История коневодства в Тамбовской области
before marriage) to be present on it with visitors, which were in
Novotomnikovo that time. The visitors were only grand people: the members
of tzar family, which arrival was marked with planting of one more tree in
oak alley of ancient park. Such as relatives of four daughters married off
in families of Shuvalov’s, Sheremetyev’s, Musin-Pushkin’s, and Demidov’s.
The conversations about horses touched common interest, as all
aristocracy had stables and stud farms. This kind of private business was
considered to be almost the only activity that is not derogating dignity of
a true aristocrat.
By the end of 19th century on private and state stud farms in
Russia there were 20 trotters prizewinners of an American origin. In the
mass order there was a crossing of blooded Oryol dams with American
trotters.
The most given was Vorontsov-Dashkov. Even two victories of
“oryols” over “americans” in summer season of 1898 didn’t cool him. The
Oryol trotter Boets broke the record on three miles established by American
trotter Monnet. His own mare Krylataya broke the record of Monnet on three
and three quarters of second in the same season. But he had made the
choice, « his knight's move », and was not going to back up. Soon the count
accepted on a service all jockeys of Clayton’s family with the fantastic
salary 300 thousands rubles per year.
The outstanding scientist hippologist prince Sergei Urusov engaged in
controversy against Vorontsov-Dashkov. Urusov considered cross-breeding «as
a medicine not by illness». «The only developing of ability to quick trot,
as they have made with the trotter in America, - he wrote, - will result in
quick but narrow, boneless, long-legged horse without rib and quite often
without a back and completely useless in agriculture. It is necessary to
improve inside the breed. Bad can be born even from good but never good
from bad ».
Many years have passed since then and this dispute has not
finished yet.
After the death of the count Vorontsov-Dashkov in 1916 his heirs,
going to leave the country, arranged cut-price sale of all horses’ elite of
the farm. In Soviet time it became only a branch of state stud farm in
Morshansk.
By 1918 in Novotomnikovo left only three blooded mares of Oryol
breed. Horses were taken from stables both by “red” and “white”. The very
nice farm before now it fell to desolation and, as the saying goes, the
farm was going. For long time it was existing only as horsing point, on
which only a dozen of mares were blissomed per year.
By a lucky chance among the three left blooded Oryol dams there
was the young mare Opora. Later she was bound to play the outstanding role
in domestic horse-breeding and to save the breed of Oryol trotters from
complete oblivion. In a 1934 she gave birth to a colt named Otboy. His
father was stallion Burelom born in 1927. The Moscow scientist hippologist
S. Kalinin liked this streamlined trotter after the Moscow races in 1930
and advised to pay the special attention to him.
Meanwhile stud farms kept cross-breeding of Oryol trot horses,
what was started before the revolution. Only now they cross-breed blooded
Oryol mares not with American trotters, the state did not give money to buy
them, but with crossbreeds’ posterity. At first they were called “american-
oryols”, then just Russian trotters. They were propagated on six stud
farms, mainly on Lavrovsk farm in our region.
The big work was performing continuously on creating and developing of
that new breed of thrifty trotters. The care for Oryol trotters was paled
into insignificance. The majority of the experts believed that this breed
had reached the limits of the further perfection. And, as it turned out,
they were wrong.
Today in stalls of Novotomnikovo stud farm stay the good-lookers
of Oryol breed restored by the efforts of horse-breeding enthusiasts. The
farm fosterlings have reached friskiness, which once was considered
possible only for American trotters. Now the Russian troyka, made from
Oryol trotters revives abroad as the mode. The customers from abroad
readily buy them in Novotomnikovo.
One cannot name the work on cross-breeding of Oryol trotter with
American one as reckless step. If due to Oryol trotter Russia gained the
improved breed of working horses in place of bow-backed hacks with bangled
stomachs, then the cross-breeding of Oryol horse gave the new breed of
Russian trotter of distinct sportish type.
There is no other animal like horse the mankind is so indebted
to. Without the count Aleksei Orlov we would not have Oryol trotters, which
bring glory to Russia for many years, making an ornament to our nation. We
would not receive a trotter, which is used for breed improvement of
trotting horses almost in all countries of Western Europe, and also in Asia
and America.
For the revirescence of beautiful Oryol trotter we are obliged to
S. Kasimenko. It was him, who managed the farm and choose the dams for
Burelom. In such selection the ancestry of dams is very important, down to
their great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers and even deeper into a
family tree. All their features and qualities are taken into account. All
was clear with Burelom, the son of distinguished Oryol trotter Lovchiy.
Maternally his bloodline ascended to the famous stallion Zadorniy, who
brought the first glory to Novotomnikovo farm of Vorontsov-Dashkov. But the
mare Opora, born even before October revolution, was in declining years for
horses and seemed to be not a suitable bride for young beauty Burelom.
However Kasimenko took chances. As we mentioned, stallion Otboy was born
from this unequal march. The careful godfather to him became A. Samoilov,
who replaced Kasimenko in a 1934.
At first Otboy didn’t show anything special in posterity. They
have from him just common trotters and dams not distinguished by high
friskiness, only their exterior was faultless.
The farm decided to part with Otboy. He was sent to other stud
farm. And here we should say thanks to A. Popov, who was the head of horse
department during the Great Patriotic War. Popov decided to return Otboy in
Novotomnikovo. But the new head V. Remizov received him there. Popov went
to the front in 1943 and did not come back on farm, as well as other 36
workers of farm - hostlers, jockeys, foragers, tractor operators, smiths
didn’t return here after war.
Remizov had been working in Novotomnikovo till 1965, and in his
time a new line in breed of Oryol trotter was born and appeared the new
branch on his family tree. The grey colt Otklik came into being after Otboy
and mare Konventsiya on Zaporozhye stud farm in 1952. Konventsiya had
arrived on this farm from Novotomnikovo already pregnant. So all palms for
a new line of Oryol trotter belong to the stud farm in Novotomnikovo.
The posterity of Otklik appeared to be marvelously quick. The
stallions Vodovorot and Borets ran a mile for two minutes and four tenths
of a second.
The interest to Oryol trotter has revived today all over the world.
Horses from Novotomnikovo have purchased the stud farms of Czechoslovakia,
Hungary, China, Germany, and Sweden. All America and Canada have got
acquainted with troika of Oryol trotters, where the thiller was a trotter
from Novotomnikovo farm. The millions of televiewers in these countries
admired them. Many newspapers of Old and New World enthusiastically wrote
about them.
The Lavrovo stud farm
The Lavrovo stud farm is located in Mordovian area of Tambov
region and stands out against other trotting stud farms because of the
achievements of its fosterlings.
Established by the good judge of horses V.P. Voeykov 170 years
ago, the Lavrovo stud farm is one of «big fishes» of domestic trotters. Ii
is the birthplace of the well-known grey Oryol trotter Lebed 5.44 (Atlasniy
- Pobeda), born in1829. He is on the pictures of the artist N.G. Sverchkov
and on the tapestry made by bondmaids from village Lavrovo. These things
are kept in the museum of horse-breeding of TAA.
Till the end of 80-th the farm in Lavrovo kept the path of cross-
breeding.
During the civil war the facilities were ruined, the horses were
plundered. They could save only one mare Margaritka 2.16,1 (Fatalist -
Binyonia), born in 1918, who later became a founder of dams family and was
the great-grandmother of Pervenets 2.00,4. During the acquisition of the
farm (1922-23) not only “Oryol-Americans” got there, but also the Oryol
