While searching on google for Konik horses from Poland, which is where the breed originated and should have the most genetic diversity, I found a number of individuals with an erect mane. See this young individual, this one from Popielno (one of the main Konik breeding sites), or this one from the Roztoczanski Park Narodowy. Why is that?
Some Heck horses, which are almost one popualtion with the Konik in Germany, have erect manes because Lutz Heck bred with a Przewalski stallion and Przewalski's horses have been crossed-in again at the Wildpark Hardehausen in order to achieve an erect mane. The results can be seen here. Breeders in Germany often do not differentiate between Koniks and Heck horses, so that the breeds are often intermixed.
However, the Koniks in Poland should be free of that comparably recent intermixture, as Heck horses are found mostly in Germany. Nevertheless it is possible that even "pure" modern Koniks have Przewalski introgression. The reason for that is that some of the Koniks that have been used in Lutz Heck's experiment were returned to Poland after the war. It is well possible that some of these Koniks were part Przewalski's horse due to Heck's breeding. The fact that some Polish koniks have erect manes endorses this assumption, at least in my opinion, as I find no other explanation for this trait in the Polish stock.
Probably only a genetic test could bring clarification.
I'm 100% sure that non of the returned Koniks(if any?) was ever transported back to the east of Poland for breeding. Vetulani did not find any of the stolen horses. After the war they searched, but failed, as far as I know. In Popielno they keep records of all breeding from the very beginning in Białowieża. You can always ask Prof. Marta Siemieniuch, Konik breeding expert in Popielno.
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