Andravida (horse)
Encyclopedia
The Andravida or Ellis valley horse, is a light riding draft breed
found in the region of Ilia
in Greece
. It owes its development to the crossing of Anglo-Norman
with local breeds with additional crosses of Nonius
stallion
s after 1920. The breed is nearly extinct and its stud book was only established in 1995.
The newest development in the history of the Elis valley horse may in fact lead the breed from extinction. In the early 90s, the Andravida's Selle Francais stallion Calin de Nanteuil renamed Pegasus covered some females, which colts were sent to breeders throughout western Greece. However, its numbers are still small, and the Andravida's without characteristics horse is at high risk of extinction
.
Draft horse
A draft horse , draught horse or dray horse , less often called a work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred for hard, heavy tasks such as ploughing and farm labour...
found in the region of Ilia
Ilia
-Science and Medicine:*Apatura ilia or Lesser Purple Emperor, a butterfly*Ilium , pelvic bone-Places:*Ilia, Hunedoara, Romania*Ilia Prefecture, Greece*Ilia Province, Greece*Ilia Gechikov, Belarus-Arts and literature:...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. It owes its development to the crossing of Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman horse
The Anglo-Norman horse was a warmblood horse breed from the old province of Normandy in northern France. From early in the 19th century, local Norman mares were crossed with imported English thoroughbreds, Norfolk Roadsters and half-breds, which themselves had Norfolk Roadster and Mecklenburg blood...
with local breeds with additional crosses of Nonius
Nonius (horse)
The Nonius, or Nóniusz, is a horse breed named after its Anglo-Norman foundation sire. The breed was developed at the Imperial Stud at Mezőhegyes, Hungary by careful linebreeding. Originally bred to serve as a light draft and utility horse for Hungary's military, the breed became a useful...
stallion
Stallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
s after 1920. The breed is nearly extinct and its stud book was only established in 1995.
The newest development in the history of the Elis valley horse may in fact lead the breed from extinction. In the early 90s, the Andravida's Selle Francais stallion Calin de Nanteuil renamed Pegasus covered some females, which colts were sent to breeders throughout western Greece. However, its numbers are still small, and the Andravida's without characteristics horse is at high risk of extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
.
Further reading
- Abstract of Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics article
- PDF of a conference on rare breeds in Greece
- Abstract of a Italian Journal of Zoology article