Origin and characteristics of the tarpan horse

The tarpan horse is probably the most recent ancestor of today's domestic Equidae. Here you can know more about it.

If you want to meet this equine face to face, unfortunately you could not do it. The tarpan horse is an extinct wild breed that inhabited the forests and steppes of Europe until the nineteenth century. It is speculated that it could be the ancestor of the modern horses that are known today on the European continent.

It is also known that equidae populated this continent more than 20,000 years ago (almost 40,000) thanks to the cave paintings of northern Spain and southern France. Tarpan was used by all the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean, from the Celtic tribes to the Greeks, and in this article, you can get to know it better.

The tarpan horse and its origins

The tarpan horse is a breed of equine now extinct. It is speculated that it is the direct ancestor of the lightest breeds known today, but there were no remains that could be studied to confirm it. The horse that bears the most resemblance to the tarpan is the Przewalski, a Eurasian breed smaller and more robust than the domestic horse.

This breed was almost impossible to tame. The cattle ranchers who lived near these horses chased and killed them, as they razed the crops and often attracted domestic mares, making them escape from their masters. This persecution ended with the last tarpan horse in 1879, while in 1887 the last of those remaining in captivity died.

The tarpan horse was first described by the German naturalist and chemist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1769, but he did not give it a scientific name. After much discussion it was agreed to call it Equus ferus ferus.

The tarpan horse and its characteristics

The tarpan horse was of small stature, about 136 centimeters to the withers and about 150 in length. His head was thick and his neck was short and straight. The coat was thick and strong, wavy, longer in winter and a light brown. The legs, mane and tail were darker than the rest of the body, with zebra markings on the legs and a dorsal stripe (common signs in primitive breeds).

The physical descriptions of the tarpan vary according to the area and the researcher, as there were many hybrids in the wild thanks to the domestic horses that escaped and reproduced with them.

Originally, the tarapan horse inhabited all of Eastern Europe and what is now the European part of Russia. It then spread to the forest steppe of western Siberia and Kazakhstan, reaching modern Ukraine in the nineteenth century, as well as Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.

Like other wild horses, the tarpan inhabited wooded areas, low scrub meadows, plains and steppes. In these niches he could feed on the plant matter he needed and run to safe places in case of attack.

The reconstruction of the tarpan horse breed

After its extinction, several people tried to "rebuild" this breed, making crosses of domestic horses with savages until they achieved an appearance similar to that of the tarpan. In 1936, Tadeusz Vetulani gave rise to the konik polski breed, very similar in appearance to the original tarpans, except for the brush-shaped mane and the zebra marks of the legs.

The Heck brothers also tried to recreate the species at the Munich Zoo. This artificial breed was called "Heck's horse" and today there are still living specimens.

Types of horses of the tarpanes breed

The forest tarpan

This variant of the tarpan horse inhabited the forests of more western latitudes in Central Europe, especially in Poland and Germany. It became extinct at the beginning of the twentieth century, specifically in 1919, when the last captive specimens were delivered to the cattle ranchers. Therefore, the genetics of the tarpan were diluted in that of the konik, the domestic horse breed of that time.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the forest tarpan was already extinct in the wild thanks to indiscriminate hunting.

It is postulated that the forest tarpan is the ancestor of several small breeds of current equidae, such as the konik, exmoor and dülmen ponies. Genetic traces have also been found in other races living in semi-freedom in Central Europe. To this day, these breeds are being used to finish the task of creating a horse phenotypically identical to the tarpan.

The image of wild horses populating plains and forests is increasingly rare. Ironically, one of the safest places for them is Chernobyl, where Przewalski horses can be seen living in the wild. Perhaps, over time, free horses can be seen again in less dangerous places.

The tarpan of the steppes

The steppe tarpan inhabited southern Russia, both on plains and in clear, open forests. Their fur had a grayish hue throughout its spectrum, in some cases with yellowish tints. A large black line ran along his back, and the legs were dark.

The mane of the steppe variant, small and very abundant, was similar to the crests of zebras. It had a concave profile and a heavy head, with elongated ears and relatively small eyes with respect to the size of the head. The average height of its cross was 130 centimeters.

This equine was adapted to survive in extreme climates, with temperatures below 20 degrees in summer, thanks to its thick fur and its great physical resistance. He spent up to 12 hours grazing, moving to find the best grasses near wet areas.

The place where it is said that the largest number of tarpans existed was the Russian district of Taurid. Here, between 1851 and 1866, the last tarpans of the steppes died at the hands of hunters and peasants in the area.

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