DIFFICULTY OF OBSTACLES AT HUCUL PATH – THE EVENTS FOR HUCUL HORSES

Anna Stachurska¹, Mirosław Pięta², Maciej Jackowski³, Aleksandra Tarnawa-Wójciga^1
1 Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Agricultural University, Lublin, Poland
² Department of Sheep and Goat Breeding, Agricultural University, Lublin, Poland
³ Department of Horse Breeding, Agricultural University, Cracow, Poland

ABSTRACT

The obstacles used at events for Hucul horses are specific since they examine the qualities of the mountain, primitive horse. The objective of the study has been to determine which obstacles in the Hucul Path are the most difficult for the horses. The results of 3233 trials of passing 179 obstacles by 77 horses at four competitions at preliminary and sport versions of the Path have been analyzed. The obstacle kind, competition and version of the Path considerably influenced the results. The obstacles which involved the least number of faults were the following: gate with a lock, steep descent, passage through a river channel and stretch of road going steeply. The artificial obstacles like zigzag, tyres, labyrinth and jump in-and-out were the most difficult to pass correctly. In the view of the breeding, the results of various competitions and versions should be compared with regard to the high differentiation of the Paths.

Key words: Hucul horse, Hucul Path, obstacle, performance.

INTRODUCTION

Hucul horses are the only mountain horse breed in Poland. Due to the harsh environment conditions and human high requirements, they gained many qualities. These are first of all physical endurance, low feed requirements, resistance to illnesses and longevity that are characteristic of primitive breeds [1,5]. However, the Huculs have also some extraordinary abilities which distinguish them from other primitive horses. The fact that they were always used in Karpaty mountains as packhorses, saddle horses or in harness, made them capable to move efficiently in difficult mountainous terrain and to pass easily natural obstacles [2,4]. Simultaneously, they acquired some unique psychical traits such as a good sense of locality, ability to remember the way, cleverness and courage [3,7]. Many legends are known on the Huculs, e.g. testing a footbridge with a hoof whether it is strong enough to overpass a stream or lying down in the snow and waiting for the end of a blizzard. Very strong instinct is the primitive characteristics of wild animals or domestic animals living under natural conditions. In Huculs, the instinct is combined with mild and friendly character since they have always been bred very close to the mountain people who have been also subjected to the harsh conditions. All their qualities make them nowadays excellent family leisure horses, which can be used both under saddle and in harness, particularly in the horse mountain tourism. The Hucul breed is included in the Global Strategy for the Management of Farm Animal Genetic Resources in order not to loose the biodiversity of the species [12].

The performance of Hucul horses should be constantly tested in the view of breeding purpose [9]. The usual performance tests of warmblood horses including speed, endurance, ability to jump or general rideability are not suitable since they cannot judge reliably the specific Huculs’ virtues. Polish horse scientists have elaborated a complete Utility Championship with the Hucul Path which is its most important part [9, 10, 11]. During a short period, the Path has largely developed and become popular also as a separate kind of events and a part of the regular performance test. Currently, it is run not only in Poland but in Czech and Austria, as well. The conditions of the Path at various championships or tests differ considerably. There are minimum 13-16 obstacles placed on a distance of more than 1000 m. The time allowed is based on the speed approximating that in the trot and depends on the terrain configuration, ground, as well as weather conditions. Competitors start one by one, at time intervals. They score points for each obstacle passed correctly, incorrectly or bypassed. In case of equal final scores, the ranking usually depends on the time of the round closer to the time allowed. The obstacles for the performance test have been defined in the “Breeding program of management of the Hucul Horse genetic resources” [13]. Those used in competitions are more differentiated.

