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Concept
Konik
Summary
The Konik or Polish Konik, konik polski, is a Polish breed of pony. There are semi-feral populations in some regions. They are usually mouse dun or striped dun in color.
The Bilgoray, konik biłgorajski, of south-eastern Poland is a sub-type of the breed influenced by Arab and Thoroughbred blood; it is close to extinction. The extinct Sweyki or Schweike sub-type of East Prussia contributed to the development of the Trakehner.
The word "konik" means 'small horse'. It may be used in a wider sense to describe the Polish Konik and other similar breeds, among them the Hutsul of the Carpathian Mountains, the Polesian of Belarus and the Žemaitukas of Lithuania.
The Polish word konik (plural koniki) is the diminutive of koń, the Polish word for "horse" (sometimes confused with kuc, kucyk meaning "pony"). It means 'small horse'.
The Konik is a Polish horse breed descending from very hardy horses from the Biłgoraj region. These horses had a predominantly dun colour, but also black and chestnut horses were present in the population. Some researchers claim these foundation animals were hybrids with wild horse breeding that had been sold to farmers by the zoo in Zamość in 1806, which were bred to local domesticated draft horses. However, genetic studies now contradict the view that the Konik is a surviving form of Eastern European wild horse, commonly called the tarpan, nor is it closely related to them. The Konik shares mitochondrial DNA with many other domesticated horse breeds and their Y-DNA is nearly identical.
During World War I, these horses were important transport animals for Russian and German troops and were called Panje horses. In 1923, Tadeusz Vetulani, an agriculturalist from Kraków, started to get interested in the Panje horses, a landrace of Biłgoraj and coined the name “Konik” (Polish for “small horse”), which is now established as the common name for the breed. During the 1920s, several public and private studs were created to conserve this animal. In 1936, Vetulani opened a Konik reserve in the Białowieża Forest.
Official source
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