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Nonius (horse)
Encyclopedia
The Nonius, or Nóniusz, is a horse breed
named after its Anglo-Norman
foundation
sire
. The breed was developed at the Imperial Stud
at Mezőhegyes
, Hungary
by careful linebreeding. Originally bred to serve as a light draft and utility horse for Hungary's military
, the breed became a useful agricultural horse during the 20th century. Today the breed is bred by preservationists and is used in agriculture, leisure riding, and competitive driving
sports. The largest numbers of Nonius horses are still found at Mezőhegyes, with representatives in other eastern Europe
an nations as well.
and Turkish
horses were elegant and reactive, and left their mark on the stock of Hungarian horses. Even after the Ottoman occupation of Hungary ended in 1699, the attachment between Hungary and the Arabian horse remained. During the 18th century, the Hungarian court and aristocracy began to follow the tastes of their western neighbors for Iberian
types. The Spanish and Neapolitan
imports of the time sparked the creation of the Lipizzan
er and Kladruber
. These Austrian breeds are known for the features of their Spanish-Neapolitan ancestors: thick, high-set neck, elegant but heavy head, short back and agility. Demand for suitable mounts for the courtiers and aristocrats outstripped the production by private breeders, and so during his reign Joseph II
instructed the building of a number of state Stud farm
s.
, half-bred Furioso-North Star, and the heavier Nonius.
. He was captured from the French Stud at Rosiers aux Salines during the Napoleonic Wars
and brought to Mezohegyes in 1816.
Even as a foal he was considered ugly. At maturity, the light bay stallion stood about 16.3 hands high. Whether he possessed all of the conformational traits attributed to him - a list that includes most major failings - is hard to know. The qualities of his descendants suggest that he had, at the very least, a very plain head. "Without special beauty in [his] looks," Nonius at first did not serve many mares at Mezohegyes. It was not until his offspring began to show that they were not so unfortunate as their sire, and additionally possessed uncommon endurance and power that his popularity began to rise. Going forward, his mates at Mezohegyes were the fashionable daughters of Spanish-Neapolitan stallions, descended from the Arabian-impressed Hungarian stock.
The Prince of Lobkowitz, who in 1854 became the head of Mezohegyes, stressed the importance of fixing the type - that is, making the characteristics of a breed of animal genetically homogenous - of the horses. This goal was achieved by linebreeding, though the one season that Nonius Senior served his own daughters was notably unsuccessful: of the 33 foals, 11 died while only 2 were broodmare-quality and 1 was stallion-quality. However with more experimentation, the Nonius breed emerged as a uniformly heavy but elegant military driving and carting horse. In 1865, Arabian and Thoroughbred stallions were introduced for Nonius Senior's female descendants in the hopes of correcting a lack of balance and elegance among the Nonius horses. Fifteen of Nonius's sons stood stud, and 122 were broodmares.
. The military technological advances of World War II
displaced the Nonius horses, which were then directed towards agriculture instead. The damage that the property, supplies, and livestock of Mezohegyes suffered during the Second World War were steadily rebuilt up through the 1960s. Communist Hungary was not supportive of horseback riding, and in the years between 1947 and 1961, more Hungarian horses were lost to the abbatoir than were casualties of the war. Attempts to produce sport-oriented horses from Nonius stock were largely unsuccessful, though during the 1970s combined driving
emerged as a popular horse-sport at which the Nonius could excel. In 1989 the Nonius Horse Breeders National Association was formed to protect the purebred Nonius horse. Today estimates put the population of Nonius horses at about 450 mares and 80 stallions. The largest population is found at Mezohegyes, with other herds in Romania, Bulgaria, and Vojvodina (Serbian province).
of 70-83 inches (180–210 cm) and a cannon circumference of 8-9 inches (22–24 cm).
Nonius horses are also known for a kind, even temperament and great willingness and capacity for work both in harness and under saddle. In addition they are usually easy keepers with high endurance. They are used today in agricultural work, light draft and the sport of combined driving
. The popularity of driving sport in Hungary rose sharply during the 1970s and 1980s. The Combined Driving World Championships are held every 2 years, and the most competitive event features teams of four horses. Of the 6 champions named between 1974 and 1984, all but one were Hungarian. The Nonius is slower and less suitable for other riding sports like dressage
and show jumping
than lighter horses.
Horse breed
Horse breed is a broad term with no clear consensus as to definition, but most commonly refers to selectively bred populations of domesticated horses, often with pedigrees recorded in a breed registry. However, the term is sometimes used in a very broad sense to define landrace animals, or...
named after its Anglo-Norman
Anglo-Norman horse
The Anglo-Norman horse was a warmblood horse breed from the old province of Normandy in northern France. From early in the 19th century, local Norman mares were crossed with imported English thoroughbreds, Norfolk Roadsters and half-breds, which themselves had Norfolk Roadster and Mecklenburg blood...
foundation
Foundation bloodstock
Foundation bloodstock or foundation stock are horses that are the progenitor, or foundation, of a new horse breed or a given bloodline within a breed. The term is also used in a similar manner when discussing purebred dogs...
sire
Sire
Sire may refer to:* Father, the counterpart of a dam, particularly in animal breeding. See also stallion* James W. Sire, author on worldviews* Sire Records, a record label* Sire Advertising, an advertising agency...
