Tori horse breed

The Tori breed of horses is a heavy draft horse. It has been created in Estonia since 1855. For almost a century, selection work was going on, the result of which was officially registered in 1950.

tori horse

History

Estonians have been engaged in horse breeding for a long time. For agricultural activities, they used wild local horses, which were short and strong. Their main advantages were – undemanding to the conditions of detention and feed, endurance, the ability to gait briskly over long distances, as well as adaptability to the local climate. However, native horses were not able to carry large loads, and the need for this increased. In 1855, at the Tori stud farm, located near the city of Pärnu, work began on the creation of a new breed of horses, distinguished by good carrying capacity and endurance.

In the factory, local mares were first crossed with stallions of different breeds with the desired characteristics:

  • Finnish
  • Arabic;
  • thoroughbred horse;
  • East Frisian.

The resulting crosses did not meet the needs of Estonian rural residents. Then they themselves began to cross local mares with stallions of different breeds. In one of the Estonian estates there was a stud horse, Hetman, a descendant of a Norfolk roadster. As a result of crossing it with local native horses, offspring were born that adopted almost all the signs from the paternal side:

  • height;
  • strong constitution;
  • endurance;
  • physical strength.

The offspring of the Norfolk rationally used food and turned out to be adapted to the climate of the area. In the future, several of the best descendants of a stallion named Hatman were kept as producers at the Tory plant. Breeders carried out complex crosses, used inbreeding, backcrossing of crossbreds with native mares, and at the final stage of work they tried to fix the obtained traits.

History of the breed

History of the breed

It was soon discovered that prolonged inbreeding had a negative effect on the breed – Hatman’s descendants developed saber, bite and other defects. The breeders decided to add new blood to the already formed genotype. For this, stallions of the post-Breton breed were chosen. The result was pleasing – the Tori breed lost its undesirable characteristics and fully satisfied the needs of rural residents. It was officially approved in March 1950.

Appearance and specifications

The Tori horse is proportionately built. Even a person ignorant of horse breeding, looking at her, will determine that the breed was created for hard work. The physique of the animal is strong, and the muscles are well defined, especially in the forearm and thigh. The Tori horse can be recognized by the following characteristics:

  • height at the withers – 154-156 cm;
  • the body is elongated with a well-defined muscular relief;
  • the neck is strong, its length is approximately equal to the length of the head;
  • the shoulder area is muscular;
  • the chest is deep, its width is one third of the height at the withers;
  • the back is short;
  • the head is medium in size, the frontal part is wide;
  • nostrils large;
  • the limbs are short, dry, with well-visible muscles, the joints are large, the hooves are of medium size;
  • the croup is rounded, elongated.

Reference. Most of the thoroughbred Tori horses are red, almost 30% are bay. Less common are specimens with a crow and a roan suit.

Thoroughbred horse

Thoroughbred horse

Why is the breed valued?

The Tori breed received high marks in tests for endurance and physical strength. These animals are usually used for field work and transportation of goods. Their character is accommodating.

Reference. Tori stallions and mares are unpretentious and digest food well.

Another advantage of the breed is the fertility of mares. At the factory in Tory, from 100 horses, up to 86 foals are produced. Thorian mares can be used for reproduction for 25 and even 30 years.

The Tori breed is highly valued in its homeland, in Estonia, where almost 67% of the horses are its representatives. Also, these working animals are bred in Belarus, Latvia and Lithuania. In recent years, breeders have been working on the task of instilling riding qualities in the Tori horse. For this, purebred mares are crossed with stallions of the Hanoverian and Trakehner breeds at the Estonian stud.

Author: Olga Samoilova

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author-editor

View all posts by Anna Evans →