Horses

For hundreds of years Huculs were bred in the Eastern European mountains under very difficult climatic conditions with poor pastures and extreme cold.? Their habitat is the eastern Carpathians, called Huzulland.? Cut of from other breeds, their conditions preferred smaller, hardier specimens which better coped with the conditions and cold.

Origin
They are believed to have been developed by crossing the wild Tarpan with Mongolian horses brought into the region by migrating Mongol tribes.? They have also been called the Hutsul Horse, or Hutzul.
The Carpathians mountains have seen many historical changing of borders through the centuries with the result both Czechoslovakia and Hungary claiming initial creation of the breed, Poland and Romania also claiming to have been early breeders of the Hucul breed.

Breed History
A stud was established in 1856 at Radauti (Romania) with the stud operators gathering their founding stock from wild herds. Several bloodlines were established and the best animals were bred with not outside blood added. IN 1922 33 progeny from this project were sent to Czechoslovakia and a new line of Gurgul was developed there.

WWII severely deplted numbers, and shortly thereafter a new breed was created by crossing the Carpathian with Noriker and Haflinger horses to create a larger mountain horse, the Slovakian Mountain Horse.
Enthusiasts in Czechoslovakia established the Hucul Club in 1972 to combat dwindling numbers of the Carpathian "?? at that point this restarted breeding programme had only 4 old mares and one stallion.

Huculs are still bred today along on lines formed by the foundation stallions. A notable important stallion, Goral, was a golden sorrel foaled in 1915. Used in the Transcaucasian region from 1920 to 1925 he sired numerous offspring.? His sons were all named Goral, with numbers.? Most were sorrel in color.? Another Stallion, Hroby? ( also spelled Groby) was black and sired small but very hardy, tough offspring.

Appearance
TheHucul Horse is longer than it is height, has a deep broad chest and a level back.? Eyes are large, ears are short and expressive with a muscular neck.? They are incredibly robust, and there is no need for shoes.?

In color, bay, black, grullo, and chestnut are the most common. A dorsal stripe and zebra stripes on the legs are breed characteristics.? They require little maintenance, can live outside all year even in extreme cold and illness is not something the breed seems to ever experience

Legs are extremely strong and resistant, without known ailments.? Height is from 1.32m to 1.42m(13 to 14h) high. They are surefooted and maintain a steady pace even on mountain trails?
The Hucul is considered to be a small horse and not a pony.?Due to a very docile temperament, the Hucul Horse is an excellent children's horse.? They are natural jumpers and have superb endurance.