. The breed was developed at the Imperial Stud
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
at Mezőhegyes
Mezohegyes
Mezőhegyes is a town in Békés county, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. It is home to the Hungarian State Stud , founded in 1784 and famous for its Nonius, Furioso-North Star and Gidran breeds of horse.-Geography:...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
by careful linebreeding. Originally bred to serve as a light draft and utility horse for Hungary's military
Horses in warfare
The first use of horses in warfare occurred over 5,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of horses ridden in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons...
, the breed became a useful agricultural horse during the 20th century. Today the breed is bred by preservationists and is used in agriculture, leisure riding, and competitive driving
Combined driving
Combined driving also known as Horse Driving Trials is an equestrian sport involving carriage driving. In this discipline the driver sits on a vehicle drawn by a single horse, a pair or a team of four. The sport has three phases: Dressage, Cross-country Marathon and Obstacle Cone Driving and is...
sports. The largest numbers of Nonius horses are still found at Mezőhegyes, with representatives in other eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an nations as well.
History
Horse-breeding has been an important facet of Hungarian culture since its settlement, due largely to its geographic location and open plains. The Ottoman Conquest, beginning in 1526, saw an influx of eastern, desert-type horses traditionally described as "oriental." These ArabianArabian horse
The Arabian or Arab horse is a breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easily recognizable horse breeds in the world. It is also one of the oldest breeds, with archaeological evidence of horses...
and Turkish
Turkoman Horse
The Turkoman horse, or Turkmene, was an Oriental horse breed from the steppes of Central Asia, now extinct. Modern descendants include the Akhal-Teke and the Yamud horse breeds. Horses bred in Turkmenistan are still referred to as Turkoman, and have similar characteristics...
horses were elegant and reactive, and left their mark on the stock of Hungarian horses. Even after the Ottoman occupation of Hungary ended in 1699, the attachment between Hungary and the Arabian horse remained. During the 18th century, the Hungarian court and aristocracy began to follow the tastes of their western neighbors for Iberian
Iberian horse
The Iberian horse is a title given to a number of horse breeds native to the Iberian peninsula. At present, 17 horse breeds are recognized by FAO as characteristic of the Iberian Peninsula....
types. The Spanish and Neapolitan
Neapolitan horse
The Neapolitan Horse, , Neapolitano or Napolitano, is a horse breed that originated in the plains between Naples and Caserta, in the Campania region of Italy, but which may have been bred throughout the Kingdom of Naples. The Neapolitan horse was frequently mentioned in literature from the 16th to...
imports of the time sparked the creation of the Lipizzan
Lipizzan
The Lipizzan or Lipizzaner , is a breed of horse closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria, where the finest representatives demonstrate the haute école or "high school" movements of classical dressage, including the highly controlled, stylized jumps and other movements...
er and Kladruber
Kladruber
The Kladruber is the oldest Czech horse breed, and today is considered very rare. The main breeding centre is in National stud farm Kladruby nad Labem in the Czech republic where Kladrubers have been bred for more than 400 years, being now one of the world's oldest horse breeds...
. These Austrian breeds are known for the features of their Spanish-Neapolitan ancestors: thick, high-set neck, elegant but heavy head, short back and agility. Demand for suitable mounts for the courtiers and aristocrats outstripped the production by private breeders, and so during his reign Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
instructed the building of a number of state Stud farm
Stud farm
A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word "stud" comes from the Old English stod meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding" Historically, documentation of the breedings that occur on a stud farm leads to the...
s.
Mezohegyes State Stud of the Imperial Court
The State Stud of the Hungarian Royal and Imperial Court, Mezohegyes, was founded in 1784 to help meet the demand for horses. At the time, Hungary was home to 1.5 million horses, with the Hungarian cavalry requiring between 10,000 and 15,000 new mounts per year. Different horses fulfilled different roles: courtiers and aristocrats wanted agile, responsive, impressive riding horses for their military endeavors, resilient mounts for hunting on horseback, in addition to elegant carriage horses. Fulfilling these demands led Mezohegyes to develop several different breeds and strains: the Arab-influenced GidránGidran
The Gidran, Gidrán, or Hungarian Anglo-Arab is a horse breed developed in Hungary from bloodstock that included the Arabian horse. All members of the breed are Chestnut. It is an endangered breed today, with only about 200 living representatives worldwide.The Gidran breed began its development in...
, half-bred Furioso-North Star, and the heavier Nonius.
Nonius Senior
The Nonius breed owes its name to its foundation sire, though since his male descendants share his name, he is called "Nonius Senior." Nonius was born in 1810 in Calvados, Normandy. His sire was the Thoroughbred Orion, and his dam was a Norman mare; all told Nonius was 3/8 Thoroughbred, an Anglo-Norman horseAnglo-Norman horse
The Anglo-Norman horse was a warmblood horse breed from the old province of Normandy in northern France. From early in the 19th century, local Norman mares were crossed with imported English thoroughbreds, Norfolk Roadsters and half-breds, which themselves had Norfolk Roadster and Mecklenburg blood...
