(Also written as Budyonny, Budjonny, Budyenny and Budyonnovsky)
General History
The Budenny was bred to be the ultimate cavalry horse. The breed takes its name from Marshal Semyon Budenny (1883-1973), a major Soviet cavalry commander who founded the breed and oversaw its development. A good Russian cavalry charger was supposed to be a fighter, one that could cover around 100 kilometer a day for several days in a row, and at the end of a hard day’s march have yet enough energy left for an attack, i.e., for a 5-6-kilometer gallop charge.
The Budenny was thoroughly tested for those qualities before 1941, but of course the acid test of the breed was World War II. The Budenny passed it with flying colors, and proved to be a formidable war machine.The Budenny breed is based on Don and Chernomor (similar to the Don but lighter and smaller) mares crossed with Thoroughbred stallions. Kazakh and Kirgiz crosses were also involved, though less successfully.
After the cavalry was disbanded in the USSR in 1953, breeding of the Budenny became more sports- and race-oriented. Overall, more Thoroughbred blood began to be added. The Budennys have been widely used in classical equestrian sports, with spectacular success. One Budenny, Pinkest, was an Olympic champion. Budennys are also quite capable in the dressage arena, have been used for driving, and are well-suited to endurance.
Due to the modern nature of the breed, Budennys are still most common in the Russian provinces, yet can be found throughout Europe. There are two known breeders and an estimated 100 or so individuals of the breed in the U.S.
Breed Characteristics
VNIIK: The All-Russian Institute for Horse Breeding
Discipline Suitability
Other Facts:
*Eighty per cent of Budenny horses are chestnut, often having a golden sheen, which is a throwback to the Dons. Bay and brown horses are found otherwise.
*A unique physical feature of the breed is its ability recover quickly from hard exercise, with pulse rates generally lower than the average horse.
*Keeping and conditioning were considered to be of extreme importance in developing an undemanding horse that could fend for itself in the steppe with only a limited added feeding.
*In 1950 a 24-hour test ride was performed for Budennys. A 6-year stallion Zanos covered 309 kilometers (19 hours of ride), other entries showed slightly smaller mileages.
*The most important male lines are: Braslet, Kodeks, Islam, Saksagan, Tschimkent and the line from the Vollblueter Rubilnik.
References and Favorite Links:
Breed Info I (pets.siuxy)
Breed Info II (horses.ru)
Breed Info III (mypets.net)
Breed Info IV (German Site)
Russian Breeds of Horse
VNIIK (Russian Registry)
Donchak (Official Russian Site for the Budenny)
+ A few of these sites are in languages other than English. Try a free website translator such as http://babelfish.yahoo.com to convert the text into English.