That "tarpan" photo

I am very averse to using the term "tarpan" for the western form of the wild horse, Equus ferus ferus, for a number of reasons. First of all, "tarpan" was actually only a local term from Southern Russia referring to free-ranging horses from the 18th and 19th century whose status was and is unclear. It is not known whether those horses were wild or feral domestic horses, or hybrids. Some contemporaneous authors who saw those horses in real considered them escaped domestic horses, such as Peter Pallas in 1771. A few single individuals are reported because they were kept at zoos, three to be precise. These three individuals are known today as the Dubrowka tarpan, the Krim tarpan and the Cherson tarpan. The status of the Krim tarpan was questioned already back in its lifetime [1] and the Dubrowka tarpan had a semi-erect mane [2] as a hybrid between a domestic horse and a horse with an erect mane would have, suggesting it may have been a hybrid. And then there is the Cherson tarpan. It was the only individual considered a "tarpan" to be photographed. 

The Cherson tarpan

Wikipedia uses the word "tarpan" as a synonym for the western type of the wild horse, Equus ferus ferus. That is, considering the uncertainties of what the horses actually called tarpan were, not a good idea and also arbitrary. Wikipedia also presents the photo above as the only photo of a "tarpan", although the Wiki authors admit it may not have been "pure" (what is a pure "tarpan" anyway?). Let us analyse this individual in detail. 

The Cherson tarpan was caught as a foal in 1866. First it might be interesting which colour the animal had. Judging from the photo, it likely was of a very dark expression of black dun, as found in some Koniks and other black dun horses (like this mare). Black dun is one of the five possible colour phenotypes found in the western wild horse (black dun, bay dun, black, bay, leopard spotted). It has a pretty long and thick mane, what does not fit any of the historic reports of other free-ranging horses (which may or may not have been wild horses, I tend to regard them as feral domestic horses or at least hybrids). Also, its proportions, with the small head and long legs, are like those of normal riding horses and nothing like a wild horse or sturdy pony type. Looking at this animal it is actually easier to conclude it is a feral domestic horse rather than a wild horse. What would qualify this individual as a wild horse, apart from the fact that it was born in a free-ranging herd (which would also go for a feral individual)? And, as mentioned above, some authors considered all those free-ranging horses of Southern Russia in the 18th and 19th century feral horses, what is also suggested by domestic colour variants such as grey or white found in the herds [1]. 

Furthermore, if the western wild horse had indeed an erect mane as all other extant wild equines do, which is not unlikely, all those reports of horses with falling manes and especially the Cherson tarpan with its long and thick falling mane, can safely be considered feral horses or at least hybrids of feral horses and some type of wild horse (we don't know how far westwards the original range of the Przewalski's horse extended). 

Literature

[1] Tadeusz Jezierski, Zbigniew Jaworski: Das Polnische Konik. 2008.

[2] Hardy Oelke: Wild horses then and now. Kierdorf-Verlag.