The XIII regional competition of equestrians on Mezen horses was held in the Arkhangelsk region

Competitions allow us to identify the working qualities of horses in the extreme conditions of the Far North, which is very valuable for further selection and breeding of “mezenoks”.
As the chief judge of the competition, HEAD of the selection center for breeding Mezen horses Irina Yuryeva, said, thanks to the work of a team of enthusiasts - specialists and activists - horses are becoming popular in RUSSIA.
“This year, the competition, which took place in the Mezen district of the Arkhangelsk region, was attended by horse owners from the Vologda, Moscow, Leningrad, Kursk, and Ryazan regions,” the expert explained. – Many farms in these regions already have “mezenki”, and someone was looking closely at the breed. Therefore, in addition to the competitions, an exhibition of breeding animals was organized, where breed characteristics can be assessed.”
Following two days of testing, the absolute champion of the competition was a stallion named Replacement, riding under the control of Ivan Shiroky. The Arabian horse, ridden by Oleg Shiroky, was recognized as the champion among working horses. The horses are kept on the gene pool and breeding farm of the fishing collective farm “Sever”, which is the largest agricultural enterprise for breeding “mezenkas”: there are more than 110 heads here, with a total population in Russia of about 500 animals.
During the competition, seven more sets of awards were awarded in various types of tests: trot under saddle at a distance of 2 km and trot in harness without load at 20 km, walk at a distance of 2 km with a load of 500 kg and trot at 15 km with a load of 400 kg, step on virgin snow without a load for 300 meters, test of triplets, traction endurance with a load of 2 tons for the maximum distance.
This year, due to the early thaw, the conditions for testing were more difficult, so in order not to injure the horses, we decided to reduce the load and length of the distance in some types of tests. Thus, on the second day of competition in the traction endurance test for the maximum distance, the weight of the load was reduced from 3 to 2 tons. Here the horse Photon was recognized as the best: under the control of Oleg Shiroky, he covered 1230 meters.
The experts noted that it was very difficult to choose the best, therefore, according to the results of the ranking, two second places were awarded among the stallions: they were taken by Substitute and Chernogor, and the winner was the horse Pegasus. All of them belong to the gene pool and breeding farm of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Sever”.
Among the Mezen breed mares, Aprilka took first place, and Taibola took second place. These animals belong to the Ostrov stud farm. Third place was awarded to the mare Smuglyanka, whose owner is the Mezenska Horse Club.
“Thanks to their good disposition, Mezen horses can be used in hippotherapy and working with children. This is confirmed by the owners of equestrian clubs, where “mezenki” become real favorites of visitors,” said Irina Yuryeva.
Summing up the results of the competition, Minister of Agriculture and Trade of the Arkhangelsk Region Irina Bazhanova noted that the event once again confirmed the high breeding value of Mezen breed horses, which are included in the register of breeding animals of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture.
“To preserve the unique gene pool in Pomorie, a lot of painstaking work is being done both by specialists from the selection center and by employees of agricultural enterprises in the region,” said the head of the department. – Every year, to preserve the breed, regional enterprises are allocated state support funds: in 2024 , for example, more than 3.7 million rubles. We hope that thanks to an integrated approach to working with “mezenka”, its popularity will grow not only in Pomorie, but also in other regions of Russia.”