Kabardino-Balkaria

The Kabardino-Balkar Republic (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рская Респу́блика, Kabardino-Balkarskaya Respublika; Kabardian: Къэбэрдей-Балъкъэр Республикэ; Karachay-Balkar: Къабарты-Малкъар Республика), or Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian: Кабарди́но-Балка́рия, Kabardino-Balkariya), is a federal subject of Russia (a republic) located in the North Caucasus. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 859,939 on 12,500 square km. Its capital is Nalchik.

Geography

The republic is situated in the North Caucasus mountains, with plains in the northern part.

Kabarda horse

The Kabarda or Kabardin horse is a breed from the Caucasus, currently part of the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia and Georgia. Historically the breed has been known for at least 400 years, but its origins are probably as old as the Hittite civilization. These horses are noted for their endurance and ease to adapt in difficult environments.

History

The Kabarda has been bred since the 16th century by mountain tribesmen in the northern Caucasus, and is the product of centuries of selective breeding for the ability to survive in harsh conditions. The Kabarda breed was formed from a combination of steppe horses, the Karabakh, the Arabian and the Turkoman. The breed are usually kept in herds, and are moved between mountain pastures in the summer and foothills areas in the winter. A theory exists that Kabardian and Cleveland Bay breeds may have common origins.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Count Stroganov began a program of crossing Kabardas with Arabians, and the results were considered satisfactory. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the numbers of Kabarda were hugely reduced, and during the 1920s efforts were made to re-establish the breed. Between 1935 and 1953, the purebred population averaged 446 stallions and 3272 mares. During early half of the twentieth century, a new breed, called the Anglo-Kabarda was formed by crossing Kabardas with Thoroughbreds, and in 1966 the new breed was recognized. By the late 1980s the number of purebred Kabarda breeding mares had dropped to between 400 and 450, concentrated mainly at the Malokarachaevski and Malkinski studs and other breeding farms in the Kabardino-Balkaria region, including the Krasny Partizan collective farm in the Stavropol territory.