Hello to all
; something more and a query........................
IMPORTANCE OF THE HORSE IN NATIONAL DEFENSE.
In Poland the breeding of horse was a government enterprise under the close supervision of the military. Since 70% of the population is engaged in agriculture the horse is the most widely used means of labor and transportation In the spring of 1939 Poland had 4,000,000 head of horses, of which one-fourth were animals under 4 years of age. The annual expenditure for feed amounted to 900,000,000 zlotys, a considerable sum in Poland's national economy.............................
The Polish state owned 13 stud farms, of which the most important is the one at Janov-Podlaski, founded in 1817, and which breeds Arabs and Anglo-Arabs; Polish Arabs being classed with the best in the world. Even the famous German stud farm at Trakehnen, East Prussia, purchased an Arab stallion from Janov in 1936 to provide new blood and to ameliorate their strain.
The Polish state had on these 13 farms 1,550 stallions and 87,000 mares. Outside of these pure breeds the country abounds in other types of horses, notably the small native Polish horse, and the mountain horse called “Hucul” (pony). These Polish horses have a long established reputation for their endurance, their resistance under harsh climatic conditions, and the fact that they are easy to feed......................
At the beginning of the war the Polish Cavalry fielded 37/38 cavalry regiments organized into 11 brigades. Polish cavalry received 58 million zloty in the 1938-39 military budget, or 7.3 percent of the total, compared to 46.3 million for the entire Air Force (5.8 percent).
http://www.avalanchepress.com/PolishCavalry.php
Source: [L'importance du cheval pour la défense nationale.] Francois Vouga. RML Nº 75. Dec 1939.
I wonder how many of these animals passed the German army to strengthen its livestock? Cheers. Raúl M
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