Gotlands are lightly built with deep chests and sloping croups. Frances Aprille
Gotland Russ Association of North America
811 Carpenter Hill Road
Medford, Oregon 97501
www.gotlandponies.org
On the island of Gotland, Sweden, in the Baltic Sea lives a herd of a semi-wild pony—the Gotland Pony, or Russ as it is called locally. A herd of these handy little ponies lives on a protected area here. The European Union has classified the breed as uniquely Swedish, and it is considered part of the Swedish cultural heritage.
The Gotland Pony is an ancient breed relatively free from outside blood. Although it has been refined over the years, the Gotland has remained true to its ancestry. This sturdy pony has withstood outside pressure of breeding it to be larger, thus avoiding such common fads in the horse world that have often produced structure and temperament problems.
Gotlands are great companions for young and old alike. Due to their longevity of life, versatility, and friendly disposition, the Gotland is a family favorite. Many of them live into their thirties, so the same Gotland Pony can be around to see as many as three generations in one family. With their gentle temperament and small size (11.3 to 13.1 hands), they are ideal for children of all ages and make perfect first mounts. Keeping Gotland Ponies does not have to be expensive or complicated. They are easy to train, safe for children and smaller adults, and great for both riding and driving. They are level-headed and not easily spooked.
Gotland Pony mare and foal. Joyce Moreno
Everyone who meets a Gotland in the performance arena or on the trail comments on its engaging appearance and terrific temperament.
History
Probable ancestors to the breed lived in isolation and kept their moderate size and attractive, relatively primitive look since the Stone Age. Theories about their introduction to the island include traveling on a land bridge that existed thousands of years ago, or people bringing them by boat. Traces of horses on Gotland date back to about 3000 BC and show that early humans kept horses in a semi-domestic fashion on the island, using them to perform various tasks as well as a source of food. It is not known for certain, however, if these remnants are related to the breed seen today, just as it is uncertain how the ponies came to Gotland. The truth is that they seem to be related to Przewalski’s Horse, a very primitive wild horse.
Other stories, such as their being used for warfare, carrying Vikings, or sacking Rome with the Goths on their backs are false. (The Goths did not live on Gotland or even mainland Sweden, but came from southwestern Europe.) Some Gotland ponies were domesticated and used for farm work, and new ponies were brought in from the moors when they were needed. During cold winters, the wild ponies foraged for themselves and often would eat from the farmers’ haystacks.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the ponies could be found throughout Gotland. When farmers claimed the formerly public land and established property boundaries, the land became sectioned off and was fenced, interfering with the free forested land the wild ponies grazed on. Many wild ponies were rounded up and exported to Belgium, England, and Germany, where they readjusted to new lives often as cart ponies or as work ponies on farms or in coal mines.
Gotlands are used primarily for driving and as children’s mounts. Joyce Moreno
They were a popular export at this time because they were easy keepers, versatile, and strong in relation to their size. In fact, they were so popular that they almost became extinct in Sweden. Around 1880, there were about 11,500 ponies roaming the moors of Gotland, but this number dropped considerably once the exportations to England, Germany, and Belgium began. Additionally, the meat rationing and food shortages of World War I led to a further demise of the breed, and those left in the forest on Gotland were near extinction. By 1930, there were only thirty active broodmares left.
Planned breeding and cooperation between breeders on Gotland and the mainland of Sweden helped re-establish the breed. When inbreeding threatened the Gotland’s existence, carefully selected new blood helped to revitalize the breed. This included the introduction of a Syrian stallion in 1886 and two Welsh stallions in the early 1950s.
Today, local farmers, breeders, and the Gotland Agricultural Society own and maintain a herd of about 150 Gotland Ponies on the moors of Lojsta in the southern part of Gotland. Though the ponies live in relative freedom, the society keeps records on them and they are overseen with a watchful eye; a caretaker visits the herd almost daily and, in winter, supplements their forage with feed every other day.
A few times each year, the ponies are rounded up for hoof trims and checked for overall health and wellbeing. Each season is marked by the annual Gotland activities of releasing a stallion into the herd each June, judging in July, and weaning the foals from the mares in November.
There is a Swedish registry named Svenska Russavelsföreningen—the Swedish Russ Breeders’ Association—as well as Finish, Norwegian, and Danish registries for the breed. Each one adheres to the same breed standards set by the Swedish organization.
Globally, there are about nine thousand Russ in Sweden, Gotland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Canada, and the United States. About one hundred new foals are registered in Sweden each year. In the United States, registrations are currently down, with no foals being registered in 2008 and none expected for 2009. During the peak of breeding Gotlands in the United States and Canada, up to thirty foals were registered per year. Now there are only about 170 registered ponies living in North America, indicating they are a very rare breed there.
