{{Short description|Swedish breed of horse}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox horse breed | name = Gotland Russ | image = Gotlandsruss.jpg | image2 = Gotland-Russ Ponies 1.jpg | status = {{ubl|FAO (2007): endangered{{r|barb|p=139}}|DAD-IS (2022): endangered/at risk{{r|dad}}}} | features = | altname = {{ubl|Gotland Pony|Gotlandruss|Russ|Skogsbagge{{r|ne}}|Skogshäst{{r|dad}}|Skogsruss{{r|ne}}}} | country = Sweden | distribution = European countries, USA | use = driving, riding | colour = bay, dun, chestnut, black | height = 117–132 cm (11.2-13.0 hands) | weight = 250 kg (550 lbs) | group1 = Svenska Russavelsföreningen | std1 = http://www.gotlandsruss.se/gotlandsrusset/rasstandard/ | note = }}
The '''Gotland Russ''' or '''Gotland Pony''' is an old Swedish breed of pony or small horse. Until the twentieth century it was found only on the island of Gotland on the south-eastern coast of Sweden. It is now distributed through much of Sweden and is also present in some other European countries and in the United States.{{r|dad2|cabi|p2=469}} The Öland horse from the neighbouring island of Öland was a close relative of the Gotland, but became extinct in the early twentieth century.
==Characteristics==
The Gotland Russ is rustic, hardy, frugal and energetic.{{r|ne}} It is somewhat similar in appearance to the Hucul, the Konik and the Exmoor Pony.{{r|elise|p=70}} It weighs approximately {{val|250|u=kg}}, and usually stands between {{val|117|u=cm}} and {{val|132|u=cm}} at the withers.{{r|dad|cabi|p=469}}
The coat is most commonly dun, bay, chestnut or black.{{r|edwards2|p=309}} Blue-eyed cream, piebald and grey animals may not be registered.{{r|svraf3}} The spotted coat was formerly seen in the breed, but is now extinct.{{r|cabi|p=469}}
== Breed history ==
[[File:Gotlandsruss-slottsskogen-goteborg.jpg|thumb|Gotland ponies in Slottsskogen, Gothenburg]] The name ''russ'' comes from a now obsolete word ''ross'', which means a riding horse or a charger<ref>Salmenpohja, M: "Russ-yhdistys 20 vuotta" (’The 20th Anniversary of the Russ Association [in Finland], ''Satulassa'', 1995/15.</ref> and it is linked etymologically to the English word ''horse'' (in Old High German this word appeared as ''hros'', and in English a metathesis has switched the places of the /r/ and the /o/, whereas in Swedish /hr/ became /r/, producing ''ross'' or ''russ''.<ref>Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973.</ref>
The presence of feral horses on the Baltic island of Gotland is documented from the thirteenth century.{{r|cabi|p=469}} From the mid-nineteenth century settlers moved to the island, much land was cleared for farming, and numbers of the Russ fell sharply.{{r|jan|p=388|svraf2}} In 1880 a breeding centre was established, where two stallions of Oriental type were used; other stud farms were opened in the early twentieth century. Nevertheless, by 1922 there were no more than fourteen of the horses remaining – a two-year-old stallion, seven mares and six young horses.{{r|svraf2}}
The first volume of the ''Stambok för russ'', the stud-book for the Russ, was published in Sweden in 1943.{{r|svraf2}} In the 1950s fresh blood was introduced by the use of two imported Welsh stallions, Reber General 106 and Criban Daniel 142; their influence is widespread in the population, but at a low percentage.{{r|edwards2|p=309|svraf2}} The stud-book was definitively closed to outside blood in 1971.{{r|edwards2|p=309}} A breed society, the Svenska Russavelsföreningen, was established in Visby in 1967.{{r|svraf}}
The Russ is distributed through much of Sweden and is also present in the other Scandinavian countries and in the United States.{{r|cabi|p=469|elise|p2=70}}
== Uses ==
thumb|A harness racing Gotland pony The Gotland Russ is a good all-round pony and is often used as a riding pony for children or as a harness racing pony.{{r|jan|p=389|elise|p2=70}} {{Clear}}
==References== <references>
<ref name=barb>Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020.</ref>
<ref name=cabi>Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}.</ref>
<ref name=dad>[https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ext-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=SWE&specie=Horse&breed=Gotlandruss&lang=en Breed data sheet: Gotlandruss / Sweden (Horse)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2022.</ref>
<ref name=dad2>[https://dadis-transboundary-ext-ws.web.app/?species=Horse&transboundary=Gotland%20Pony&lang=en Transboundary breed: Gotland Pony]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2022.</ref>
<ref name=edwards2>Elwyn Hartley Edwards (2016). ''The Horse Encyclopedia''. New York, New York: DK Publishing. {{isbn|9781465451439}}.</ref>
<ref name=elise>Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Eus9DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 ''Horses of the World'']. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{isbn|9780691167206}}.</ref>
<ref name=jan>Janet Vorwald Dohner (2001). ''The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds''. New Haven, Connecticut; London: Yale University Press. {{isbn|0300088809}}.</ref>
<ref name=ne>{{cite encyclopedia |title=gotlandsruss |encyclopedia=Nationalencyklopedin |url=http://www.ne.se/gotlandsruss |language=Swedish |accessdate=14 September 2010}}</ref>
<ref name=svraf>[http://www.gotlandsruss.se/ Välkommen till Svenska Russavelsföreningen] (in Swedish). Visby: Svenska Russavelsföreningen. Accessed August 2022.</ref>
<ref name=svraf2>[http://www.gotlandsruss.se/gotlandsrusset/russhistoria/ Russhistoria] (in Swedish). Visby: Svenska Russavelsföreningen. Accessed August 2022.</ref>
<ref name=svraf3>[http://www.gotlandsruss.se/gotlandsrusset/rasstandard/ Rasstandard] (in Swedish). Visby: Svenska Russavelsföreningen. Accessed August 2022.</ref>
</references>
==Further reading== {{Commons category}} * [https://www.gotlandsruss.se/ Svenska Russavelsföreningen] (Swedish Russ Breeding Association) *{{cite book| last=Eternell Hagen | first=Eva | year=1997 | title=Gotlandsrusset | publisher=Stabenfeldt AB | isbn=91-7117-252-1}}
{{Horse breeds of Sweden}}
Category:Horse breeds Category:Horse breeds originating in Sweden Category:Gotland Category:Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy