View source for Russian Don

{{Short description|Breed of horse}}
{{Infobox horse breed
|name= Russian Don
|image= Бруч.jpg
|image2=Донской жеребец Зачин.jpg
|features = 
|altname= Don horse
|country= Russia
|group1= 
|std1=
}}

The '''Russian Don''' is a breed of [[horse]] developed in and named after the steppes region of Russia where the [[Don River, Russia|Don River]] flows.  Utilized originally as [[cavalry]] horses for the [[Cossack]]s, they are currently used for under-saddle work and driving.

==Characteristics==

[[Image:Donchak 1.jpg|right|thumb|Head of a Don]]
The Don usually stands {{hands|15.1|to|15.3}}, and may be [[bay (horse)|bay]], [[black (horse)|black]], [[gray (horse)|gray]] or [[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]].<ref name="Bongianni">{{cite book
  | last = Bongianni
  | first = Maurizio
  | title = Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses and Ponies
  | publisher = Simon & Schuster, Inc.
  | year = 1988
  | isbn = 0-671-66068-3
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/lish00maur/page/51 51]
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/lish00maur/page/51
  }}</ref>  They have a clean head with a straight or dished profile, well set onto a well-formed neck, high withers, and a wide, deep chest.  Their shoulders can be straight, limiting the length of their stride, but are often well-formed.  The back is long and straight, flowing into a croup that is long and sloping.  The legs are long, well-muscled, and clean with broad joints, strong tendons, and tough hooves.<ref name="Bongianni"/><ref name="Don"/>

== Breed history ==

[[File:Граф Платов..jpg|thumb|[[Matvei Platov|Count Platov]] on a Don horse]]
[[File:Les races chevalines - avec une étude spéciale sur les chevaux russes (1894) (14753447536).jpg|thumb|Russian Don (1890s)]]
The first type of Don horse, generally called the "Old Don," evolved from semi-feral Russian steppe horses and [[Oriental horse]] breeds such as the [[Karabakh horse]], [[Turkoman horse|Turkmenian]], and [[Arabian horse|Arabian]] that were brought to Russia as a product of Cossack raids.  The Old Don was a medium-sized, agile horse with immense endurance; a result of the survival-of-the-fittest selection methods that guided the development of many Russian breeds.  This hardy horse was used as the foundation for the current Russian Don, and was also used to improve the Orlov, Orlov-Rostopchin, and [[Thoroughbred]] breeds.  Cossack cavalry mounted on the Old Don horses were instrumental in the destruction of [[Napoleon]]'s Russian campaign, and the horses were important in proving the supremacy of Cossack cavalry over their European counterparts.<ref name="Don">{{cite web 
 | title = Don
 | url = http://www.equiworld.net/horses/horsecare/Breeds/don/index.htm | work =  Equiworld
 | accessdate=November 29, 2010}}</ref>

During the early 19th century, the breed was improved into the newer type through the addition of [[Orlov Trotter]], Arabian, Thoroughbred, and Karabakh blood.<ref name="Russian Don">{{cite web 
 | title = Russian Don
 | url = http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/russiandon/
 | work =  Oklahoma State University
 | accessdate=December 31, 2007}}</ref>   During the second half of the 19th century, the Don breed was in high demand as cavalry horses.  Private breeders began to focus on the Dons, and bred for conformation, endurance, height, and the characteristic color of chestnut with a gold sheen.  Dons were also gaining popularity outside of Russia, and many were exported.  During the 1920s, after much of the Don stock had been wiped out in World War I and the [[Russian Revolution (1917)|Russian Revolution]], the remaining horses were reassembled at several military studs, as well as within the Cossack population, and with concentrated breeding the stock was fairly quickly restored.<ref name="Don"/>

==Uses==
The main use of the Russian Don breed in past times was as the mount of the Cossack cavalry.  Known for their endurance and stamina, these horses could cover long distances in short amounts of time, with reserves of energy left for battle.  Today, the Don is widely used as a saddle horse, and is also used in harness, often in the traditional Russian ''[[tachanka]]'', where four horses are hitched side-by-side.<ref name="Russian Don"/>

The Don played an important role in the development of many other [[USSR]]-developed breeds, including the [[Budyonny (horse)|Budyonny]].<ref name="Bongianni"/>

== See also ==

* [[Horses in Russia]]
* [[Chernomor (horse)|Chernomor (Russian horse)]]
* [[Amourski]] (Russian horse breed origin)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.imh.org/museum/breeds.php?pageid=8&breed=31&alpha=One International Museum of the Horse – An Extensive History of the Russian Don]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4JWR8NaChs Russian Dons ride 2,000 miles Moscow to Paris]

{{Horse breeds of Central Asia}}
{{Horse breeds of the Russian Federation}}

[[Category:Horse breeds]]
[[Category:Horse breeds originating in Russia]]
[[Category:Horse breeds originating in Ukraine]]