In the United States
Gotlands were first imported to the United States in 1957 by banker Max Miller, for his ranch in Wyoming. Miller had come in contact with Gotland Ponies while on a family vacation to the island and thought they would be ideal for his grandchildren, who spent the summers on his Wyoming ranch. He was so impressed by his ponies that in 1959 he, along with Donald Howe and Jess Thurmond, formed the Gotland Horse Farms based in Nebraska. The company imported three colts and eighteen fillies in 1959. From this, the American Gotland Horse Association (AGHA) was founded in 1960 for “the registration, development and marketing of the Gotland Horse in America.”
In 1960, U.S. Naval Admiral Robert C. Lee (Retired) and his wife imported two buckskin colored foals from Gotland and established their Leeward Farm in Missouri. From humble beginnings with only two Russ, they became the largest and most influential breeders in the United States. They built their stock carefully with an emphasis on functionality. Leeward Farm was a cattle ranch, and Lee’s three sons, all skilled riders, used the ponies for all types of farm work, as well as competed with them in every riding discipline.
Mrs. Lee used the ponies in a riding program for disabled children, for which she discovered the ponies were well suited. She became the secretary for the AGHA’s registry, and after her death in 1984, a friend from the cattle business, Jack Jungroth, salvaged the registry from her estate. Jungroth became registrar and spent hours imputing data from all the registrations into an early computer program so the records would not be lost.
In 1990, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) contacted a breeder, Leslie Bebensee, about taking on a herd of Gotland mares and a stallion to start a breeding program to preserve the Gotland Pony. Bebensee agreed and in the next couple of years other breeders and owners made contact with ALBC for the same purpose. In 1994, Jungroth turned the records of the AGHA over to ALBC.
That same year, breeders in Gotland, mainland Sweden, and Denmark donated three yearling colts to the breeders in North America, as there were only two stallions residing there at the time. These colts were received by Pat Phelan of Russ Haven Farm in Manitoba, Canada. Consequently, there are now ten breeding stallions available to North American breeders.
In 1997, the ALBC turned the registry over to the newly formed Gotland Russ Association of North America (GRANA), which remains as the current registry for Gotlands in North America. Through the efforts of the registry’s first president, Gunilla Combs, GRANA became a daughter organization of the Svenska Russavelsföreningen; it currently holds the same standards as Gotlands in Sweden.
Gotlands are well-proportioned, light, and elegant ponies. Pat Phelan
Since 1996, GRANA has required DNA testing for all breeding stock and for foal registrations. It has also attempted to get inspections for breeding stock performed in North America. Several stallions and mares have already been approved for breeding by licensed inspectors from Sweden, either in person or via DVD.
Gotland Ponies resting with riders at Pony Club Camp. Renee Riley Adams
The breed and its association have struggled for a place in the general U.S. equine market. While the Gotland is a very versatile breed, its following remains small.
Characteristics
The best qualities of the breed are its people-oriented attitude and intelligence. As the saying goes in Sweden, the only people who do not like Gotlands are those who have been outsmarted by one. Besides their lively intelligence, they are easy keepers and are very healthy in general, thriving in an outdoor environment all year round. They are strong, energetic, long lived, and friendly.
They are wonderful companion ponies with gentle dispositions. They also are athletic, excelling as trotters and jumpers. Though strong enough for an adult to ride, they are primarily used for driving and as children’s mounts.
They have a well proportioned appearance and are light, elegant ponies, yet also hardy and sturdy. They are a gentle but strong breed, with superb gaits, movement, and temperament. Their frame is narrow and lightly built, but they have great endurance.
Their height is 11.3 to 13.1 hands (115 to 130 centimeters), with 12.2 to 12.3 hands being ideal. The mostly brown coloring of the Russ camouflages them well. Dun and bay predominate in the breed, but all colors are allowed except albinos, roans, and piebalds.
They have broad foreheads and shapely muzzles, with short and flexible necks and full manes. Their chests are deep, and their shoulders, though long and strong, are relatively upright. They have good withers, a long back, and a sloping croup. Their legs are strong and their hooves are very hard. They have a good, free-flowing movement. No other horse of comparable size can out-trot a Gotland Russ.
In Sweden, these versatile ponies reap great success in the show ring, as well as in three-day eventing, show-jumping, dressage, driving, and harness racing. A Swedish Gotland mare, Snaeckan, holds the world record for harness racing for ponies, Section B (up to 130 centimeters).
In North America, the Gotland has proven itself by performing well in western riding, endurance, dressage, show jumping, eventing, and trail riding disciplines, as well as pleasure and combined driving.
Credits: Joyce Moreno, president and registrar, and the Gotland Russ Association of North America, with references to articles by Pernilla Jobs and Gunilla Combs