HORSE BREEDING
HORSE BREEDING, horses reproduction and utilization processes; a branch of livestock breeding. Bashkortostan is a region of advanced H.b. Horses are used for agricultural and transportation purposes, in equestrian sports and tourism, in the fields of milk, meat and skin production, as well as for manufacture of therapeutic sera and preparations (gastric juice, sera for flue, diphtheria, etc), used in human and veterinary medicine. Kumys is made from mare’s milk. Horse herding, which is very similar to the way wild horses graze in natural conditions, is a traditional type of H.b. in the Republic. There are two types of horses management: year‑round pasture (used for productive breeding of draft horses) and cultural herding (horses spend days on pastures in summer and indoors in winter; used for reproduction of pedigree, sports, and large draft horses). The horses’ nutrition requirements are satisfied predominantly by means of pasture forage even in winter. Winter grazing is used mostly in Trans‑Urals steppe and mountain forest areas. In moderate continental climatic conditions, horses of Bashkir breed do not require stable keeping and can be grazed year‑round. A conveyor of natural and cultural pastures, hay, after feed and seeded pastures are used for horse herding. Depending on the area and versatility of natural forage grasslands, species of creep cultures are selected to feed horses in summer and winter periods. Mountain forest pastures, inaccessible for other species of animals, serve as a food reserve.
Bashkortostan ranks 1st in the RF for the number of horse population. In 2016, the number of horses at farms of all categories amounted to 123.5 thousand. The number of horses in Baymaksky Raion is 11.4 thous., Abzelilovsky — 7.9, Uchalinsky — 5.1, Ziyanchurinsky — 4.0, Beloretsky — 3.8, Khaybullinsky — 3.7 thousand. In the Republic, among all categories of farms, there are 151 kumys farms, milking mares headcount there exceeds 8 thous.; their annual output is about 2.9 thous. t of kumys and up to 8 thous. t of horse meat. Trans‑Urals raions are traditional leaders in kumys production. There are 15 horse breeding farms operating in the Republic, 13 of them are involved in reproduction of horses of the Bashkir breed (OOO Idel+, Kazmash, Yaktash, APC Yuzhny Ural in Abzelilovsky Raion, OOO Tolpar in Baymaksky Raion, Ufimskaya Stable and Ufimsky Stud Farm No.119 in Ufimsky Raion, Kh.S.Idiyatullina farm in Iglinsly Raion, OOO Bashagrogen in Kushnarenkovsky Raion, OOO Tavakan in Kugarchinsky Raion, OOO Bayramgul Agrofirm and OOO Yuldash in Uchalinsky Raion, SPK named after Lenin in Chekmagushevsky Raion), 1 — Orlovsky breed (Ufimsky Stud Farm No.119), 1 — Russian roadster (Ufimsky Stud Farm No.119), 2 — Russian draft breed (SPK Bishindy in Tuymazinsky Raion, SPK Sterlitamaksky in Sterlitamaksky Raion) The RB is the largest centre of kumys production and kumys therapy in the RF. Every year, more than 20 thous. horses are sold for meat; 3.5—5.0 thous. t. of horse meat is produced (3.5—4.0% of the total meat output in the Republic). The Bashkir Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture has developed: processes of manufacturing and drying mare’s milk for year‑round kumys therapy, methods of making kumys fermentation starters, milk storage, recombination, and kumys preparation, techniques for the improvement of the Bashkir horses’ milking performance, as well as special Irendyksky (for dairy purposes) and Uchalinsky (for meat production purposes) types of Bashkir horse breeds.
