Sokolski horse
.jpg) Photograph from 1975 | |
| Conservation status | |
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| Country of origin | Poland |
| Distribution | |
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The Sokólski, Polish: Sokółski or Koń sokółski, is a Polish breed of draught horse. It is named for the town and county of Sokółka, near Białystok in north-eastern Poland, where it was first bred in the 1920s.[2] It derives from cross-breeding of local Polish mares of Polish Coldblood type with imported Trait Belge and Ardennais stock.[2][3]: 496 It is distributed mainly in the voivodeships of Lublin and Podlaskie.[2]
History
[edit]The Sokólski was bred in the 1920s in the north-eastern Republic of Poland, in the area of Grodno and Indura – now both in Belarus – Sokółka and Dąbrowa Białostocka. It is named for the town or county of Sokółka, near Białystok.[4]: 5 [2] It derives from cross-breeding of local Polish mares with imported stallions of Trait Belge and Ardennais stock.[2][3]: 496 A stud-book was established in 1964 as part of the Polish Coldblood breed group.[4]: 5 [2]
It is distributed mainly in the voivodeships of Lublin and Podlaskie.[2]
It shares parts of its history and ancestry with the Sztumski, of Sztum County in the voivodeship of Pomerania in north-western Poland. A genetic study in 2020 found sufficient genetic distance between the two to justify maintaining a separate stud-book for each.[5]
The conservation status of the breed was not listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007.[1]: 91 A total population of 4000–5000 animals was reported to DAD-IS for 2023, including 1498 registered broodmares and 399 active stallions; in 2025 the conservation status was listed as "at risk/endangered-maintained".[2]
Characteristics
[edit]The Sokólski is clean-legged; the usual coat colour is chestnut.[3]: 496 Average body weights are 650 kg for mares and 800 kg for stallions and geldings; heights at the withers average 156 cm and 160 cm respectively.[2]
Use
[edit]The Sokólski may be used for draught work in agriculture, forestry and refuse collection, particularly in organic farming or in difficult terrains. It may also be used for vegetation management on degraded, abandoned or fallow land; for driving in harness; and for hippotherapy.[4]: 5 Heavy horses in Poland are commonly reared for horsemeat, particularly for the Italian market.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Breed data sheet: Sokólski / Poland (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed July 2025.
- ^ a b c d Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- ^ a b c [Komisja Księgi Stadnej polskich koni zimnokrwistych; Biuro Polskiego Związku Hodowców Koni] (2018). Program Hodowli Koni Rasy Polski Koń Zimnokrwisty (in Polish). Warsaw: Polski Związek Hodowców Koni. Archived 19 March 2022.
- ^ Artur Gurgul, Igor Jasielczuk, Ewelina Semik-Gurgul, Klaudia Pawlina-Tyszko, Monika Stefaniuk-Szmukier, Tomasz Szmatoła, Grażyna Polak, Iwona Tomczyk-Wrona, Monika Bugno-Poniewierska (2020). Genetic differentiation of the two types of Polish cold-blooded horses included in the National Conservation Program. Animals. 10 (3): 542. doi:10.3390/ani10030542.
- ^ Rasy koni rejestrowane przez PZHK (in Polish). Warsaw: Polski Związek Hodowców Koni. Archived 22 August 2018.
Further reading
[edit]
- Jan Nozdryn-Płotnicki (1966). Koń sokólski (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydaw. Rolnicze i Leśne.
- Tadeusz Gajdzis (2008). Koń sokólski: natura – chwała – legenda (in Polish). Białystok: Agencja Wydawniczo–Edytorska EkoPress. ISBN 9788392435174.