The Pottok or Pottoka ( or , ), is an endangered,

semi-feral A semi-feral animal lives predominantly in a feral state but has some contact and experience with humans. This may be because it was born in a domesticated state and then reverted to life in wild conditions, or it may be an animal that grew up i ...

breed of

pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

native to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

of the Basque Country in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is considered an ancient breed of horse, particularly well adapted to the harsh mountain areas it traditionally inhabits. Once common, it is endangered through

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

mechanization Mechanization (or mechanisation) is the process of changing from working largely or exclusively by hand or with animals to doing that work with machinery. In an early engineering text, a machine is defined as follows: In every fields, mechan ...

and

crossbreeding 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 ...

but efforts are increasingly made to safeguard the future of this breed. It is considered iconic by the

Basque people The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous to, and primarily i ...

Etymology

''Pottoka'' is the Basque language name for this horse, both north and south of the mountains. In

Upper Navarrese Upper Navarrese (sometimes called High Navarrese) is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the Navarre ( or ''Nafarroa Garaia'') community of Spain, as established by linguist Louis Lucien Bonaparte in his famous 1869 map. He actually distin ...

, ''potto'' and ''pottoka'' are generic terms for colts and young horses whereas in

Lapurdian Navarro-Labourdin or Navarro-Lapurdian () is a Basque dialect spoken in the Lower Navarre and Labourd (Lapurdi) former provinces of the French Basque Country (in the Pyrénées Atlantiques ''département''). It consists of two dialects in old ...

and Lower Navarrese the meaning of ''pottoka'' is "pony". Trask, L. ''Etymological Dictionary of Basque'', edited for web publication by Max Wheeler,

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

2008 Ultimately the name is linked to words such as ''pottolo'' "chubby, tubby". In French sources, the spelling Pottok predominates. In English, both Pottoka and Pottok are encountered but the term Basque Pony can occasionally also be encountered.Moro, P. & Intxausti de Casal, JI ''Estudio zoométrico en la raza poni vasco-pottoka'' Archivos de zootecnica Vol 47 Num 178–179, 1998

Origins

Many opinions exist on the origins of the Pottok. It is deemed by the scientific community to have lived in the area for at least several thousand years. It displays signs of genetic isolation and is genetically closest to breeds like the

Asturcón The Asturcón is an ancient Spanish breed of small horse or pony from the autonomous region of Asturias in the northern part of the country. It has been documented since Roman times: it has an unusual ambling gait, which was described by Pl ...

, the Losino, the Galician, the Landais, and the Monchino horses. Tests have revealed considerable genetic differences between populations in the

Northern Basque Country The French Basque Country (; ; ), or Northern Basque Country (, or , ), is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community (; ) presided o ...

and the

Southern Basque Country The Southern Basque Country (; ) refers to the Basque territories southside of the Pyrenees, within the Iberian Peninsula. Name In Basque language, known as '' Euskera'', natives have referred to the Basque districts as ''Euskal Herria(k)''. ...

, leading some to consider them separate breeds. Some claim the Pottok's origins derive from the horses on ancient cave paintings in the area and thus claim to descend from the

Magdalenian Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; ) are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years before present. It is named after the type site of Abri de la Madeleine, a ro ...

horses of 14,000–7000 BC. Other link its origins to an influx of horses during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. However, neither of these theories has to date been scientifically verified.Aizpuru, ML ''Pottoka: Liraina, librea, aintzinakoa'
Zientzia.net
retrieved 16.11.2009 Genetic research by the

University of the Basque Country The University of the Basque Country (, ''EHU''; , ''UPV''; officially EHU) is a Spanish public university of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Autonomous Community. Heir of the University of Deusto, University of Bilbao, initial ...

Genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

Physical Anthropology Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a natural science discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from ...

and Animal

Physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

department into various

genetic marker A genetic marker is a gene or DNA sequence with a known location on a chromosome that can be used to identify individuals or species. It can be described as a variation (which may arise due to mutation or alteration in the genomic loci) that can ...

s amongst the 4 indigenous

horse breed A horse breed is a selectively bred population of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a broader sense to define landrace animals of a common phenotype located within a ...

s in the Basque Country have examined their relationship to other horses. Based on

microsatellite A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain Sequence motif, DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organ ...

tests, of the four Basque horse breeds, the Pottok and the Basque Mountain Horse, are genetically the most distant from other breeds. The others, the Burguete horse and the Jaca Navarra (today considered meat breeds), less so.Andonegi, G. ''Euskal Herriko zaldiak'
Zientzia.net
retrieved 16.11.2009 This variability in the Pottok and the Basque Mountain Horse appears to be related to the fact males range more widely and mate with more females in these feral or semi-feral herds. Research into a known

single-nucleotide polymorphism In genetics and bioinformatics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP ; plural SNPs ) is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome. Although certain definitions require the substitution to be present in a ...

showed this non-native alternation is very rare in purebred Pottoks. Tests of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondrion, mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the D ...

revealed Pottoks are most likely to crossbreed with the Basque Mountain Horses, less so with other breeds. Although some genetic markers of other European horse breeds were found, overall the genetic distance to the other European breeds is large. One marker previously only found in certain British breeds has also been found in Pottoks.

