The number of horses in the Russian Empire peaked in in 1913 and was around 35 million in 1916 (the US had about 20 million horses in 1915, and the two countries accounted for half the global equine population). At the time, they were almost all used in agriculture.
The Soviet horse population plummeted during the Civil War, recovered during the NEP, then plummeted again during the early 1930s famine, recovered slightly again, but was further depleted by WW2, and stood at 12.8 million around 1950. The USSR then embarked on large-scale tractorization, and the horse population fell into long-term decline, reaching 9.9 million in 1960, 6.3 million in 1970 (of which 3.2 million in the RSFSR), and 5.6 million in 1980 (of which 2.5 million were in the RSFSR). It then seems to have stabilized; at any rate, the RSFSR horse population stood at 2.6 million by 1990.
Then it collapsed again in the upheaval of the 1990s, but bottomed out during the 2000s, and there were 1,381,300 horses in Russia as of 2016, the latest year for which data is available.
Where hither for Russian horses?
The US example might be instructive. The horse population peaked around 27 million in 1920, but then came tractorization, and the US horse population started plummeting due to economic obsolescence. They reached a trough of close to 3 million by the 1960s. However, people got richer, and interest in horses revived, this time for recreational reasons. By the 2000s, the horse population had gone back up to 10 million.
There are tentative signs that this is happening in Russia. While the number of horses belonging to agricultural organizations has plummeted from 2.3 million (i.e. almost all of them) to 300,000 by 2016, the numbers belonging to farmers and individual entrepreneurs has increased from a few 10,000’s in the 1990s to 369,000 by 2016.
If disposable incomes continue to increase, it is probable that the Russian horse population will become predominantly recreational, and will drive a recovery in numbers to 2-3 millions.
If I understand correctly, this accounts for only half of the almost 1,4 million horses currently in Russia – who’s owning the rest? Private persons? Are there that many people in Russia who can afford such a luxury?
The one form of gambling still allowed anywhere in Russia is on horse racing. From memory, about 30 race courses survived the short hiatus when it was illegal. There are probably more now especially in Muslim areas. The police also use horses to control football hooligans. The armed forces may still have some for rough terrain. Many traditional Cossacks keep saddle mounts.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/17/photographs-from-scotts-doomed-polar-expedition-sold-auction-bonhams
The US also has a major problem with feral horses, whose completely unacceptable existence is aided and abetted by numerous primitive cults that worship horses. These invasive pests even enjoy protection under Federal law, even though they are not native to this continent and compete with both useful livestock and wild bison.
This evil woman, almost certainly guilty of equine bestiality, was instrumental in the campaign to protect this menace: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velma_Bronn_Johnston
The same horse-worshipping (and worse) primitives succeeded in kept horse slaughter illegal until 2011, negatively impacting America’s already disastrous balance of trade. There was even an effort to prohibit the transportation of horses to foreign slaughterhouses!
I don’t think anyone will be surprised to learn that this effort was led by a woman.
https://www.govtrack.us/data/photos/300063-200px.jpeg
Here it is folks, the face of evil (and, likely, horse lust).
Fortunately horse slaughter is once again legal, and America is now happily exporting horse meat to cultures which do not labor under horse meat taboos as Anglos do.
But we can’t rest–these demented primitives so worship horses that they continue to labor against horse slaughter. They want to damage our companies, workers, and foreign trade in the name of horse worship.
In America in the past lived many horses (and mammoths , lions, camels, cheetahs),
http://fs71.trilulilu.ro/imgs/freespirit78/megafauna-de-america-del-norte_42f550056a5cfe.jpg
but they were exterminated by the ancestors of the Indians. This horse in America is reintroducing species.
“Hold stick near centre of its length. Moisten pointed end in mouth. Insert in tooth space, blunt end next to gum. Use gentle in-out motion.”
—The toothpick instructions that convinced Wonko mankind in general was crazy.
The horses that lived in North America 12,000 years ago were not the same as the feral horses in America today. These horses are the product of an additional 12,000 years of evolution, and for around half of that time artificial selection via controlled breeding has been operative as well.
And in any case there’s not just the matter of today’s feral horses being invasive and thus under no plausible grounds for conservation protection, unlike, say, various menacing apex predators protected by the federal government (wolves, cougars, and grizzlies).
There is also the fact that as grazers, horses compete for pasture with cattle and bison. As Anglos eat neither horse flesh nor horse dairy, this means that every feral horse in existence reduce our potential output of ruminant meat and dairy and increases the relative cost of grazing land. Even if we did eat horse, horse flesh is inferior in both taste and nutrition to beef.
The only possible justification for feral horses would be to slaughter them for export, but beef commands a much higher price on the market than horse flesh despite being more economical to produce as well. And even if we were to establish a major horse flesh industry, why would we do so with feral horses?
It must be official policy of the United States federal government to exterminate feral horses, and all the horses killed must be slaughtered and exported to horse-eating cultures in order to really stick it to the primitive horse worshipping cults that plague our land.
Sure. A few people in my town have horses, and these people don’t seem posh. Some of them just like riding, others give riding lessons or take the horses to the park in the nearby city, where they probably can make a few hundred euros on a Saturday or Sunday giving rides to children.
I suspect that horse-keeping is less expensive in Russia than America as Russia has a lower population density and much larger fraction of its land area is unproductive.
Horse ownership in America is noticeably more common in our Western states, and I doubt it’s just because of their cowboy heritage.
