A team of riders are trekking across Lithuania to promote a native horse breed, the Samogitian (Žemaitukas), reports LRT.lt. After leaving Lithuania’s southwestern region of Šilalė last week, the travellers plan to reach the Horse Museum in Anykščiai. “The whole journey will be about 300 kilometres,” says Vaidotas Digaitis, a participant in the Samogitian march. “We decided to use the same routes as our ancestors did, so we will be going from Panevėžys to Anykščiai by a narrow-track road.”
During the week, the participants say they have experienced Lithuanian hospitality, the challenges of travelling in wooden carts, and the most remote village roads. “You don’t see so much on a bus ride and you can’t drive on the roads we ride on,” says Edita Čepienė, one of the riders. The trek aims to raise awareness of the native horse breed that organizers say is among the oldest in Europe.
The Samogitian horses, which were associated with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were renowned as one the world’s finest breeds of fighting horses. However, they have now been on the verge of extinction. “After independence, when there was a need to import other breeds, larger ones, they were undeservedly forgotten because of their small stature,” says Rūta Šveistienė, head of the Centre of the Institute of Animal Husbandry at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU).
“The Samogitian horses are the oldest known breed not only in Lithuania but also in Europe. It is an excellent genetic pool, a breed that has been the least influenced by other breeds,” says Šveistienė. Today, there are about 900 such horses in Lithuania. The population is still under threat, as only a few dozen are born each year.