Habitat

Its traditional range extends west as far as the Biscayan

Encartaciones Enkarterri ( Spanish: ''Las Encartaciones'') is a comarca of the province of Biscay, in the Basque Country, Spain. It is one of the seven ''eskualdeak/comarcas'' or districts that make up the province of Biscay. Its administrative centre is Bal ...

and east roughly as far as the Saint-Jean-le-Vieux area. A census carried out in 1970 found roughly 3.500

purebred Purebreds are cultivars of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be pedigreed. Purebreds breed true-to-type, which means the progeny of l ...

Pottoks north of the Pyrenees and approximately 2.000 purebreds to the south, a considerable drop from historic populations, linked to an overall drop in the number of horses being bred and used commercially. Competition with sheep and more recently commercial

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

has also infringed on the Pottok's natural habitat. The traditional core habitat are the mountains of

Labourd Labourd (; ; ; ) is a former French province and part of the present-day Pyrénées Atlantiques '' département'' of Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is one of the traditional Basque provinces, and identified as one of the territorial component pa ...

and

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

from about 1.500m upwards, generally on poor acidic soil and limestone formations.

Characteristics

The Pottok measures in height, and weighs between . It has a large, square head, small ears, short neck and long back with short but slim legs, and small, sturdy

hooves The hoof (: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits; the ruminants with ...

The winter fur (''borra'') is one of the key characteristics of the Pottok and can reach up to in length on young horses. The archetypal coat colorations are in

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 ...

range with no patterning, but today various shades of

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

and

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 ...

exist in Pottok herds. Pottok

pintos Pintos is a simple instructional operating system framework for the x86 instruction set architecture. It supports kernel threads, loading and running user programs, and a file system, but it implements all of these in a very simple way. Pi ...

first appeared in Biscay in the 1850s and have spread to parts of Navarre and Labourd since. There are noticeable differences between mountain herds of Pottok and valley or flatland herds, with mountain horses generally being smaller. The official French breed standard distinguishes two types, the or Mountain Pottok, with a height range of , and the larger or Plains Pottok, which has a height range of .Standard officiel de la race Pottok
Les Haras Nationaux 2005 (in French) Accessed August 2011 "Official standard of the Pottok breed" The Government of Biscay carried out research into some 250 horses of the Pottok population of Biscay, both wild and stabled, in 1996–97. The census revealed that the majority of semi-feral Pottoks in Biscay live in the far northwest of the province, in the

. These semi-feral herds are rounded up twice a year, once in March before birthing and once in October after weaning. The survey also concluded that the main characteristics of the Biscayan population were: *black or blackish coats dominating (73%), followed by

bays 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 ...

with (19%) *Height range , average height *long, slim legs with black hooves *large, heavy heads *a heavy winter coat (the ''borra'')

Behavior

Semi-feral Pottoks tend to be shy and live in small, territorial herds or

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

s numbering between 10 and 30

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equidae, equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more th ...

s. They are able to predict the weather conditions, moving into the valleys in anticipation of bad weather and upland when high pressure builds. During the autumn, the herd breaks up into smaller groups of 5–10 horses and re-unite in spring.

Foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt (horse), colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. Whe ...

s mature quickly.

Fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, th ...

become fertile at age 2, normally mate at age 3 and give birth at age 4, which is also the age of maturity for males. Foals, like those of other breeds, are born after 11 months during spring/early summer and are weaned after 6–7 months.

Cross-breeding

Pottok numbers have been severely reduced by habitat loss and crossbreeding. In the 20th century,

piebald A piebald or pied animal is one that has a pattern of unpigmented spots (white) on a pigmented background of hair, feathers or scales. Thus a piebald black and white dog is a black dog with white spots. The animal's skin under the white backg ...

Pottoks were bred, particularly for

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

use. Stockier ponies for agricultural work were bred by crossbreeding with draught horses, also often with a large variety of coat colours. They have also been bred with

Iberian horse The Iberian horse is a designation given to a number of horse breeds native to the Iberian Peninsula. At present, some breeds are officially recognized by the FAO,

s following guidelines of pony clubs,

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...

s and Welsh ponies. This cross-breeding has left perhaps no more than 150 purebred

s north of the Pyrenees.

Use

Their adaptation to mountain life and coloration made them ideal for use by

smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

s in former times. From the 16th century onwards, they became popular as circus horses but also as

pit ponies Pit or PIT may refer to: Structure * Ball pit, a recreation structure * Casino pit, the part of a casino which holds gaming tables * Trapping pit, pits used for hunting * Pit (motor racing), an area of a racetrack where pit stops are conduc ...

and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. Today, they are in demand as children's ponies because they adapt well to domestication.

