Ukrainian Riding Horse
Encyclopedia
The Ukrainian Riding Horse (Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....

: Український верховий кінь) or Ukrainian Saddle Horse a breed developed in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 to meet the ever-increasing demand for sport horse
Sport horse
Sport horse, or Sporthorse, is a term used to describe a type of horse, rather than any particular breed. The term generally refers to horses bred for the traditional Olympic equestrian sporting events of dressage, eventing, show jumping, and combined driving. The precise definition varies...

s, was first bred at the Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk
Dnipropetrovsk or Dnepropetrovsk formerly Yekaterinoslav is Ukraine's third largest city with one million inhabitants. It is located southeast of Ukraine's capital Kiev on the Dnieper River, in the south-central region of the country...

 stud. Today, it is bred at the studs of Derkulsk, Yagonitsk, and Aleksandriisk. The breed is well-established in characteristics despite the fact that it is relatively young, due to the highly selective breeding process.

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The breed was developed from Trakehner
Trakehner
Trakehner is a light warmblood breed of horse, originally developed at the East Prussian state stud farm in the town of Trakehnen from which the breed takes its name...

, Hanoverian
Hanoverian (horse)
A Hanoverian is a warmblood horse originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and have won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions. It is one of the oldest, most numerous, and most successful of the warmbloods...

, and English Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 blood added to local mare stock, or with Furioso and Gidran
Gidran
The Gidran, Gidrán, or Hungarian Anglo-Arab is a horse breed developed in Hungary from bloodstock that included the Arabian horse. All members of the breed are Chestnut. It is an endangered breed today, with only about 200 living representatives worldwide.The Gidran breed began its development in...

 mares from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

. The progeny were interbred and established the Ukrainian Riding Horse type. Those horses too fine in type were crossed with Hanoverian
Hanoverian (horse)
A Hanoverian is a warmblood horse originating in Germany, which is often seen in the Olympic Games and other competitive English riding styles, and have won gold medals in all three equestrian Olympic competitions. It is one of the oldest, most numerous, and most successful of the warmbloods...

s, those too heavy were crossed with Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

s. These two breeds—Hanoverian and Thoroughbred—are the only two that have been used to upgrade or improve the Riding Horse stock since the original type was formed.

Breeders who laid the foundation for the Ukrainian Riding Horse concentrated on using stock of Russian Saddle Horses (now extinct). Today, the Bespechney line still contains the Russian Saddle Horse blood.

The horses are kept in a regulated environment. They begin training just before age two, and are required to participate in a performance testing as two- and three-year-olds, which includes racing on the track, jumping, and dressage. Only the best are allowed to stand at stud.

The horses are quality, very suited to competitive riding, and excel in show jumping
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...

, dressage
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...

 and eventing
Eventing
Eventing is an equestrian event comprising dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding...

.

The horses have an attractive head set on a long, muscular neck. The shoulders are sloping and the chest is deep, but the back can be long and hollow. The croup is long and sloping. The horses are usually bay, chestnut, and black in color, and stand 15.1-16.1 hh.
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