The penalty points scored in the Hucul Path in Gładyszów in 1997 approximated 40% of the total test [8]. Budzyńska et al. [6] show a considerable sire effect on the Hucul Path results which confirms the importance of the test in the view of breeding. According to Jackowski and Kasińska [11], the correlation between the scores in the Paths and total Championship results in 1997-1999 equaled 0.65. The authors also found which obstacles had been the most difficult in the test. The objective of this study has been to examine which obstacles in the Hucul Path competition run nowadays are the most difficult.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four competitions that took place in 2004 were examined: two ones in Poland (Brenna and Gładyszów), one in Czech (Brezi) and one in Austria (Oberohrbach). Preliminary and sport versions of the Hucul Path were held in each competition, moreover there were two sport versions (an easier one and a more difficult one) in Brezi. All of the Paths consisted of 13-16 obstacles and were run at a distance of 1000-2000 m. Totally, they comprised 179 obstacles which were classified into 25 kinds, as much as possible according to the Rules included in the “Program of preservation breeding of Hucul Horses” [9,10]. Some obstacles not included in the Rules or combined out of two or three kinds, were distinguished separately. Since the specific kinds of Hucul Path obstacles are hardly known, some of them are presented in photographs (Photographs 1-13). 77 horses participated in the Hucul Paths 154 times, in total. The results of 3233 trials of passing the obstacles were scored and classified as: 1) passed correctly, 2) passed incorrectly, 3) bypassed.

The differences among the mean results at particular kinds of obstacles in the Hucul Paths were estimated with the least square analysis of variance. Apart from the kind of obstacles, the possible effects of a competition and of a version of the Hucul Path were taken into consideration:

where:

Y_ijkl is the trait value, µ the overall mean, C_i the competition (i=4; Brenna, Gładyszów, Brezi, Oberohrbach), V_j the version of the Hucul Path (j=2; preliminary version, sport version), O_k the kind of obstacle (k=25; footbridge over a ditch, narrow path, slalom, gate with a lock, narrow or low passage, steep descent, stretch of road going steeply, passage through a river channel, beam, curtains, jump of obedience, bank, up-right, blowdown, passage through a ditch with water, logs, labyrinth, tyres, little bridge, doublebarre, zigzag, jump in-and-out, shelter, stairs, combination), e_ijkl the random error.

The analysis was performed in two layouts: in the first one the result of passing an obstacle was considered as generally positive (an obstacle passed correctly: 1 point) or negative (an obstacle passed incorrectly or bypassed: 0 points). In the second layout, exclusively the negatively resulted trials were taken into account in the view whether the obstacles were passed incorrectly (1 point) or bypassed (0 points). In the figures, the negative results are divided into incorrectly passed or bypassed obstacles in the proportion indicated by the second layout of the analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The majority of obstacles were passed with the positive result (77.0%). Within negatively scored trials, most of the obstacles were passed incorrectly (79.3%). Obstacles were bypassed in 20.7% of the trials classified negatively which equals 4.8% of all of the trials. Three investigated factors: the obstacle kind, the competition and the version of the Hucul Path considerably influenced the results (P≤0.01).

The results of passing the obstacles were strongly related to the obstacle kind (Fig. 1). The following obstacles were passed correctly almost exclusively: the gate with a lock (Photograph 1), steep descent, passage through a river channel and stretch of road going steeply. The shelter, bank, logs, curtains (Photograph 2), blowdown (Photograph 3) and narrow path (Photograph 4) were usually passed correctly, as well. Instead, the zigzag (Photograph 13), tyres (Photograph 12), labyrinth and jump in-and-out were passed with less than 60% of positive results. The obstacles up to 70% of positive results were as follows: the combination, narrow or low passage (Photograph 11), stairs (Photograph 10) and little bridge (Photograph 9). The footbridge over a ditch (Photograph 5), doublebarre, combination, passage through a ditch with water (Photograph 6), bank and little bridge were the most frequently bypassed.

Fig. 1. Results of passing various obstacles. Total numbers of trials at particular obstacles marked in brackets

Photograph 1. Gate with a lock – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 2. Curtains – Brezi (photographer M. Jackowski)

Photograph 3. Blowdown – Brezi (photographer M. Jackowski)

Photograph 4. Narrow path – Gładyszów (photographer A. Tarnawa)

Photograph 5. Footbridge over a ditch – Gładyszów (photographer A. Tarnawa)

Photograph 6. Passage through a ditch with water – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 7. Beam – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 8. Jump of obedience – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 9. Little bridge – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 10. Stairs – Gładyszów (photographer A. Tarnawa)

Photograph 11. Narrow and low passage – Brezi (photographer M. Jackowski)

