TDLR -- a very beautiful and extremely rare russian breed. NOT to be confused with orlov trotter even though the beginning of the name is the same. primarily a dressage breed, which has the charactersitics + versatility of a sporthorse while having the elegant appearance of a thoroughbred or an arabian! very gorgeous, elegant, primarily black or bay. 16-ish hands tall on average. look below for pics or a video of one -- html editor wouldn't let me add pictures so i had to link them.

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hello! i am a new member here at horse phenomena. i noticed the option to request for new breeds to be added and i thought this breed would be a wonderful candidate. i would go so far as to make it my breed specialty and primary focus on this site if it were to be implemented, and i would love to partner with anyone else who would share this interest for breeding, training or otherwise introducing the breed to the site. i have been an admirer of this breed for quite some time -- it is extremely rare, but also extremely beautiful. i've included some information below!

01. A BRIEF HISTORY 

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The Orlov-Rostopchin Sporthorse (also known as the Russian Warmblood, or Russian Saddle horse) was bred by combining the Rostopchin Riding Horse and the Orlov Riding Horse. Both breeds were gorgeous in their own right. Orlov saddle horses were beautiful and perfect for dressage, with a "swan like neck and an superb topline." They were ideal for dressage and were favored for the sport throughout Russia. The Rostopchin was similarly beautiful, but they were bred for speed. They were extremely successful racing mounts -- Count Rostopchin's mount Anubus would even win against English Thoroughbreds on the race track. Once combined, the Orlov-Rostopchin breed was often used in the calvary for dressage. It was also favored highly in the Tsarist courts, and was often exported as an exotic gift, winning multiple awards at exhibitions. The breed was prematurely declared extinct due to the hardships of both World Wars. However, in 1950, it was restored. 

02. TODAY'S ORLOV-ROSTOPCHINS  

a video of Danielle Gallagher performing on her Orlov Rostopchin, Abrikos.

To this day the headcount for the breed is very small but immensely loved by those who know about it, and hopefully will continue to grow in count. A recent estimate on the population # is approximately 500 head. (According to the International Museum of the Horse, linked below). The horse today is used primarily in dressage competition. Due to its elegance, it sees strong success in dressage. However, it also has been successful in jumping competition as well. Originally, they were not often seen outside of Russia. That has changed somewhat, with exports of the breeds centering in Europe and the United States. There are a small handful of stud farms & organizations dedicated to the breed in the West. The main one is listed down below as the first reference. 

03. BREED CHARACTERISTICS

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Orlov-Rostopchin Sporthorses are usually black, but they also come in bay and brown. They are on average 16-16.1 hands high, though they can reach 17hh too. They are characterized by a superior lightness and elegance, and are the perfect breed for those who love Thoroughbred and Arabian mounts but are seeking something with better sport qualities. They have a quiet temperament and extreme trainability, making them particularly excellent for dressage.

04. REFERENCES 

http://www.orlov-rostopchin.org/breed-history/ (also where all pictures & videos were found).

http://www.equiworld.net/breeds/orlovrostopchin/index.htm

http://imh.org/exhibits/online/breeds-of-the-world/europe/russian-riding-horse/

05. SUPPORTERS 

we have 6 supporters including myself now! :) i have contacted koni to get them added and am just waiting for final approval now. i have included the supporters in a list down below for reference:

1. kuryakin (me lol) 

2. famous shamus 

3. utakata

4. n.adhima

5. primrose 

6. insomnia

Ahh fingers crossed! I'm also happy to buddy up/cooperate to start breeding them rather than having completely exclusive lines. More interesting than going solo.

