Orlov Trotter
Origin
Former Soviet Union
History
The Orlov Trotter was developed by Count Grigorievitch Orlov in the 18th century. He began his work after 1780, when he crossed the white Arabian stallion, Smetanka, which he obtained from the Sultan of Turkey, with the best Danish, Mecklenburg, Dutch and Arabian mares at his Orlov stud outside Moscow. In 1788, he concentrated his breeding operations at his newly formed Khrenov Stud in the province of Voronezh.
Soon, it became clear that the best results were obtained by using the Arabian on Danish and Dutch mares and it was this combination that gave the Orlovīs Trotter foundation sire, the gray Bars I, born in 1784. Bars I was the grandson of Smetanka and son of Polkan I. His dam was Hartsdraver, a big dutch mare with substantial bone and substance, who moved with the necessary freedom and energy at the trot.
Bars I was crossed with Danish, Arabians, Dutch and some Arabian/Mecklenburg mares. To fix the desired type, inbreeding to Bars I and his sons was then practiced extensively. Up to now, all purebred Orlovs show a strong Bars connection.
Systematic training and graded trotting race programs, held in Moscow from 1834, encouraged improvements and increased the speeds attained. Nevertheless, the Orlov could never approach the American Standardbred. It was the reason why that the faster Russian Trotter was developed, by crossing Standardbreds with Orlovs. And between 1890 and 1917, Standardbred mares and stallions were imported. The crossbred horses were more and more interbred with backcrosses to the Orlov. In the 1930s more use was made of the Standardbred/Orlov cross, although it by no means ousted the Orlov.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, the Orlov was bred at perhaps as many as 3,000 stud farms, and today, there are probably as many as 30,000 Orlovs in Russia and its former republics.
The type varies according to the stud where the animals are bred. The most popular and most characteristic are those bred at Khrenov. Others, such as those bred at Perm in the Urals, are more common in appearance, while both the Tula and Dubrow types are nearer to the heavier harness conformation than to that of a harness racer.
Description
- Head:
well proportioned and clean, the poll long, the jaws broad - Conformation:
-neck, set high on
-shoulders, long and swanlike
-withers, fairly high
-back, straight and rather long
-croup, somewhat short with muscular quarters
-tail, set well up and in movement carried high
-legs, set square and well made
-hind legs and hocks, strong and capable of delivering a powerful propulsive thrust - Average height:
15.1 to 17 h.h. - Colour:
predominant colours are grey, bay, black and chestnut - Today;
the Orlov is still being improved as a racing trotter and it is used increasingly to upgrade other breeds.
Usage of Orlov Trotter is not harness racing only, this is universal horse, very good as light farming (agriculture) wokring horse, as driving horse. Orlov trotter can be ridden under saddle, this horses have a very comfort soft trot because their long back, many orlov trotters have a noble appereance and good conformation, it's good riding horse too.