The Gotland pony, or Russ, as it is called in Sweden, has
lived in the forest region of the island
of Gotland from time immemorial. Their history is
mysterious and fascinating.
Discoveries from the Stone Age show that horses have been present on Gotland for 4,000
5,000 years, and perhaps longer. It is not known whether these horses were Russ
horses, nor is it know how the first horses came to the island. Could it have been wild
horses that came over a land bridge some 10,000 years ago? Or was it tame horses brought
by humans by boat 4,000 years ago, when horses first began to be used in Scandinavia?
Russ, the Swedish word for the Gotland pony, comes from Old Norse hross
and is related to English word "horse." Gotlanders themselves often call the
ponies, skogsbaggar, which means "forest rams" or "little horse of
the woods." It is commonly thought that the Russ, as other European horse
breeds, is a descendant of the wild Tarpan.
There are few ancient references to the Gotland ponies, but it generally believed that
they lived in freedom in the forests in a half-wild state. Discoveries made in the Iron
Age village called Vallhagar (220 B. C. 500 A. D.), a few kilometres from Lojsta
Moor, show that horses became increasingly common as domestic animals during that period.
The oldest reference to the Russ is found is Skånelagen, a legal code from
the 13th century, where "the wild horses of Gotland" are mentioned.
In the beginning of the 19th century the ponies could be
found throughout
Gotland, especially in the large forests in the middle of the island. Farmers kept Russes
on their farms as draft horses. They often had a herd of free-roving horses in the forest
as well, so they would be able to bring in new young horses to farm when needed. There
were no fences, and the horses had to forage for themselves. During cold winters with
heavy snowfall, they often had a hard time finding food, so they would make their way to
the haystacks around the farms.
In the mid-19th century the situation changed; the number of Gotland ponies
dropped sharply. Many were sold to England, Germany and Belgium where they were used for
mining and other chores. On Gotland, formerly public lands were parceled out to individual
farmers, which meant that more land was farmed and much of the forested area began to be
cultivated. The expansive, contiguous forests were intersected by fences and cultivated
land and could no longer function as foraging areas. In addition, the ponies caused great
damage when they grazed and trampled down the sown fields, and they began to be seen as
pests.
In the beginning of the 20th century only about 150 Gotland ponies were
left, but a few people with foresight had taken note of Swedens most primitive
horse. The Russ began to be exhibited at the summer fairs held by the Gotland
Agricultural Society, and a few stud farms were established to breed the horses. But the
number of Russes continued to fall. The meat rationing and food shortages of World
War I led poachers to hunt the Russ. The forest ponies of Gotland were near
extinction.
Then a few farmers in the communities of Gerum and Lojsta, together with the Gotland
Agricultural Society intervened to save the Russ. They fenced in about 200 acres,
the area that now constitutes the winter pasture. There five Russes that had been
captured on the moor were let run, together with three other Russes that were
donated by a stud farm that had gone out of business. In this area the horses were allowed
to run free, and soon a little Russ tribe had developed. These horses formed the
basis for the breeding that has been carried out at Lojsta Moor in an effort to maintain
the stock as pure as possible.*
Today, there are about 9,000 Russes in Sweden and they can also be found
in Denmark, Finland and the United
States. Gotlands were first imported into the
United States in the 1950s for use in handicapped riding programs. A registry was formed
in the 1960s, and over 500 animals have been registered in the past thirty years. The
breed almost became extinct in North America during the 1980s. The American Livestock
Breeds Conservancy and a small number of breeders have worked to encourage a revival of
the Gotland breed. Over one hundred purebred Gotlands are currently found in the U.S.
today, and the population is increasing.