Photograph 12. Tyres – Brenna (photographer J. Kalis)

Photograph 13. Zigzag – Gładyszów (photographer A. Tarnawa)

It can be noticed that the natural obstacles which are usually met by the horses in the mountainous terrain are easy for them to pass. The steep descent and stretch of road which sometimes seem not possible to pass, do not make difficulties for the horses. Instead, artificial obstacles constructed especially for the Hucul Path, like zigzag, tyres or labirynth often involve faults, mainly putting legs outside them. The exception is the curtains which only rarely scared the horses. Typical obstacles for jumping competitions (combination, doublebarre, up-right) are not well-known by the Huculs, hence they are a little bit more frequently bypassed or knocked-down. The obstacles determined by Jackowski and Kasińska [11] as the most difficult in the Championship: a footbridge, a jump of obedience (Photograph 8), a beam (Photograph 7), a low and narrow passage, as well as a narrow path, were placed in this study among those in the middle of the ranking or towards obstacles passed with negative results. The difference between these findings and the present study gave rise to compare the results of entire Hucul Paths run at various competitions.

As shown in Fig. 2, the results varied at different competitions. They were correct the most frequently in Gładyszów and the least frequently in Brezi (P≤0.01). The obstacles were also the most often bypassed at the latter competition (significance of difference with Brenna at P≤0.01 and with Gładyszów and Oberohrbach at P≤0.05). The important differences show that the circumstances at the Hucul Paths and their difficulty are highly differentiated.

Fig. 2. Results of passing obstacles at various competitions. Total numbers of trials at particular competitions marked in brackets

Differences between competitions: – with regard to obstacles passed with positive or negative result significant at P≤0.01 except of Brenna compared to Oberohrbah (insignificant); – with regard to obstacles passed incorrectly or bypassed significant at P≤0.01 between Brenna and Brezi and at P≤0.05 between Gładyszów and Brezi, as well as between Oberohrbach and Brezi.

The mean results considerably differed at preliminary and sport versions of the Hucul Path (Fig. 3). The faults and bypassed obstacles were significantly more frequent at the preliminary version (P≤0.01). This indicates that better horses and riders compete at the sport version. The fact that some horses pass similar Hucul Path at the same competition second time, may be also important since they get accustomed to the new terrain.

Fig. 3. Results of passing obstacles at preliminary and sport versions of the Hucul Path. Total numbers of trials at particular versions marked in brackets

Differences between the versions of the Path with regard to obstacles passed with positive or negative result and with regard to obstacles passed incorrectly or bypassed significant at P≤0.01.

To sum up: the analysis shows a high differentiation of the obstacles, entire competitions and preliminary or sport versions of the Hucul Path. This involves more effort, skills and courage from the horses, which is the aim of the event. However, the breeders should realize that the results are fully comparable only within one competition, whereas those of various Hucul Paths can be compared with caution.

REFERENCES

1. Brzeski E., Górska K., Rudowski M., 1988. Konie Huculskie [Hucul Horses]. PWN, Warszawa [in Polish].

2. Brzeski E., Jackowski M., Łuszczyński J., 1993. Wstępna ocena ruchu koni huculskich. Cz. II. Wpływ treningu stosowanego w okresie letnim w SK Siary [Initial estimate of movements in Hucul Horses. 2nd Part. Influence of the summer exercise in the Horse Stud in Siary]. Zesz. Nauk. Prz. Hod., 10, 27-33 [in Polish].

3. Brzeski E., Jackowski M., Łuszczyński J., 1994. Ocena wybranych cech psychicznych koni huculskich. [Estimate of some psychical traits in Hucul Horses]. Proceedings of International Symposium in Balice, May 17-19, 1994, Institute of Animal Breeding, Balice, 89 [in Polish].

4. Brzeski E., Jackowski M., Łuszczyński J., 1995. Ocena ruchu koni huculskich. Cz. III. Wpływ treningu zaprzęgowego i wierzchowego [Estimate of movements in Hucul Horses. 3rd Part. Influence of exercise in harness and under saddle]. Zesz. Nauk. AR Kraków, Ser. Zootech., 297(30), 95-103 [in Polish].

