Budyonny (horse)

Budyonny

Young Budyonny stallions in Russia
Other names	Budenny Budjonny Budonny Budennovsky
Country of origin	Southern Russia
Equus ferus caballus

The Budyonny is a breed of horse from Russia. They were developed for use as a military horse following the Russian Revolution and are currently used as an all-purpose competition horse and for driving.

Budonny stallions stand on average 165 cm (16.1 h; 65 in), mares 16 hands (64 inches, 163 cm). The coat is generally chestnut with a golden sheen, although they may also be bay, gray or black. They have a well-proportioned head with a straight profile, a long neck, pronounced withers, sloping shoulders, a wide, deep chest, a long, straight back, and a slightly sloping croup. Their legs are long and strong with good joints and well-formed hooves. The modern horse has a strong build, good bone, and are quite similar to the Thoroughbred. Conformation problems include occasional offset cannon bones in the forelegs and overly straight hind legs.

In the beginning, “Massive,” “Eastern,” and “Middle” types of the breed were recognized.

Later, demand for competition horses led to the creation of a single type with a larger proportion of Thoroughbred blood. This breed is of interest because it is the result of the complex state-sponsored cross-breeding programs that were implemented after the Russian Revolution and are still in place today. The Budyonny is bred today in the Ukraine and in the Kazakh and Kirghiz republics in the southern part of the former USSR.

The Budyonny was named after Marshall Semyon Budyonny, a Bolshevik cavalry commander who became famous during the Russian Revolution. The breed was created by Budyonny, a well-known horse breeder himself, in the early 1920s in the Rostov region of Russia with the intent of producing cavalry horses to replace those lost during and after World War I. The resulting horses were used in Russian cavalry divisions during World War II and after.

Budyonnys were bred from a cross of local Don and Chernomor mares and Thoroughbred stallions. The Chernomor (also known as the Tchernomor or the Cherkassky) is a type of Cossack horse similar to the Don, although smaller. They are descendents of the horses raised by Zaporozhian Cossacks, and were first bred around Krasnodar, north of the Caucasus Mountains. During the first round of breeding for the Budyonny horse, blood from Kirghiz and Kazakh horses was also used, but the progeny was found to be not as hardy or conformationally sound, and later the Budyonny was used to improve these two breeds.