Landais pony

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Landais pony
FAO (2007): critically endangered[1]: 44 
Other names
  • Poney des Landes
  • Poney des Pins
  • Barthais
  • Lédon
Country of originFrance
Distributionprincipally Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Traits
Height
  • 118–148 cm[2]: 8 
Breed standards
Landais horses in about 1850, engraving by François Hippolyte Lalaisse; typical Landais stilt-walkers are visible in the background

The Landais is a critically-endangered French

trotter
.

History

Traditionally, two distinct types of pony or small horse lived in a feral or semi-feral state in the Landes de Gascogne region of south-western France: the Lédon or Poney des Pins in the sandy coastal areas of the Gironde and the Haute-Lande [fr]; and the Barthais in the Barthes de l'Adour [fr], the marshy meadowlands of the valley of the Adour river.[4][5]

The plantation of the

land-mines laid by German forces to prevent coastal landings. After the War, no more than 150 head remained.[4] The Poney des Pins became extinct in about 1950.[4][5]

Recovery of the breed – which now consisted only of the Barthais type – began in 1967,

Welsh (Section B) types.[4]: 149 [8]

In 2007 the Landais was listed by the

FAO as "critically endangered";[1]: 44  in 2014 the total number reported for the breed was 159.[7] Annual births are low: between 2006 and 2013 the number ranged from 36 to 66.[5]

A genetic study of French horse breeds in 2008 suggested that, to maximise genetic diversity among the French horse population, conservation priority be given to the Landais and four other breeds.[9]: 5 

Some Landais ponies live in a semi-feral state with other livestock and wildlife on the banks of the

département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.Others are reared elsewhere in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Centre-Val de Loire, Occitanie and Pays de la Loire regions.[5]

Characteristics

The Landais shows more similarity to

liver chestnut, and seal brown;[2]: 8 [5] White markings to the face and legs are permitted.[2]
: 8 

Use

The Landais is used as a

trotting races and in competitive driving; a Landais named Jongleur holds the trotting record for the 100-kilometre (62-mile) run between Paris and Chartres.[5]

The Landais was among the breeds used in the creation of the

Poney Français de Selle or French Riding Pony.[6]
: 186 

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9789251057629
    . Accessed June 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Patrick Falcone (22 December 2011). Reglement du Stud-Book Français du Poney Landais (in French). Ministère de l'Agriculture, de l'Agroalimentaire et de la Forêt. Accessed June 2017.
  3. ^
    ISBN 9781780647944
    .
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Le Poney Landais (in French). Association Nationale du Poney Landais. Archived 24 February 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Le Landais (in French). Institut français du cheval et de l’équitation. Accessed June 2017.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0751301159
    .
  7. ^ a b Landais/France. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2017.
  8. ISBN 0671660683
    .
  9. doi:10.1186/1297-9686-41-5
    .

Media related to Landais Pony at Wikimedia Commons

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