HORSES (История коневодства в Тамбовской области), страница 3

In Tambov the state stable appeared in 1837 in northwest suburb of the city.

The ensemble from two stone buildings and hospital for the animals at the center of internal courtyard was erected in1848. Historically, trotters were placed in the white building of the stables and heavyweights - in the round one.

The gate, decorated with a head of a horse connected the foreside buildings. In ancient times the horse head was a symbol of power for the Scythians, and for our recent ancestors it was a symbol of happiness.

The street along the stable buildings with the lapse of time got the name Konyushennaya. The building of the Tambov State stable is not only the architectural monument of the first half of 19th century, but also the monument of horse-breeding history of Russia.

In the system of stud farms the most important part belonged to the hippodromes. The tests on the hippodrome were obligatory for the selection of saddle-horses and trotters. By their results was performed the animals selection for breeding: on friskiness, endurance and sport qualities of horses. The Tambov hippodrome was one of oldest; it followed the stables and appeared in a valley of Studenets in 1837. In 1876 the racing hippodrome was reconstructed according to the needs of time.

The construction of stables and hippodrome made active local fans of horse sport and had formed the basis for the stud farms association.

Since 1845 the association had been renting the ground floor of Public library (Sovietskaya 114), where the methods of improvement of the horse-breeding were discussed as one of the important branches of the region economy.

The assemblies nominated prizes for trotters and racehorses. In the competitions participated not only the horses of landowners, but also the horses from farms. The data on the most interesting prize-winners were given in «The stud farm book of Russian trotters », issued in St.-Petersburg in 1892.

The competitions and races were usually organized after Tambov horse fairs. They were conducted in June and October of each year on the fairground to the north of the stables.

On Tambov fair they drove the horses from herds by the special cattle roads; and the dealers bought animals here and sent them in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In the middle of 19th century up to 300 horses of different breeds from trotters to draught horses were driven to the fair from the stud farms of the region. The prices differed from 30 to 800 rubles depending on the genuineness. Full information about the fairs was published in the special editions like «The Horse Fairs in Russia».

Annually in Tambov took place the exhibitions of farm horses for agricultural needs. The best samples were awarded with the appropriate premiums.

The wars of last and new centuries have tragically reduced the number of wonderful animals, bred in the region by the efforts of many generations. The working conditions of Tambov State stables were also complicated. Nevertheless, some traditions of Russian horse-breeding were saved there.

The history of the soviet period is marked with new prizewinners and famous Russian troika.

Many years the school of horse sports was working in the stables, where 12-year's old boys and girls were taught the bases of equitation and mainly – the love to this wonderful animals.

In the soviet period the state stable was often visited by one of the first marshals of The Union S.M. Budenniy. The Tambov hippodrome was named after him.

Today the live stock of the horses in Tambov region is decreased dramatically and this process continues. The annual reduction is 600-800 heads.

The bibliography:

Головашин А. Ход конем: Из истории нашего края

// Тамбовская жизнь. - 1992. - 7 мая. - С. 3.

Камбегов Б. Коневодство и коннозаводство России. - М.: Росагромиздат,1988. - 224 с.

Ливанова Т. Рысаки Лавровки // Коневодство и конный спорт. - 1984. - № 2. - С. 12-15.

Неровный Н., Гаврилов П., Казеев Б. Лавровскому конному заводу - 150 // Коневодство и конный спорт. - 1965. - № 3. - С. 15-20.

Щербакова М. Празднование юбилея конного завода (К столетию Новотомниковского завода) // Коневодство и конный спорт. - 1960. - № 9. - С. 5-8.