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Concept
Heck horse
Summary
The Heck horse is a horse breed that is claimed to resemble the tarpan (Equus ferus ferus), an extinct wild equine. The breed was created by the German zoologist brothers Heinz Heck and Lutz Heck in an attempt to breed back the tarpan. Although unsuccessful at creating a genetic copy of the extinct species, they developed a breed with grullo coloration and primitive markings. Heck horses were subsequently exported to the United States, where a breed association was created in the 1960s.
Heck horses are dun or grullo (a dun variant) in color, with occasional white markings. The breed has primitive markings, including a dorsal stripe and horizontal striping on the legs. Heck horses generally stand between tall. The head is large, the withers low, and the legs and hindquarters strong. The hooves are strong, often not needing shoeing. The gait of the Heck horse is high stepping, which makes them comfortable to ride and which is considered attractive while being driven. The breed is described as being calm, friendly, curious and intelligent, although very independent. The physical description of tarpans was very similar – strong, approximately the same height, and with the same coloration and primitive markings.
The tarpan was a Eurasian wild horse that became extinct in the wild in 1879, due to hunting and crossbreeding with domesticated horses, and in 1909 the last captive horse died in Russia. The Heck horse was created by the German zoologist brothers Heinz Heck and Lutz Heck, director of the Berlin Zoo, at the Tierpark Hellabrunn (Munich Zoo) in Germany in their attempt to breed back the tarpan. The Hecks believed they could recreate the extinct tarpan subspecies by back breeding living descendants. They believed they could combine and rearrange the genetic material from these living descendants into a recreation of the extinct horse. Other breeders had the same idea, and used different genetic stock to attempt to recreate the tarpan or a reasonable look-alike. One result was a line of horses bred from American Mustangs by breeder Harry Hegardt.
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