Chongtor Studbook Registry
The Chongtor Studbook Registry (Iradi: Chongtor zhylkysynyn tukum kitebi) is the breed registry and standards body for the Chongtor Horse, the mountain horse of the Talas Alatau and Chatkal ranges. It was established in 1993 under the US territorial administration. Since 2008 it has worked under the joint authority of the National Equestrian Sports Directorate and the Iradi Freedom Society (IAC), which makes it one of the few institutions shared by the two Iradi administrations. It keeps an office at the Irad State Hippodrome in Talas and an inspection center, the Highland Equine Center, in the upper Talas valley on the tribal side of the Qara-Chik Demarcation Line.[1]
History
Chongtor horses were traditionally bred by herding families, and pedigrees were kept orally as part of clan genealogies (sanjyra), in which notable stallions were remembered alongside their owners. Soviet collective farms kept herd books for working horses, but the Chongtor was never recognized as a separate breed in the Soviet system.[2]
The registry was created in 1993 by an act of the Territorial Legislature of Irad, at the same time as the National Equestrian Sports Directorate, to define a breed standard and support exports. It introduced microchip identification and, from 1999, DNA parentage testing. When the 2007 ceasefire left most Chongtor breeding herds in the tribal regions, the registry's work there stopped. An agreement in 2008 between the Directorate and the IAC placed it under a joint board of eight members, four named by each side, which meets twice a year, usually at the Highland Equine Center.[1]
Registration
To be entered in the studbook, a horse must pass three tests:
- Parentage: DNA testing against both registered parents.
- Conformation: an inspection against the breed standard, which calls for a height of 13.2 to 14.2 hands (137–147 cm), a deep chest, dense bone with a cannon-bone circumference of more than 19 cm, and hard, dark hooves that are usually left unshod.
- Performance: a timed 30-kilometer mountain ascent above 2,800 meters, in which heart-rate recovery is measured.
Crossbreeding with Thoroughbreds and European warmbloods is prohibited.[1] Inspection committees in the clan territories record the oral pedigrees of unregistered herds, and horses with a documented descent of several generations can be admitted after inspection. Approved stallions are branded with an inverted-horseshoe mark that recalls the Fallen Rider Tradition.[3]
In 2023 the registry listed about 23,600 living horses, including 640 approved stallions. Most horses in the tribal regions are not registered, and the total number of Chongtor-type horses is unknown.[1] The best-known modern sire is the stallion Almanbet, foundation of the leading endurance line. The ranchers' Chongtor Horse Breeding Guild issues its own breeding certificates.
Other activities
The registry certifies Chongtors for export, which are handled by the Akyel Equine Logistics & Breeding Syndicate and go mainly to trekking stables in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the United States. It also guarantees grazing for retired breeding stock. Horsemeat is not eaten in Irad, and a 1996 act of the Territorial Legislature banned the commercial slaughter of horses and the sale of horsemeat (see Iradi Horsemeat Taboo).[3]
See also
References
- ^ Chongtor Studbook Registry (2023). Annual Register and Breed Standard. Talas.
- ^ State Archives of Irad (Talas), Fond 218: Registers of Equine Studbooks and Traditional Guilds (1922–2020).
- ^ Central Asian Equine Studies (2022). 'Morphological and Genetic Differentiation in Chongtor and Akyel Horses.' Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 89–98.