Conservation

Efforts are now being made to ensure the continued survival of purebred Pottoks. The Pottok was the first Basque horse breed to be included in the list of indigenous Basque breeds requiring conservation efforts in June 1995.''Decree 373/2001'' Boletín N. 2002014 – 21 January 2002, Government of Euskadi; retrieved 18.11.2009 Its status was classified as endangered. Various reserves, for example in

Bidarray Bidarray (; )BIDARRAI

Lower Navarre Lower Navarre (; Gascon/Bearnese: ''Navarra Baisha''; ; ) is a traditional region of the present-day French '' département'' of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost ''region'' of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle A ...

or the ZAPE Society in the

Aralar Range The Aralar Range () is a mountain range in the Basque Mountains of the Southern Basque Country. The part of the range lying in Gipuzkoa was established as a conservation area called Aralar Natural Park in 1994. In addition to its natural features ...

have been set up to protect the pony and its environment. There is much debate about how best to increase numbers – whether to focus only on the purebreds or to employ selective crossbreeding to build greater numbers of Pottok-like ponies. Pottok are shown both at

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

s and town festivals: *

Espelette Espelette (; ; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. It lies in the traditional Basque province of Labourd. Sights The town is attractive, with traditional Labourd houses and a castle. The protected ...

(Labourd) on the last Tuesday and Wednesday in January *

Markina-Xemein Markina-Xemein is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, Bizkaia, in the Basque Autonomous Community, also known as the Basque Country, located in northern Spain. The origin of the town's name lies in its geographic location ...

(Biscay) on the second Saturday in October at the ''Euskal Herriko Arrazen Erakusketa'' ("Basque Country Breeds' Show") * Zumarraga (Gipuzkoa) on 13 December at the Santa Lutzi Feria

Studbooks

In the Northern Basque Country, two

studbook 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 ...

s for the Pottok were set up in 1970. Crossbreds, covered under Book B, must have at least 50% Pottok blood, while Book A covers those of higher purity.Association Nationale du Pottok
accessed August 2011 Horses in Book A are divided into two types, the Mountain Pottok and the Plains Pottok. Only horses which live for a minimum of nine months in the year in semi-feral conditions in a harem containing mares, foals and stallions in the mountainous areas of

la Rhune Larrun (, ; ; ; - 'good pasture', possibly a folk etymology, in French until the 20th century: ''Larhune'') is a mountain (905 m) at the western end of the Pyrenees. It is located on the border of France and Spain, where the traditional Basque ...

, Baïgorry, Ursuya and Artzamendi are considered Mountain Pottoks. The breed standard specifies: *robust, intelligent horse *short, forward-facing ears *short neck with a thick mane to 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 ...

*broad chest, long back *short, sloping

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 ...

with a thick tail *small, hard hooves *height of at the withers for the Mountain Pottok, and for the Plains Pottok *coat in

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 ...

. Colour may also include

pinto Pinto is a Portuguese, Spanish, Jewish (Sephardic), and Italian surname. It is a high-frequency surname in all Portuguese-speaking countries and is also widely present in Spanish-speaking countries, Italy, India (especially in Mangalore, Karnata ...

but not

gray 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 ...

In the Southern Basque Country, the criteria specify: *Type A: Purebreds with original coat types in black or bay with a height of or less. *Type B: Purebreds with any coat type up to in height. *Type C: Crossbreds with at least 50% Pottok blood up to in height. According to an atlas of Basque breeds compiled by IKT Nekazal Ikerketa eta Teknologia (Agricultural Research and Technology), there were 986 Pottoks in the Basque Autonomous Community in 1997; 40 in Álava, 849 in Biscay and 97 in Gipuzkoa. In 2005 Switzerland was the only other country holding a studbook recognised by the French breed standard and regulations. This has been kept since 2000 by the Swiss Pottok Society, which since 2004 is a member of the Swiss Society for Ponies and Small Horses SVPK.Schweizerischer Verband für Ponys und Kleinpferde; Fédération Suisse des Poneys et Petits Chevaux
retrieved 19.11.2009

Pottoks in popular culture

*Pottoks featured in the 1935 film ''

Ramuntcho ''Ramuntcho'' (1897) is a novel by French author Pierre Loti. It is a love and adventure story about contraband runners in the Basque province of France. It is one of Loti's most popular stories—"love, loss and faith remain eternal themes"—wi ...

'' by Réné Barbéris with

Louis Jouvet Jules Eugène Louis Jouvet (; 24 December 1887 – 16 August 1951) was a French actor, theatre director and filmmaker. Early life Jouvet was born in Crozon. He had a Stuttering, stutter as a young man and originally trained as a pharmac ...

. *

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

's rugby club,

Aviron Bayonnais Aviron Bayonnais (AB, ), commonly called Bayonne, is a French rugby union club from Bayonne (''Baiona'' in Basque) in Pyrénées-Atlantiques which competes in the Top 14, the top tier of the National Rugby League (France), French league system. ...

has 'pottoka' as its official mascot.

References

*''The Basque Country'' (2002), Yasna Maznik, Hachette UK.

External links

French National Pottok Association

Basque Pottoka Federation
{{Authority control Horse breeds Feral horses Basque domestic animal breeds Horse breeds originating in Spain Horse breeds originating in France