The Estonian Native or Estonian Klepper () is an Estonian

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of small horse. It is one of three recognised horse breeds in Estonia, the others being the Tori and the Estonian Draft, both of which derive from it. It has also influenced other Northern European breeds such as the Latvian Warmblood, the Vyatka, and the extinct

Obva The Obva (Russian: Обва) – is a river in Perm Krai, Russia, a right tributary of the Kama. It starts in the Upper Kama Upland, in the west part of Sivinsky District, near the border of Kirov oblast. It flows into Kama Reservoir, from the ...

in Russia. It is an

endangered breed An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, invasiv ...

; the population fell from about in the 1950s to approximately 500 in 2004.

History

During the eleventh century, the chronicler

Adam of Bremen Adam of Bremen (; ; before 1050 – 12 October 1081/1085) was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. Adam is most famous for his chronicle '' Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' ('' ...

considered the Estonians to be rich in gold and good horses. Estonian horses were exported to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

through

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The first documented attempts to improve the Estonian Native date from after the foundation in 1856 of the Tori

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud (animal), stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, ...

in Tori, in

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( or ''Pärnumaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the north, Järva and Viljandi counties to ...

in south-western Estonia, where the original native stock was

selectively bred Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant ma ...

. It was also

cross-bred A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

with light draught and

riding horse A riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for recreation or transportation. It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the hors ...

breeds, which led to the creation of the Tori. After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, when breed numbers were much reduced, measures were taken to re-establish the breed: a

breed society Breed clubs are associations or clubs with activities centered on a single, specific breed of a particular species of domesticated animal. The purpose of the association will vary with the species of animal and the goals and needs of the members ...

was established in 1920, and in 1921 a

stud-book A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry, the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders w ...

was started. In the 1930s some limited use was made of Finnish and

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

stallion A stallion is an adult male horse that has not been gelded ( castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cre ...

s, with the aim of reducing

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely genetic distance, related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genet ...

. During the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

, large heavy horses were needed for farm work; the Klepper was cross-bred with other breeds and the original stock came close to extinction. In the second half of the twentieth century the population fell from about to approximately 500 head. It survived principally in the Baltic islands, of which

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

and

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa ( , ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...

are the two largest. A new breed society, the Estonian Native Horse Conservation Society or , was established in 2000. The breed remains

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, with a total population estimated at head. No numbers have been reported to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym for the Domestic Animal Diversity Information System, a tool developed and maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a part of its programme for management of animal genetic resources for ...

since 2007, when the total was estimated at , with 522 broodmares and 57 stallions; no

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...

is assigned to it. The

Laidevahe Nature Reserve Laidevahe Nature Reserve () is a nature reserve situated on Saaremaa in western Estonia, in Saare County. Laidevahe nature reserve protects an area of coastal wetlands, comprising salt marshes, islets, small lagoons, coastal meadows and so on, ...

on Saaremaa functions as a conservation area for the horses. It is believed that the breed became mixed with the now extinct Öland Horse, as large numbers of Öland Horses were exported to Estonia at one point. Tests authorised by associations dedicated to the Öland Horse have revealed that these two breeds have a genetically similar background. In 2005, 25 animals of the breed were imported to Sweden to recreate the genetically closely related, extinct

Öland Horse Öland (, ; ; sometimes written ''Oland'' internationally) is the second-largest list of islands of Sweden, Swedish island and the smallest of the traditional provinces of Sweden. Öland has an area of and is located in the Baltic Sea just o ...

. The new Öland horse is not called that, however, but the " Estonian Bush Pony".Ölandshäst, även Estnisk buskponny
, accessed 24 January 2011

Characteristics

It is small horse, standing at the

withers Withers are the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, this ridge is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, catt ...

. The most common colourations are

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

and

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

; dun, mouse-dun and roan also occur. The head is small and broad, the neck thick, the chest broad, the

croup Croup ( ), also known as croupy cough, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms of "bar ...

rounded and the hooves hard. Most breeders let their herds live under natural pasture conditions except during wintertime, and the breed lives well on

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

alone.

Use

The Klepper was traditionally used for transport and for agricultural work. In the twenty-first century it is used as a

or for light

harness A harness is a looped restraint or support. Specifically, it may refer to one of the following harness types: * Bondage harness * Child harness * Climbing harness * Dog harness * Five-point harness, a type of seatbelt * Horse harness * Pet harnes ...

work; some are used in the tourist industry to transport visitors to sites of interest.

References

{{reflist, refs= Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources
annex t
''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. 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. Breed data sheet: Eesti hobune / Estonia (Horse)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2020. N.G. Dmitriev, L.K. Ernst (1989)
''Animal genetic resources of the USSR''
FAO animal production and health paper 65. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9251025827. Archived 13 November 2009. Also availabl

archived 29 September 2017. M.T. Saastamoinen and M. Mäenpää (2005). Rare horse breeds in Northern Europe. In: Imre Bodó, Lawrence Alderson, Bertrand Langlois (2005). ''Conservation Genetics of Endangered Horse Breeds''. European Association for Animal Production publication number 116. The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers. {{isbn, 9789076998794. {{doi, 10.3920/978-90-8686-546-8. Society
Eesti Hobuse Kaitse Ühing = Estonian Native Horse Conservation Society. Accessed October 2024. Estonian Native Horse
Eesti Hobuse Kaitse Ühing = Estonian Native Horse Conservation Society. Accessed October 2024. Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017)
''Horses of the World''
Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{isbn, 9780691167206. Valerie Porter, Ian Lauder Mason (2002)
''Mason's World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types, and Varieties''
(fifth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn, 085199430X. Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Estonia