Wild horses - part of Eastern Rhodopes’s beauty

The Eastern Rhodopes are a beautiful mountainous region near the Bulgarian borders with Turkey and Greece and the tourist season is now in full swing. A number of settlements and nature reserves offer places to stay and opportunities for organizing photo safaris.

More and more tourists have become interested in free-roaming horses of the Konik breed. Horses in the Eastern Rhodopes are close to the Eurasian wild horse that disappeared in the 19th century. Attempts to "revive" the missing breed started first in Poland. There experts made a selection of animals of breeds known to have originated from wild horses. The breed thus created received the name "Konik" which means "horse". The first 12 horses of the breed were brought to the region of the abandoned village of Sbor, Krumovgrad in September 2011 from the Netherlands. Later, a second flock was brought.

Animals have adapted well to the natural environment in the Eastern Rhodopes. 16 horses were born this year. Thus the number of free horses of this breed in the Eastern Rhodopes reaches over 70. Dutch experts offer that "Konik" should gain the status of a wild animal. This would provide greater opportunities for preservation as a species that brings more beauty to nature and contributes to biodiversity. If that happened, Bulgaria would become the first country in Europe, where formerly domesticated animals would be declared free wild animals.

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