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Lithuanian
Animal Genetic Resources |
Horses:
Large
Žemaitukai |
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The breed of Large Žemaitukai horses started evolving at the end of the
XIX c., when small Žemaitukai horses could no longer meet the
farming needs. At that time Žemaitukai were crossed with trotter
(mostly Orlov breed) stallions or stallion hybrids of these breeds
in the north-eastern part of Lithuania, while in south-eastern part
of the country Žemaitukai were crossbred with northern Swedish
stallions or stallion hybrids. Such crossbreeding followed by inside
breeding led to the creation of a much larger and stronger local
horse called, together with an old type Žemaitukas, a local horse.
Later, around the year 1946, this type of horses was separated from
Žemaitukai, and called Eastern Lithuanian driving horses. In 1949
the latter breed together with Žemaitukai was given the joint name
of Žemaičiai (Samogitian) breed, with two types: the old and the
large. In 1985 the Žemaičiai breed was called Large Žemaitukai.
In 1963-1965 stallions from northern Sweden were brought in to
improve the Large Žemaitukai horses. Colours of the latter range
from yellowish to dark bay or black. The Large Žemaitukai were bred
by the linear breeding method; consolidation of this type of horses
was not fully completed.
The Large Žemaitukai started appearing in
herd books in 1948 as a local horse breed. The first state herd book
on Žemaičiai horse breed was published in 1959, and was being
issued up to 1996. Since 2001, the large Žemaitukai herd books have
been handled by the Lithuanian Horse Breeders Association. As there
is no unified identification system for Large Žemaitukai horses at
the moment, thoroughbred horses are identified according to their
colour and markings. These horses are used for farming and driving.
In Lithuania labour horses were first tested for strength in 1857.
The training and capacity testing of large Žemaitukai following
unified methods were performed during the period of 1954-1985. Since
2002 the Lithuanian Horse Breeders Association has been responsible
for the above testing.
Since
1990 the population of thoroughbred Large Žemaitukai horses has been
decreasing in a major way, and now has come close to extinction.
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