Toric Horse

a breed of harness horse. The Toric horse was bred in the first half of the 20th century on the Tori Stud Farm, in the settlement of Tori, Pärnu Raion, Estonian SSR. The breeders took as initial stock hybrids resulting from breeding the Estonian horse with Arabian, Thoroughbred, Orlov, East Friesian, Trakehner, and other horses. Resulting hybrid females were mated with Norfolk Roadster and Breton stallions.

Toric horses are of medium size and have broad bodies. Their coloring is mostly chestnut and bay, with white markings on the legs. The average stallion measures 157 cm high at the withers; the oblique length of the body is 162 cm, the chest circumference 193 cm and the girth of the front cannon bone 21.4 cm. Stallions weigh from 580 to 700 kg, and mares from 500 to 650 kg.

The horses, which are energetic and not temperamental, are used in agriculture and for transportation; a lighter variety is used in equestrian sports. The horses are bred in the Estonian SSR and are used to improve breeds in the RSFSR, mainly in Novgorod, Pskov, Kaluga, and Kostroma oblasts, as well as in the Ukrainian SSR and the Karelian ASSR.