5. Brzeski E., Jackowski M., 1998. Model konia huculskiego [A model of the Hucul Horse]. Zesz. Nauk. AR Kraków, Ser. Zootech., 228(26), 73-78 [in Polish].

6. Budzyńska M., Krupa W., Kamieniak J., Sapuła M., Gancarz J., 2003. Charakterystyka eksterierowa i użytkowa koni huculskich uczestniczšcych w Czempionacie Hodowlanym [Exterieur and utility characteristics of Hucul Horses attending Breeding Championship]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sect. EE, 21(43), 327-331 [in Polish].

7. Budzyński M., Słomka Z., Sołtys L., 1990. Analiza porównawcza wyników oceny pobudliwosci nerwowej koni rasy huculskiej i koników polskich [Comparative analysis of estimation scores of excitability of Huculs and Polish Koniks]. Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sect. EE, 8, 131-141 [in Polish].

8. Cywińska A., 2000. Czempionat użytkowy konia huculskiego jako próba dzielnosci dla koni tej rasy [Performance championship of the Hucul Horse as a performance test of this breed]. Folia Univ. Agric. Stetin., Ser. Zootech., 212(40), 289-298 [in Polish].

9. Jackowski M., 2001. Regulamin rozgrywania “scieżki huculskiej” jako eliminacji do Czempionatu użytkowego koni huculskich [Regulations of Hucul Path as a preliminary test to the Performance Championship of Hucul Horses]. Hucuły 3, 2-10 [in Polish].

10. Jackowski M., Goraus A., Deskur S., Kario W., Smolak W., Czesnik E., Tomczyk-Wrona I., 1999. Program hodowli zachowawczej koni rasy huculskiej [Program of preservation breeding of Hucul Horses]. Polski Zwišzek Hodowców Koni, Warszawa, http://www.izoo.krakow.pl/formularze/ HUC-zal.RTF [in Polish].

11. Jackowski M., Kasińska K., 2003. “Scieżka huculska” jako istotny element próby dzielnosci koni huculskich [“The Hucul Path” as an important component of the performance test for Hucul Horses]. Rocz. Nauk. Zootech., Supl., 18, 117-120 [in Polish].

12. Peters K., 2003. Strategies for the preservation of indigenous farm animals in Central and Eastern European Countries, Berlin: Division of Animal Breeding in the Tropics and Subtropics, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt University of Berlin,http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/programmes/en/A5.html141.20.115.193/nutztier/tz/pdfs/Conservation.pdf.

13. Tomczyk-Wrona I., Kario W., Jaszczyńska M., 2004. Program hodowlany ochrony zasobów genetycznych koni huculskich. Zał. 1. Ocena wartosci użytkowej koni rasy huculskiej. Regulamin prób dzielnosci dla koni rasy huculskiej [Breeding program of management of the Hucul Horse genetic resources. Annex 1. Estimation of the Hucul Horse performance. Rules of performance test for the Hucul Horse]. http://www.bioroznorodnosc.izoo.krakow.pl/konie [in Polish].

 

Accepted for print: 16.10.2006

---

Anna Stachurska
Department of Horse Breeding and Use,
Agricultural University, Lublin, Poland
Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
phone: +48 81 445 6072
email: anna.stachurska@ar.lublin.pl

Mirosław Pięta
Department of Sheep and Goat Breeding,
Agricultural University, Lublin, Poland
Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
phone: +48 81 445 6733
email: miroslaw.pieta@ar.lublin.pl

Maciej Jackowski
Department of Horse Breeding,
Agricultural University, Cracow, Poland
Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059 Krak?Poland
phone: +48 12 634 1269
email: mjackowski@ar.krakow.pl

Aleksandra Tarnawa-Wójciga
Department of Horse Breeding and Use,
Agricultural University, Lublin, Poland
Akademicka 13, 20-950 Lublin, Poland

---

Responses to this article, comments are invited and should be submitted within three months of the publication of the article. If accepted for publication, they will be published in the chapter headed 'Discussions' and hyperlinked to the article.

---

Main  -  Issues  -  How to Submit  -  From the Publisher  -  Search  -  Subscription