Steppe Back In Time

On the vast grasslands of Hungary’s steppe, a stocky little horse, whose ancestor appears in cave paintings made 20,000 years ago, now runs wild – saved from extinction by a few determined individuals.

- Karen Lloyd

Black thunder clouds filled the sky and spots of rain began to fall as our jeep passed through two sets of gates and onto the vast grasslands of Hungary’s steppe. The jeep slid and bounced as the track became rougher but, eventually, after an hour, we found the herd. The horses appeared to shimmer softly through the distant heat haze, their characteristic coloration blending seamlessly into their surroundings.

This was my first sighting of Przewalski’s horses (pronounced ‘shurval-skee’), which went extinct in the wild in the 1960s but were reintroduced in the 1990s. I was accompanied here, the reintroduction site at the Pentezug Wild Horse Reserve in Hortobágy National Park, by project leader Viola Kerekes and project assistant Tímea Szabados of the Przewalski’s wild horse team. We were also joined by wildlife artist Szabi Kókay.

Close by, a pair of young stallions kicked out at each other, snorting; each pushing their heads against the other’s flanks and biting their back legs. They reared up, clashing together and the next moment almost collapsing to the ground. They circled, squealing in high dudgeon. “A bachelor group,” Viola explained. “It’s all play at this stage – but they are learning skills for the future.” She pointed out how the herd is made up of smaller groups, or harems, each comprising a single stallion with a number of mares and offspring. The feisty bachelors live in separate groups until reaching maturity at five years old, when they begin to challenge stallions, in an attempt to gain control of the mares.

Away in the distance, I noticed a solitary horse grazing among a group of cattle. It was, Viola said, an older stallion that had lost a fight. Once recovered, it will return to try to regain control.