[1] Jaworski 1997: Genealogical tables of the Polish primitive horse. Polish Academy of Sciences.
Sunday 16 October 2022
Koniks with a standing mane in Oostvaardersplassen
Some Konik ponies have a standing mane. This is likely the result of Przewalski's horse introgression, as the crossing-in of this wild equine is documented in the Konik pedigree [1]. I have seen such specimen especially often on photos from Polish breeding sites, such as Popielno, which is one of the most important Konik breeding sites in Poland. There are also very Konik-like ponies in Germany that can have an upright mane, but those are likely to be Heck horses (both breeds are used indiscriminately in grazing projects, there is no breeding book so they are virtually indistinguishable in Germany). But the ponies at Oostvaardersplassen are "pure" Koniks in any case, mostly purchased from Popielno. I have not seen any OVP ponies with a standing mane until I found a relatively recent video on youtube, go here. Sometimes a domestic horse can have a standing mane when it is not fully grown yet (all foals have a standing mane), and sometimes it looks as if the horse has a standing mane when viewed from the side when the bulk of the longer hair of the mane falls to the other side and the shorter hair at the edges of the mane are standing, but I think in this case it is rather clear that those are truly fully grown Koniks with a standing mane, see shots like 1:27. It is interesting to see that also in OVP, the largest Konik breeding site in western Europe, there are individuals with a standing mane. Particularly interesting is the question if the frequency of individuals with a standing mane would increase over time if it provides a fitness advantage, as there is no artificial selection on those ponies.
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I saw at least one standing mane on an adult Konik in the OVP in the early 1990s. Interesting also that all the manes in the video look quite short. In some horse breeds the manes are extremely long. Could there be a genetic basis for that: Could such gene(s) be involved in influencing whether or not a horse's mane stands upright? Dominic Berridge.
ReplyDeleteThe mane of the fjord horse is also standing when cut but not otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI’ve pointed it out before and I see it again in this video. The horses with long hair have manes and tails full with burdock burs. Their hair is severely matted and clumped because of it.
ReplyDeleteUpright manes and shorter tail hair A) keeps the hair away from burdock plants so it’s less likely they catch burs B) the shorter hairs are less likely to mat and clump even when burs are in the hair.
Matted hair is a disadvantage because it weighs down and irritates the animal and, the dense hair mass takes way longer to dry out when it’s wet. It’s an energy drain in cold weather, the knotted hair can cause skin irritation and infections that may take away the animal’s attention from detecting predators (not a problem in the OVP obviously but in a truly wild setting it might). Small infections can have a knock on effect and lead to bigger immune problems in wild animals.
Beautiful hucul horse called Waldi with big and long stripes
ReplyDeletehttp://www.skhantoniow.pl/waldi.htm