Tarpan

The Tarpan, Equus ferus ferus, was the Eurasian wild horse. The last specimen of this species died in captivity in Ukraine in 1918 or 1919.

Polish farmers often crossed the tarpan with their domestic horses. The result was a small horse breed, the Konik. Such animals, as the Konik, and also the Sorraia Horse preserved in Portugal, are now being used to breed back the Tarpan, and to fill in the niche that was left vacant by their extinction in the wild. The Hucul pony living in the Carpathian mountains is arguably the most direct descendant of the Tarpan.

The name Tarpan is from a Turkic language (Kyrgyz or Kazakh) name for the horse, with an original meaning "speeding forward"citation needed]. Based on the size range of the Konik, Tarpan horses are estimated to have had heights of between about 12 and 13.1 hh (122–135 cm) at the withers.citation needed]