The heavier type of draft horse originating in Western Europe (which, referring to its calm temperament, was named "cold-blooded horse" in a literal translation of the German term kaltblüter) appeared in the territory of present-day Hungary in the 16th-17th centuries on the western edge of Transdanubia. Around this time, cart trade began in the western part of the country, in the counties of Sopron, Vas, and Zala, primarily for the transport of grain to Vienna and the nearby Austrian provinces. Strong, undemanding, and easy-to-handle horses were needed for transport. For this reason, carters in western Hungary preferred to bring Nori and Pinzgau horses, which were heavier than the local breeds and more suitable for pulling loads, or they bred their existing warm-blooded mares with various heavier types of stallions from the west. Despite resistance from the official military authorities, farmers succeeded in ensuring that when the professional management of horse breeding was transferred from the Austrian imperial army to the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture in 1868, cold-blooded stallions were established at state stud farms in the border districts of Vas and Zala counties. In this way, by the end of the 1800s, two regional breeds had developed along the western border: the larger, heavier Pinkafői in the west and the smaller, more agile Muraközi in the areas bordering Croatia.
Alongside the development of folk breeding, several large estates that were leaders in commercial production also established cold-blooded stud farms to meet their need for draft horses. Most estates also had warmblood stud farms, and since large estates were not subject to breeding area restrictions, they kept and bred coldblood horses to replace the slow, inefficient oxen used for the estate's carting needs, in addition to the riding horses bred there. In addition to private owners, the Hungarian Royal State Stud Farm in Kisbér, for example, established a cold-blooded breeding program in 1859 specifically for the purpose of breeding horses for economic purposes, and from 1866 onwards, it continued to breed draft horses with a herd of 80 cold-blooded mares. They tried Clydesdale and Norfolk stallions, but in the end, it was the Ardennes stallions Bottom and Philipp that brought them resounding success. In addition to Kisbér, the Bábolna State Stud also had a cold-blooded breeding program.
Between the two world wars, several initiatives were launched to promote the spread of cold-blooded horses. In 1912, the Nagykanizsa stud farm department was established within the Székesfehérvár stud farm, which was tasked with supplying stallions to the cold-blooded breeding area that had already been established by then. Starting in 1925, local cold-blooded horse breeding associations were formed. The founding of the Baranya County Cold-Blooded Horse Breeders' Registry Association in 1933 was of great importance in terms of quality breeding. Within this framework, good Ardennes stallions were occasionally imported from Belgium and placed with farmers to cover their mares.
After World War II, the country's serious draft animal shortage boosted the breeding of cold-blooded breeds. The state began purchasing private stallions and foals at a rapid pace and assigning them to stud farms. In 1948 alone, 468 cold-blooded stallions aged three years or older were purchased by state stallion purchasing committees and placed in breeding stations, which had been completely reorganized in 1948. Although it was not possible to determine the origin of the majority of the cold-blooded stallions, they showed uniform Ardennes characteristics as a result of nearly 100 years of consistent selection for specific purposes.
Between 1948 and 1949, 59 Belgian Ardennes stallions were imported from Belgium and 17 different cold-blooded stallions were imported from France and placed in artificial insemination stations and the most important natural breeding stations. At the same time as the stallions were imported, the cold-blooded breeding stock of the Szentegát Experimental Farm was established, and in 1950, the Bóly-Békáspuszta foal rearing farm and cold-blooded stud farm were established on the former Montenuovo princely estate. In the 1950s, horses, mainly mares, purchased from private breeders were brought to state farms. State stud farms were established to ensure a secure supply of stallions. The most significant cold-blooded stud farms were located on the farms of Szentegát, Görösgal, Csobokapuszta, Bikal, Pakod, Bak, and Andráshida.
As a result of imported stallions, the genotype and phenotype of the Hungarian cold-blooded horse population changed, and a new, independent breed was created, which has been registered as the Hungarian cold-blooded horse since 1954. The Hungarian cold-blooded horse is powerful, broad in size, and has a deep chest, i.e. it is a medium-sized breed with a heavy build. It is richly muscled throughout its body. It has a solid bone structure, dry joints, hard hooves, and a steel-like constitution. The breed is characterized by rapid development, high growth rate, excellent feed conversion, calm temperament, easy handling, and good trainability. The breed has excellent pulling power and work ethic, and a relatively steady trot. It is also characterized by early maturity, good fertility, excellent vehemence and foal-rearing ability, and is well adapted to continental climates.
