Curiosity: Bashkir, the curly horse

Despite the familiarity with horses, not everyone knows that among the more particular breeds, there is also one with a characteristic curly hair … here you are the bashkirs.

The bashkir, the curly horse, is the equine breed of the Bashkir people, originally from Bashkortostan, a Republic within the Russian Federation located in the southern Urals, already in prehistoric times.

There are no well-defined breed standards, but basically the head is quite massive and the neck is short and fleshy, the withers is low and flat, while the broad back tends to be straight; the shoulders are also straight. The body is broad, the girth is broad and the ribs are long and well rounded.

The legs are usually short and placed under the broad body, the shin is in proportion to the size, the pastorals tend to be straight and the feet are healthy and strong, in the tradition of the steppe and mountain horse.

The peculiar characteristic of the bashkir breed however remains the thick curly hair, a natural advantage obtained thanks to a gene which allows them to survive in temperatures that reach – 30 degrees !!

In fact, curls, when the climate is milder, become slight undulations of the coat.

Another uniqueness is the lack in the hair of the protein responsible for allergies and intolerances in humans.