Hortobagy

The great plain of the Puszta Hortobagy extends about 25 kilometers west of the city of Debrecen and is around 247,000 acres large.

According to documents, they started in 1671 to breed horses in the Puszta. In 1887 a controlled and selected breeding, according to modern viewpoints began. It was grounded solely on the use of Nonius mares with the emphasis to create a precise and targeted pairing. Unfortunately the stud also became a victim of the war, only the mare Ottila and three colts Sárkány, Sebes and Sovar remained.
Gradually they found and purchased some horses out of former breeds in France, amongst others, the stallion Komám and brought them back. Gradually a selective breeding was again started.

In 1956, the state stud Hortobagy with an area of ​​104,000 acres consisting of 29,600 acres farmland and a further 11120 acres of ponds for breeding carp was founded. Later, most of the Puszta was declared a national park. The biggest part of the old Nonius race was moved from Mezöhegyes to Hortobagy in 1961. The three main tasks of the breeding work consisted of the following points:

1. The preservation of Nonius purebreds to obtain its valuable genetics.

2. The pairing of suitable Nonius mares with thoroughbred stallions for the production of sport horses.

3. The breeding and training of own and purchased colts for the State horse breed.

The breeding of young horses in herds between 50 and 100 animals that are kept in the open Puszta Hortobagy plains accompanied by Csikos. A Csikos knows all about his horses by name, age, parentage and character.

(25.02.2016)