whether this horse actually existed or not, but nevertheless, O’Henry’s phrase became winged, like Pegasus. There were even jokes where the main character is the horse Bolivar:

“Bolivar can’t bear two…

“Bolivar can’t stand even one!” I tell you this, Bolivar!

Eclipse

He competed at the races for twenty-three years and was never defeated, for which he received the title “horse of the century.” Now at the races in Derby, the fastest horses are awarded the Eclipse Prize. The horse got this name because it was born on the day of Eclipse – a solar eclipse – on April 1, 1764. The stallion’s exterior was extremely strange: the back is high, the shoulders are heavy and long, and when he galloped, he pulled his muzzle to the ground so that jockeys often he was dumped. After opening the record holder, it became clear why he did not know defeat: the horse of the century had a phenomenal heart – weighing 6 kg 300 g! However, Eclipsa also has its own Kinisem. This is the only horse that has won more race wins than Eclipse. She won for the first time in 1876. Then, for 4 years in a row, a thoroughbred mare won in all races in a row.

Incitatus (Swift-footed)

He is famous for the fact that, by the absurd will of the Roman emperor Caligula, he became a senator. He would also have received the highest rank – consul, if his extravagant owner had not been killed.

Square

Near the building of the arena of the 1st Moscow stud farm there is a monument to Kvadrat, a stallion of the Oryol breed of trotters. For almost 30 years it has been the pride of the plant, invariably winning all the traditional prizes. Once, when, after a desperate struggle with strong rivals, the rider, in order not to torment Kvadrat, lowered the reins, the trotter himself jerked, caught up with the leader and stretched his neck so that the photo finish showed: Kvadrat’s nose crossed the finish line first!

Aniline

And at the Voskhod stud farm in the Krasnodar Territory, a monument was erected to the purebred horse breed Anilin. He has won 22 of the 28 races he has competed in. The horse was famous for its stellar habits. During his glory years, he had a whole staff of servants, from time to time he pretended to be sick and watched with pleasure how everyone was fussing around.

Horse records:

– “The smallest horse.” Stallion Little Pumpkin, pcs. South Carolina, USA. 1975. He was 35,5 cm tall and weighed 9 kg.” – “The oldest horse.” The maximum age a horse has lived to is 62 years. It is authentically known that exactly so many years was Old Billy, gr. Lancashire, UK, in 1822″

• The strongest is the Shire Vulcan heavy truck: it pulled off a weight of 29,47 tons.
• Jumping records: Huazo, a stallion from Chile, jumped to a height of 2,47 m.
• The biggest bet on a pacer named Niheleitor is $19,2 million.
• The biggest win is also $3.

Source: www.caravan.kz