After the decline due to the economic crisis, horse breeding in Russia today is experiencing a significant upsurge. We breed many different breeds of horses in our country. Many old breeding farms that once supplied champions, including those to the world market, are being reborn in the Russian Federation. And one of the largest in the country today is the Kirov stud farm.
Where is located
This company is located in the Tselinsky district of the Rostov region. You can get to it through the roundabout on the federal highway M4 "Don" to Zernograd. This company is located in the village of Voronovo. You can get here by turning off the road between the settlements Egorlykskaya and Tselina to the right.
Company specializations
Engaged in ZAO Kirovsky Horse Factory (Rostov Region), of course, primarily breeding horses. In this case, breeding work at the enterprise is carried out mainly with horses of the Trakenens breed. The factory also contains Arabian horses and Budyonnovsky horses. There are not too many horses bred in the enterprise. They contain them only a few hundred. The management of the enterprise believes that the emphasis in breeding horses should primarily be done not on quantity but on quality.
In addition to horse breeding, this company also specializes in dairy farming. Cows at the plant contain about 600 pcs. Basically, the company is engaged in breeding Simmental highly productive cattle. This breed is currently considered one of the best dairy.
To provide horses and cows with high-quality concentrates and succulent feeds, various sorts of grains and root crops are grown in our own fields on our own fields. Cultivated at a stud farm them. Kirov, for example, corn, barley, legumes, sunflower, beets and, of course, oats. The total area of land owned by the plant is 21,981.4 ha.
At the moment, the company is part of the All-Russian club Agro-300. The structure of CJSC includes, among other things, LLC Kirovsky Stud Farm. It is this subsidiary engaged in the cultivation of fodder, grain and industrial crops on land owned by the farm.
A bit of history
The Kirov stud farm was founded in the century before last. His owners were the landowners brothers Mikhaylikov. At first, the factory did not contain too many horses. After some time, the horses began to win at the races. As a result, the enterprise gained all-Russian fame. The Mikhaylikov brothers were bred at their factory horses mainly of the Don and English breeds. Also, the enterprise contained the Oryol-Rostopchin horses of the same origin as the Trakenens, but bred in other climatic conditions.
During the civil war in 1918-1920. Mikhailikov factory was plundered by the Cossacks. But already in 1921, on its basis, by the decision of the Soviet government, state stables were created. The new plant was called Salsky. Initially, this enterprise was mainly engaged in breeding horses of the Budyonnovsk and Don breed for military purposes. In 1936, the plant was named after Kirov.
In 1945, all the Budyonnovsk and Don horses were transferred by the enterprise to the Gashun horse farm. The need for this arose due to the decision to evacuate trakenensky horses from the Kaliningrad region to the Kirovsky enterprise. The reason for this was the bombing of the local stud farm, engaged in breeding such horses.
Horses of the Trakenens breed: description
Such horses were bred in the area of Koenigsberg by the Germans since the 18th century. The Traken factory was founded in East Prussia in 1792. The main purpose of opening this enterprise was to supply cavalry frisky and unpretentious army horses. The ancestors of the new breed in those days were local fast forest mares, seagulls, and Spanish, Arab and Persian stallions.
A feature of the Trakenen horses is still unpretentiousness, playfulness and good-natured character. At the moment, this breed is considered clean and well-established. Used to procreate at the plant named after Kirov in our time, stallions are producers of trakenens and Arabian horses.
You can recognize a horse of this breed, among other things, by its characteristic mark resembling the horns of an elk. The growth of Trakenen horses grown at the Kirov stud farm (Tselinsky district), on average, reaches 165 cm.
The neck of these horses is straight and long, the head is massive, and the legs are strong. In our time, the Trakenens breed is used mainly for participating in horse racing. These wonderful horses have a very wide step and they win quite often in various competitions. In addition, the Trakenen horses are also characterized by excellent jumping ability.
Two branches
The breeding work at the Kirov stud farm with trakenensky horses is the most serious. Manufacturers are selected as carefully as possible. No more than 3% of all stallions born on the farm are allowed to reproduce the herd.
At present, horses of the Trakenens breed are bred both in Russia and in Germany. The horses of the Kirov plant belong to the Russian branch. In Germany, respectively, divorced German. Experts believe that our domestic horses are superior to foreign in all respects. Trakenen horses of the Russian branch are more expensive than German.
Champions
The equestrian sport supplies the Kirov stud farm excellent horses capable of achieving better results. The most famous horse born at the Kirov factory is considered a stallion named Ashes. This bay frisky horse in the 70s of the last century helped the domestic horsewoman Elena Petushkova to win many titles and awards. This stallion became the world champion in team wrestling in 1972.