That'd be fun to start a trio partnership!

ooh yes that would be fun, i'd totally be down for that!!! 

any word on these guys getting added?

oooh I'd be interested too~

@famous shamus -- i did message koni a good while ago!! on the 16th i believe, when we got enough ppl. however, i have not seen her online for a bit so i don't know if she's seen my message yet! i'm not sure if there's anyone else to contact about it. i have not followed up yet, but maybe i will do so soon. but ahh im really excited for them to be added i hope they are sometime soon!! i'm working on my layout and i featured the name of the breed in my layout graphic aslkdfjsafd since i'm going to make it the entire focus of my main account so i'm prepared lol!

@insomnia ahh yay yes join us!!! i will add your name to the list of supporters! 

oooh okay she's probably just busy with stuff! *waits patiently* lol

Koni probably is aware of it and may be working on it right now. Running the request through the process and what not. Her account says she was logged on May 21st.

But it does take her a bit to respond. I don't think she's on a lot?

yes maybe so, you're right @n.adima! i'm not sure what the process is like.

either way i'm eager for it to be added!! trying to keep myself preoccupied with my austrian warmbloods in the meantime haha. but i'm excited! they're so pretty. once they are we should discuss how we plan to go about our collabed lines!

Koni just got married, so I think she's been off for a bit since then!

ohh omg @jaya thats awesome i did not know that!! thats totally understandable haha. 

then congratulations @koni!!! when you read this - i hope your wedding was lovely!!!!

Hey guys!

Jaya is right, I got married on May 15th! So I've been briefly checking in but was on a bit of a quick break to spend time with the new hubby and get things situated. I see we have 5 people willing to breed, so I'll get these added! 

(Thank you Kuryakin! It was a wonderful wedding and I don't think I could have asked for a better day weather-wise either!)

That would explain a lot! I figured RL got busy. It happens from time to time.

Anyways, congrats! It's an exciting day!!!

@kuraykin, what's the plan? Anyone want to create a partner account with me?

congrads on your wedding koni!!

I'm super annoying with my horse's ages and like them to all be the same so I will pick up a pair once I breed all my current horses and they get to 3!

Congrats Koni! Glad you managed to escape for a little while. :) 

I'd be happy to partner up with someone, or to kinda work in collaboration (ie each have separate lines that complement one another). I have a couple of spare accounts knocking around, one of which could happily be dedicated to these. 

@Koni -- Ahhh yes congrats, I'm so glad that the weather was nice!! that makes all the difference!!! i'm so glad it went perfectly!!!

@Famous Shamus -- lol I'm the same way!! though what I plan to do is buy my first generation of these on Sunday, so that I have a full week of them being 3 instead of it being cut off sooner!!! So I will be "officially" starting my individual lines then lol. which i'm so excited for them so it'll be hard to wait! but i will try to be patient for sunday!

& @N.adima & @Utakata -- i remember we talked about a trio partnership, but if threes a crowd and y'all would just rather partner up that's okay too!!! i will have lines of these on my main account, but i am totally happy to collaborate with anyone willing in addition!!! either with a shared line or like utakata said with complementary lines too! let me know if this sounds good and we can chat!!!

i will also add just in case this piques your interest (this goes for anyone of the other 5 ppl who wanted to breed these!!) -- i am going to be dedicating all of my weekly private horse shows to the breed, and i plan to offer spots in a few of them to fellow ORS breeders for free!!! so you can enter them free-of-charge each week if that sounds good. i am not sure exactly at what time they will be each week or how many i will create, as I am still wrestling my newly made handful of spare accounts (and i'm not sure how many i'm going to upgrade yet) BUT i should have that figured out by tonight or tomorrow! i will let y'all know what they're called and how many there are and what the capacity of each one will be when i have that settled!! 

I'd love to partner with someone, but i dont have any extra accounts. I'd still do a trio partnership. It'd be fun!

@kuryakin, I love your layout!

ahh thank you!!!! i just finished it a few days ago!!! i was so rusty on layouts/coding so it took me a bit to finish it admittedly haha.

also i will pm you & also utakata about a possible collab line so we can figure it out & work out the details!! 

I wouldn't have known. It looks awesome!