Tarpan for sale

The Tarpan Horse is an extinct specie of horse that was there since the prehistoric times. In fact, it was considered to be a Eurasian wild horse and it is believed that the last of this wild specie died in captivity in Ukraine in the year 1876. The name Tarpan is derived from the Turkish language meaning horse.

Tarpan actually existed since the prehistoric days, but fell to man’s whims of hunting and cruelty. They were believed to range from Southern France and Spain and East to Central Russia. Some of the cave drawings point to a particular type of horse breeds wildly prevalent in those days in France and Spain. Some of the equine artifacts point to the fact that this breed was from Southern Russia and that Scythian nomads domesticated this animal and around 3000BC. Efforts were made by conservationist and equine experts in the year 1800s, but they were too late. The last of the wild Tarpan died in Ukraine Game Reserve at Askamia Nova in 1876. Later the Polish Government tried to recreate the Wild Tarpan breed by establishing a preserve of animals descended from the original Tarpan. This experiment in cross breeding was carried out in the forested area of Bialowieza. These breed of horses came to be known as the Polish primitive horse.

There have also been several attempts to breed and recreate the wild Tarpan. In the early 1930s, Lutz Heck, the then director of Berlin Zoo and Heinz Heck of the Munich Zoo, both brothers, succeeded to some extent in recreating the original Tarpan. There were actually 3 different programs by three groups independent of one another and they all created a breed that closely resembled the Tarpan, but not its exact replica. One of the main characteristics which even the Heck brothers failed was in recreating the upright manes on the Wild Tarpan. The breed of horses so bred became known as the Heck Horse.