A farmer from Alkeyevsky district, who found his vocation in the revival of the Tatar breed of horses
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Tatarstan pays great attention to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the countryside. Today, in every district there are people who have opened their own business and successfully developed it. One of these is the head of KFH Fanis Bakirov from the village of Akhmetyevo, Alkeevskiy district, who chose for himself not just business, but the cause of his whole life - the revival of the Tatar breed of horses.
Fanis Bakirov grew up in the village and from childhood was tied to horses, especially since his father’s farm had these wonderful animals. Even as a pupil, Fanis Rashitovich took part in horse races on Sabantui. After school, he studied at a vocational school for a tractor driver. In his native Akhmetev he worked by the specialty. However, he always dreamed of horse breeding. One day, Fanis Rashitovich firmly decided that the moment had come. In 2012, he registered the Bakirov Fanis Rashitovich farm and became one of the few enthusiasts who decided to breed Tatar horses. At the same time he was seriously risking. First of all, he acquired more than 50 breeding horses from Bashkortostan. He worked almost day and night in order to build a decent horse farm. A big support for him was a grant from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan, which he received for his participation in the state program for the development of family farms.
“To collect the first herd, we had to travel around Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk region, and other regions in search of animals with signs of Tatar breed,” says Fanis Bakirov.
The history of the Tatar people has always been inextricably linked with horses. However, during the collectivization of the last century, most of the animals were put for meat. The remaining tribe from Tatarstan was taken to the fields of the Great Patriotic War. In the sixties, the horses of the Tatar breed almost completely disappeared from the territory of the republic. Their very name has become forgotten. Where these horses were preserved in small quantities, they were renamed: for example, in Altai - Altai, in Bashkiria - Bashkir.
Now there are already about 300 horses on the farm of Fanis Bakirov. All of them are now in open pastures. “They are very hardy to winter frosts,” says the farmer. “We drive them to pasture in early spring and bring them back in winter.” They are adapted to forage for themselves in lowland places and in forests. We feed them with hay. They are not afraid of wolves - they are able to resist any beast in the forest. Another advantage of the horses of the Tatar breed is that they are absolutely not afraid of any kind of bloodsucking mosquitoes, flies, gadflies. ”
The phenomenal endurance of Tatar horses, capable of being in continuous motion for 7-8 hours, is also mentioned by Russian hippological science, as well as high fecundity, resistance to heat and cold,and 100–120 km distance done per day.
Fanis Bakirov breeds these animals for sale as breeding horses. 100-120 foals are born annually on the farm. And now in the herd with the horses graze very small foals. As the farmer notes, they are just several days old but they are already completely independent. Like all kids, they are not a step away from mom-horses, and at lunch they like to take a nap, sitting on the green grass.
“The Tatar breed of horses is a historical heritage of the nation, our pride,” says Fanis Bakirov, “therefore breeding horses of the Tatar breed has a special, deep meaning for me.”