The State Stud Farm of Pochinki County, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate was a state-owned horse-breeding enterprise that operated in Pochinki from the era of Catherine II until the early 20th century. Documentary evidence of its activity spans the period from 1801 to 1916; the farm became one of the notable centers of state horse breeding in the south of Nizhny Novgorod Governorate.[1]

History of the founding

Horse breeding in Russia arose as early as the 15th century: horses for military needs were initially bred at private hereditary and manorial studs, and the first tsarist stud farm was founded at the end of that same century. With Peter I's formation of a regular army and cavalry, the state began establishing crown-owned stud farms. The exact founding date of the Pochinki farm is unknown from surviving documents, but the first row of stables dates to 1762[2] — meaning the farm dates back to the era of Catherine II. Initially the enterprise was called the Horse Guards farm: its main task was breeding and raising horses for supply to the Horse Guards.[1] According to the farm's own records, a stable operation had existed in Pochinki even earlier: boyar B. I. Morozov set up a private "horse farm" there in 1652, and on September 18, 1760, by decree of Elizabeth Petrovna the Pochinki volost was granted to the ownership of the Life Guards Horse Regiment.[2]

Activity and documentation

Among the fund's materials are lists of breeding horses with their breed and origin noted, lists of the farm's staff and workers, and information on horse exhibitions and races held. The chronological span of the surviving documents covers 1801–1860, 1863–1880, 1882–1889, and 1891–1916. In the course of work on the inventory, 63 storage units were identified as being of special value.[1]

Archival fund

The farm's documents were placed in storage at the Arzamas State Archive in 1938 from the State Stud Farm of Pochinkovsky District — already in processed form: inventory No. 1 comprised 122 storage units. The fund was assigned number 165 and is held at the State Archive of the Nizhny Novgorod Region (Arzamas). The inventory was later improved: a title page, foreword, and list of abbreviations were compiled, and file headings were revised for greater informativeness; the "Notes" column indicates the methods of document reproduction (handwritten, typewritten, printed, mixed). In the assessment of archivists, the fund's materials are of interest to researchers of the history of horse breeding in Russia.[1]

Sources

  1. opentextnn.ru — Fund No. 165, "State Stud Farm of Pochinki County, Nizhny Novgorod Governorate." Inventory No. 1. For 1801–1916 — OTKRYTY TEKST (archived)
  2. kzpochinki.ru — History of the stud farm (official website of the Pochinki Stud Farm) (archived)