Danube Delta Horse aka Danubian, Danav or Danube Horse

Danubian Horse
Image by: Klearchos Kapoutsis

Bulgaria

The Danubian horse is a half-bred horse that was developed in Bulgaria around the 20th century at the state stud, Kabiuk . It is also called the Dunav, the Danubian and is a Bulgarian light draft breed that comes from crossing halfbred mares with Nonius stallions and Anglo-Arab mares. In 1924 near Pleven, Bulgaria this animal was bred for heavy farm work. Initially it was a massive, compact breed bred for heavy farm work of all kinds. Later the breed was refined by adding Thoroughbred blood. This was done to enbable the horse to be more athletic. The Danubian Horse is an easy keeper.

Characteristics

The Danubian varies in size from 15.2h - 16.3h, has a solid conformation, is short coupled, and strong, is chestnut, black and bay, has easy gaits, is sweet tempered, willing to work and wants to please. Its head is not coarse but well set. The neck is thick. The Danubian has massive draft shoulders and powerful hindquarters. The tail is set high. The bone is dense and strong, the legs refined for the massive body.

Use

This horse was bred to do heavy farm work and with the addition of the thoroughbred blood is also a riding horse.

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Danubian Horse

Country of Origin: Danube Delta, Romania
3-D Flags

Danube Delta horse refers to a population of feral horse found in and around Letea Forest, located in the Danube Delta, between the Sulina and Chilia branches of Danube. About 3600 feral horses live in the Danube Delta, 2000 in the Letea nature reserve, where on one hand, they are among the last remaining "wild" (feral) horses living at large on the European continent, but are also deemed to be a threat to the flora of the forest, including to some plants on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Although feral horses have existed for hundreds of years in the region, their number greatly increased after the collective farms were closed down in 1990 and the horses belonging to them being freed. Today, the Letea population is not regulated and there are concerns that overgrazing is a looming problem.

The horses on Letea are black or bay, without white spots. They stand between 14.1 and 14.3 hands ( 1.45 to 1.50 metres (57 to 59 in)) and are of a strong build. They are of a different breed than the close by Sanfu Gheorghe breed. They are not of a riding horse build, but are built like working horses of the Nonius type.

In 2002, some of these horses were captured and transported to Italy and slaughtered. Some organizations objected to removal, holding that the horses had value in being adapted to the location and possessing natural social behavior. Another push for removal and slaughter began in 2009, but horses cannot be currently removed from the area because a number of animals carry equine infectious anemia. Therefore, according to Romanian regulation, they are not allowed to be taken out of the quarantine area. Currently, there is an ongoing project, in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature, seeking to find a way to remove these horses. While some organizations object to total removal and advocate for some animals to remain, others are attempting to find a different preserve for the horses to live.

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Danube Delta Horse