Of course in relative terms it may be more expensive owing to lower Russian wages.
But how many horse girls does Russia have?
I mean that’s the question, isn’t it.
https://i.imgur.com/UOaWWAU.jpg
This is either the best trolling or the oddest sincere comment I’ve read in a long time. Idolatry, bestiality, international trade, bigotry, it’s got it all.
Horses are also found with non-rich people.
In many countries. For example, in Irish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHPn269TOBo
My father, born in 1923, grew up in the rural west of Ireland where everybody was dirt poor. A horse was an unreachable luxury on his 20 acre farm. His family hired another farmer to do the plowing (by horse, or course) once per year. Donkeys, though, were freely obtainable, and were quite useful to have on a small farm. They can work all day hauling a cart or carrying weighty objects on their back. Didn’t need much care and there were no predators to cause any fright. They ran wild down by the lake and when one’s donkey passed on it was easy to grab a foal and domesticate him. Nowadays, Ireland is prosperous and Donkeys are expensive to purchase. No more just grabbing a wild foal down by the lake, river or swamp. People don’t use them as work animals anymore. Those who have them like them as pets. Friendly, colorful, useful critters.
Interesting comment.
Thank you for sharing.
I am not Irish, but I do use Aer Lingus to visit my father in France. In the warmer months there is a Dublin-Nice flight, and Dublin has US immigrations and customs preclearance! Aer Lingus transatlantic business class is also much cheaper than its competitors.
Young girls actually do crush on horses. It is kind of a weird phenomenon which seems to be based on horses being large, powerful animals. Obviously, it is platonic, but many go on to idolize the same traits in men. Ask them to imagine their ideal man and they will say a tall, strong man.
So, it is easy to imagine horses being an especial weakness of women, who already like animals, and therefore it is easy to imagine them being the main movers behind causes to protect horses.
Daniel H:
For those visiting Ireland I would recommend The Donkey Sanctuary in Liscarroll, Mallow, County Cork. It’s an amazing place to make the acquaintance of those “Friendly, colorful and useful critters.”
The Sanctuary is probably the best run and warm public venue that I’ve ever visited.
The Irish Sanctuary is an offshoot of its English original.
I traveled to Hamburg once, and was very surprised to find the city smelled like horse manure. Of course, that wasn’t the whole city, just a few square kilometers or so. Some rich people kept horses near where I was staying, but I’m not sure that really explained the whole smell, maybe gardeners used manure or something.
So far, it is the only famous city that I associate with the smell of horse manure.
I’ve heard much the same thing about Ireland regarding donkey carts in the 1800s. They were a real boon to the common people. That was, I think, after the roads had been improved.
Before that, supposedly, in really remote areas, when they needed a big load moved, they would capture a wild bog pony and then tie a load to its tail. Releasing it later, back into the bogs. They had a light bone structure, so they wouldn’t sink in, but feed on marginal land.
Do you have a Patreon? I’d like to donate toward getting you a sandwich board.
Why is this obvious?
Two women I’ve screwed have admitted to being screwed by horses.
The only thing that makes horses different from the dogpill is that horses are less convenient.
For the dogpill see here: https://www.answerbag.com/q_view/721968
Thank you for your kind remark.
I am a wealthy corporate executive and thus do not need Patreon. I also don’t want to be incentivized to spend too much time on non-business activities.
I stay anonymous as I build my wealth, but I ultimately will enter politics.
Thank you for your kind remark.
I am sincere.
What is not evident to modern, urban peoples is that if you already live on the land, keeping horses is not an especial luxury. A few acres of pasturage per horse is sufficient to maintain a horse for the year. The main expense is the effort of harvesting hay for the winter months. If you don’t already make hay yourself anyway, you can hire it done or just buy hay from someone who does. In the US the cost is typically a few dollars per (old fashioned square) bale, which will last a horse a day or two, so it works out to a very few dollars per day, or about what you probably pay for car insurance, and that only during the winter. In climates that don’t freeze and winter forage is less an issue, it is even cheaper. In deference to commenter Thorfinnsson, there is the opportunity cost that more economically productive cattle could have been kept on the same land, but in large, thinly populated countries like Russia and the US, shaving off a few acres here and there for a family horse or two is trivial.
If you live in the city, however, then you have to pay someone to for care, grooming, stable, feed, etc., and you are looking at hundreds of dollars per month, so yeah, a luxury.
After certain hours people are permitted to ride their horses on the sidewalks in central Moscow; I’ve seen them doing this in their riding costumes. It’s not a common sight, but it happens.
These people are morons who do not understand the concept of opportunity cost.
Reminds me of one of my female executives who the other day told me the corporate F-250 isn’t a problem because it’s “paid off”.
This is why I support slavery.
In South Wales where mountain top sheep walk is not very expensive, it has been traditional for families of modest means to keep a pony. Three of them the other side of my fence, 2500 feet up in the 80’s. Mother, yearling, foal. Down here in the lowlands they are horses and expensive.
He ones I see in Russia are broken down nags. Always in terrible condition.
Not a hard hat amongst them.
The Hucul breed is undergoing a renaissance in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe bordering on the Carpathian mountains. It’ a durable breed capable of agricultural work but also has a good disposition and is helping to fuel the nascent green tourism industry.
https://www.hutsulpony.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hucul_pony
aaaawwwwwww. They’re so cute!