Turkish Native Horse Breeds and A Conservation Policy

This study was carried out to collect information about Turkish Native Horse Breeds. The horse has always been a strong figure in Turkish history and they were used them for different purposes. Because of several reasons horse population of Turkey decreased until present time. At the present time in Turkey there are horse breeds of Anatolian Native, Canik, Coloured, Cukurova, East Anatolian, H?n?s?n Kol?k?sas?, Karacabey, Karakachan, Kula of Camardi, Malakan, Midilli of Ayvacik, Nonius, Thrace, Turkish Arabian, Turkish Thoroughbred, and Uzunyayla. Some of those breeds are endangered and some of them are nearly extinct. The Genetic Engineering and Biotechnical Institute (GEBI), Marmara Research Centre applied a project entitled the “In Vitro Conservation and Preliminary Molecular identification of some Turkish Domestic Animal Genetic Resources” (TURKHAYGEN-I). Limited cryopreservation of genetic material of five breeds, Canik, Cukurova, Kolukisa of Hinis, Malakan and Mytilene, has already been undertaken at GEBI.