Also the best horses of Kirovsky Stud Farm CJSC are:
Espadron
Prince.
Beatop.
Kherson.
Greenhouse.
Many famous masters of sports are performing on horses grown at this enterprise. For example, the leading jockeys of the Russian Federation Kharlam and Natalya Simony prefer horses of the Tarkenn breed.
Budennovsky horses
This breed is currently also race breed. But, like Trakenensky, it was initially withdrawn as cavalry. In the 30s of the last century, Budyonny himself supervised the breeding work to create this breed. From here its name actually went.
Budennovsky horses at the Kirov stud farm, as already mentioned, began to breed in the 20s. But then such horses were transferred to another enterprise. Again, the Budyonnovsk breed at the plant was engaged relatively recently. It was decided to breed this breed at the Kirov enterprise after the threat of its extinction arose due to economic difficulties that arose at the Yurovsky stud farm that was engaged in it.
The peculiarities of the Budennovsky horse are, first of all, the golden color and the muscles very well developed for the horses. Officially, this breed was registered only in the 80s of the last century and is currently considered relatively new.
Growth at the withers of the Budennovsky horses, as well as that of the Trakenensky horses, is on average equal to 165 cm. This breed was derived on the basis of the local Cossack Don and is simply phenomenal frolic. The nature of these horses, in contrast, for example, from the same vicious Arabian horses, is very kind and flexible.
What is a stud farm
At the moment, part of the Kirov enterprise complex are:
the former central estate of the landowners Mikhaylikovs, which houses the arena and museum;
stables;
- cowsheds;
hippodrome;
premises for manufacturers.
Horses are kept at the Kirov stud farm in simply excellent conditions. In the stables there is a kind of renovation. Even the windows in the rooms intended for holding horses seem unusually large for such buildings. Such a design is provided so that as much light as possible penetrates the stalls to the horses. In total, 12 stables were equipped in the territory of this enterprise for 2018.
Jumping competitions are held annually at the Kirovsky factory hippodrome. Both young and accomplished athletes from all over the country come to these competitions.
Museum
The Kirov stud farm has a very rich history. And all of it is reflected in the exposition of the local museum. Anyone can visit this place. Here you can familiarize yourself with cards of the best horses ever displayed at the enterprise, see old German pedigree books of the Trakenens breed, etc.
Cowsheds
Simmental cattle at this enterprise is contained in two spacious rooms with 300 seats each. A large milking parlor is also equipped at the plant. The cowsheds at the enterprise were built from modern lightweight material - ventilation curtains.
In 2017, the company additionally purchased in Denmark and the Netherlands more than 200 heifers of Holstein breed. Like Simmental, such cows are able to produce a lot of milk. The breeding work at Kirovsky Stud Farm CJSC is, of course, carried out not only with horses, but also with cattle.
Thanks to good care and a balanced diet, both breeds of cows in the enterprise show excellent productivity results. The average milk yield per Simmental Burenka for lactation, for example, at the plant reaches 9258 kg. With an average indicator for domestic cattle farms of 4.5-8 thousand kg, this, of course, is a very good result.
Factory today
Today, the Kirov stables focus on horse breeding mainly on show jumping. In such competitions both the Trakenen horses and the Budyonnovsk horses show themselves well. The head of the enterprise at the moment (2018) is the hereditary horse breeder V.N. Sergeev.
Tribal work at the Kirov stud farm today is taking into account the latest advances in reproductive technology. A lot of attention at the enterprise is paid, for example, to artificial insemination of uterus. In order to switch to this modern efficient way of reproducing the herd at the plant, among other things, its own IO station was created, equipped with the latest technology.
Also, a lot of work is being done at the Kirov enterprise to develop half-breed horse breeding. The plant’s breeders made a decision to improve the traditional settled Russian Traken breed by adding fresh western blood.
Horses from this enterprise are very popular among breeders and sports clubs. They are acquired very willingly and are quite expensive. In addition to horses, the enterprise also sells pedigree sperm from the Spree factory stallions today. The case of mares at ZAO Kirovsky Stud Farm can be ordered by private traders as well.
Company staff
Highly qualified employees work at the Kirov stud farm. Whoever gets from the street to this enterprise is not accepted. All workers of the plant have vast experience in caring for elite horses and treat their wards with great love and affection.
The staff of the enterprise does everything possible to ensure an excellent sporting future for the Trakenen breed and the Budyonnovsk breed. Those who work as a livestock specialist in the Kirov stud farm, a veterinarian, or even just a handyman, are of course well acquainted with the peculiarities of keeping race breeds of horses and breeding work with such animals.