. He was captured from the French Stud at Rosiers aux Salines during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and brought to Mezohegyes in 1816.
Even as a foal he was considered ugly. At maturity, the light bay stallion stood about 16.3 hands high. Whether he possessed all of the conformational traits attributed to him - a list that includes most major failings - is hard to know. The qualities of his descendants suggest that he had, at the very least, a very plain head. "Without special beauty in [his] looks," Nonius at first did not serve many mares at Mezohegyes. It was not until his offspring began to show that they were not so unfortunate as their sire, and additionally possessed uncommon endurance and power that his popularity began to rise. Going forward, his mates at Mezohegyes were the fashionable daughters of Spanish-Neapolitan stallions, descended from the Arabian-impressed Hungarian stock.
The Prince of Lobkowitz, who in 1854 became the head of Mezohegyes, stressed the importance of fixing the type - that is, making the characteristics of a breed of animal genetically homogenous - of the horses. This goal was achieved by linebreeding, though the one season that Nonius Senior served his own daughters was notably unsuccessful: of the 33 foals, 11 died while only 2 were broodmare-quality and 1 was stallion-quality. However with more experimentation, the Nonius breed emerged as a uniformly heavy but elegant military driving and carting horse. In 1865, Arabian and Thoroughbred stallions were introduced for Nonius Senior's female descendants in the hopes of correcting a lack of balance and elegance among the Nonius horses. Fifteen of Nonius's sons stood stud, and 122 were broodmares.
Development and present day
The roles and popularity of the Nonius breed were affected by periods of social and political upheaval. In 1900 the utilitarian quality and modest appearance of the Nonius horses won the breed the title of "Ideal Horse" at the Paris Exposition UniverselleExposition Universelle (1900)
The Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, from April 15 to November 12, 1900, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next...
. The military technological advances of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
displaced the Nonius horses, which were then directed towards agriculture instead. The damage that the property, supplies, and livestock of Mezohegyes suffered during the Second World War were steadily rebuilt up through the 1960s. Communist Hungary was not supportive of horseback riding, and in the years between 1947 and 1961, more Hungarian horses were lost to the abbatoir than were casualties of the war. Attempts to produce sport-oriented horses from Nonius stock were largely unsuccessful, though during the 1970s combined driving
Combined driving
Combined driving also known as Horse Driving Trials is an equestrian sport involving carriage driving. In this discipline the driver sits on a vehicle drawn by a single horse, a pair or a team of four. The sport has three phases: Dressage, Cross-country Marathon and Obstacle Cone Driving and is...
emerged as a popular horse-sport at which the Nonius could excel. In 1989 the Nonius Horse Breeders National Association was formed to protect the purebred Nonius horse. Today estimates put the population of Nonius horses at about 450 mares and 80 stallions. The largest population is found at Mezohegyes, with other herds in Romania, Bulgaria, and Vojvodina (Serbian province).
Breed characteristics
Close linebreeding during the breed's establishment and continued use of a closed studbook have contributed to a recognizable and reliably-transmitted type in the Nonius. The vast majority are black, or dark bay or brown, either unmarked or modestly marked with white. Bay individuals are more common among the Nonius horses from Hortobágy. The breed is also known for the heavy but proportional head with a convex profile called either a ram's head or Roman nose. The breed exhibits traits common to heavy-boned driving and light draft horses: powerful and arched high-set neck, broad and muscular back, open but powerful loin, deep and sloping hindquarters. The chest is broad rather than deep, and is usually more shallow than the hindquarters. The hooves and joints are large and the legs are dry. Nonius horses stand between 15.1 hands high (155 cm) and 16.1 hands high (165 cm). One of the heaviest warmblood driving horses, the ideal Nonius has a girthGirth
In graph theory, the girth of a graph is the length of a shortest cycle contained in the graph. If the graph does not contain any cycles , its girth is defined to be infinity....
of 70-83 inches (180–210 cm) and a cannon circumference of 8-9 inches (22–24 cm).
Nonius horses are also known for a kind, even temperament and great willingness and capacity for work both in harness and under saddle. In addition they are usually easy keepers with high endurance. They are used today in agricultural work, light draft and the sport of combined driving
Combined driving
Combined driving also known as Horse Driving Trials is an equestrian sport involving carriage driving. In this discipline the driver sits on a vehicle drawn by a single horse, a pair or a team of four. The sport has three phases: Dressage, Cross-country Marathon and Obstacle Cone Driving and is...
. The popularity of driving sport in Hungary rose sharply during the 1970s and 1980s. The Combined Driving World Championships are held every 2 years, and the most competitive event features teams of four horses. Of the 6 champions named between 1974 and 1984, all but one were Hungarian. The Nonius is slower and less suitable for other riding sports like dressage
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
and show jumping
Show jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping," "open jumping," or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes commonly are seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
than lighter horses.