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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jas.2008-1501v1 87/7/2245    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Komosa, M. Articles by Purzyc, H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Komosa, M. Articles by Purzyc, H.

Konik and Hucul horses: A comparative study of exterior measurements

M. Komosa^* and H. Purzyc^,1

^* Department of Animal Anatomy, Poznan University of Life Sciences, 60-625 Poznan, Poland; and Department of Morphological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland

¹ Corresponding author: hapu{at}tlen.pl

An exterior comparison was made between 2 primitive horse breeds: the Konik and the Hucul breeds. Each animal was characterized using 25 measurements and 24 indices. Statistical methods employed in this study were principal components analysis and the Student’s t-test. It was found that in spite of both breeds being included in the group of horses with a primitive exterior, the Konik and the Hucul possess completely different metric properties of their body conformations. Although the mean height for the Hucul breed slightly exceeds that of the Konik, the latter has longer scapulae and metacarpi. The hind limb also features different proportions among its segments in the 2 breeds. The observed differences seem to be connected with different habitats for these breeds. In particular, mountainous conditions may have had an effect on the specific body conformation of the Hucul breed.

Key Words: biometry • exterior • Hucul horse • Konik horse • morphology