The height of stallions measured with a stick is 155-175 cm, and that of mares is 150-170 cm. The girth of stallions should be 130% of their height at the withers, and that of mares 125%, assuming good nutritional status. The cannon bone circumference of stallions should be 16% of their height at the withers, and that of mares 15%.
Its color can be bay, black, yellow, gray, dappled, rarely spotted, or variations and shades of these. Its skin is thick, its coat coarse, with a thick, curly mane and tail, and longer hair on its ankles and sometimes on the back of its legs. Its head is proportional to its body weight, sometimes slightly coarse, slightly covered, with lively, deep-set eyes. The profile is straight, sometimes with a slightly arched nose, a broad forehead, and a deep throat. The neck is of medium length, sometimes short, muscular, slightly arched or straight, sometimes heavy, set at medium height. The mane is thick, prone to curling, hanging down on both sides of the neck. The withers are short, low, or medium height, but always distinctly muscular. The back is moderately deep, medium length or long, well muscled. The loins are broad, sometimes slightly loose. The croup is of medium length, slightly sloping, broad, muscular, regularly furrowed, sometimes overgrown. The tail is set low. The chest is broad and well muscled. The chest is deep, barrel-shaped, often short. The shoulder is muscular but short and steep. The upper arm is well muscled, the forearm less so. The pastern and ankle are broad. The lower leg is short, thick, sometimes webbed. The hock is short, regular or slightly steep. The hooves are in proportion to the body weight. The upper thigh is well muscled, the lower thigh generally poorly muscled. The hock is broad, thick, but often short, covered and cut. The front legs are sometimes bent backward, often pointed, while the hind legs are often sword-shaped, cow-shaped, or barrel-shaped. Its gait is often short and sluggish, but its trot is quite lively and energetic, though not always spacios and light.
From the 1960s onwards, the demand for horses in agriculture declined at an accelerating pace, which led to a reduction in the number of state-owned stud farms and the closure of several breeding farms. At the same time, several of the already established production cooperatives developed herds that were suitable for the development of a high-quality Hungarian cold-blooded breed.
Starting in 1968, several production cooperatives reached a level of quality that earned them the title and rank of pedigree breeding. The most significant of these were the Göllei "Béke", the Karádi "Aranykalász", the Rózsafai "Kossuth", the Szentgáloskéri "IX. Pártkongresszus" and the Somogyszili "Petőfi" herds, from which many excellent stallions entered public breeding. Later, in 1990, the Kaposvár "PATE" Tangazdaság cold-blooded breeding farm was established. These stud farms, together with a centralized breeding organization, were able to maintain and even develop the breed in an exemplary manner for a relatively long period of time. The experts at the breeding farms carried out their work responsibly, and for years, the majority of state foal purchases came from these farms. After a preliminary selection process, a professional committee recommended the purchase of 35-40 foals per year from a selected age group following a further review. The stallions were raised at the Bóly-Békáspuszta foal farm, and after passing a successful performance test, they were sent to breeding stations, where they could become studs based on the quality of their offspring.
The development of agriculture in the 1980s also changed the order of preference for cold-blooded horses. The unlimited demand for cold-blooded foals on the foreign market led to an increase in the body weight of medium-sized Hungarian cold-blooded horses, which breeders were able to achieve most quickly through crossbreeding. In order to increase body weight, several French Percherons and Belgian imports were introduced into breeding, which also affected the genetic structure of the breed. The number of traditional genealogical lines has decreased, with only the Belga-3, Belga-6, Belga-13, Belga-22, Belga-25, Belga-26, Belga-28, and Belga-36 stallion lines remaining, while new lines have been formed. The height of the stock has increased, but its structural strength has decreased. With the dissolution of the production cooperatives, most of the former stud farms were liquidated, but another part fell into the hands of enthusiastic private breeders committed to the breed, who continue the work of preserving and improving the breed within the framework of the Hungarian Cold-Blooded Horse Breeders' National Association, founded in 1989.
The association's efforts and the support provided for the preservation of the genetic stock of protected native animal breeds through breeding have together halted the decline of the breed. Today, the Hungarian cold-blooded horse plays an important role in small farms, log pulling competitions, leisure activities, recreation, hunting, forestry, and environmentally friendly forest management. By creating species diversity through pasture and grassland use, the Hungarian cold-blooded horse's importance goes beyond horse breeding in the narrower sense!
