Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Connoisseurs and lovers of horses indeed have heard a lot about the beauty and grace of majestic Karabakh horses from Azerbaijan.

They are considered one of rare species in the world and the oldest one in Asia and the Caucasus, being a source of pride and dignity for Azerbaijanis over the centuries.

Today, beautiful Karabakh horses are known as a special breed throughout the world.

The horses, famous for their dense chestnut color, recently showed their brilliant performance at the celebration of the 90th jubilee of British Queen Elizabeth II reign.

The celebration programme saw troupe of dancers from Azerbaijan, and riders who perform acrobatics on Karabakh mountain horses.

Synthesis of the elements of the national dance shown with higher horse breeding composition grasped huge interest of the participants. The moderator announced the composition to be a favorite of the show.

Karabakh breed horses were also presented at the celebration of the anniversary of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II reign in 2012. Before, the English queen received a golden horse of Karabakh as a gift in 1956. The Karabakh stallion named Zaman went down in history as the first Azerbaijani breed presented at the London castle.

The Queen already is known for her love and passion for horses, who is successfully breeding animals which have gone on to win more than thousands races. On her fourth birthday, the young Princess Elizabeth first experienced to ride on, when she was given a Shetland pony called Peggy by her grandfather.

As part of the four-day celebration party lasting for over 90 minutes, 900 horses and more than 1,500 participants from around the UK and the world will create a joyful event for the Queen.

The Karabakh horses are valued for their resistance in mountainous terrain, mild temper and dense chestnut color.

Unfortunately, the number of Karabakh horses began to decline in the backdrop of the civil and ethnic wars in the Caucasus and Karabakh region. At the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, horses constantly moved from one place to another, and it was one of the reasons for the dramatic population declines of these amazing creatures.

Now the breed’s largest and purebred herds living in the dense forests of Sheki region.

In 2007, the Agriculture Ministry developed a program for the conservation and growing of the breed for the next 15 years.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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