page_title: Noriker
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Noriker / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Das Kufenstechen ist ein Kärntner Reiterbrauch, der in den Untergailtaler Orten von den Burschenschaften an ihrem jährlichen Kirchtag durchgeführt wird. Das bekannteste Kufenstechen findet am Pfingstmontag in Feistritz an der Gail statt. Unverheiratete Burschen des Dorfes reiten in ihrer Gailtaler Männertracht mit der Eisenkeule in der Hand auf ungesattelten Norikerpferden in schnellem Ritt heran und stechen auf die bereitgestellte Kufe. Wenn das Holzfass zersplittert ist, nimmt der Sieger den Kranz entgegen, führt die ledigen Dorfmädchen in ihrer farbenprächtigen und kostbaren Gailtaler Tracht zur Dorflinde und eröffnet dort den Lindentanz. Das Kufenstechen ist Teil des ganztägigen Kirchtags mit Gottesdienst, dem Essen der Kirchtagssuppe, dem Kufenstechen, dem Lindentanz und dem anschließenden Dorffest, bei dem von manchen Einwohnern noch die Gailtaler Tracht getragen wird. Das Wappen von Feistritz an der Gail zeigt die beim Kufenstechen verwendete Eisenkeule und die auf dem Pfahl aufgesetzte Kufe. English: The “Kufenstechen” is an event that takes place in Feistritz an der Gail in Carinthia, Republic of Austria during the annual Kermesse on Whit Monday. The task of young unmarried men, riding on bareback Noriker horses, is to smash a wooden barrel with an iron club. The men have to ride past several times before the barrel is destroyed. Finally, when it is broken, the winner receives a wreath of flowers which he puts on his wrist. Directly afterwards the traditional dance under the lime tree can begin. The winner of the „Kufenstechen“ begins the dance and the other unmarried couples, wearing the traditional Gailtaler folk costumes, join them. The dance is accompanied by very old traditional songs. Français&#160;: Le «&#160;Kufenstechen&#160;» est un évènement qui se déroule à Feistritz an der Gail, en Carinthie (Autriche) durant la kermesse annuelle du lundi de pentecôte. Les jeunes hommes célibataire doivent briser un baril de bois avec une barre de fer en chevauchant à cru un cheval de race Noriker. Chaque concurrent doit passer plusieurs fois avant que le baril ne soit détruit. Celui qui arrive enfin à le briser recoit un bouquet de fleurs qu'il met à son poignet. Ensuite à lieu la danse traditionnelle sous un tilleul. Le vainqueur du «&#160;Kufenstechen&#160;» ouvre la danse suivi des autres couples non mariés, habillés en costume folkloriques. La dance s'accompagne de chansons anciennes
context_page_description: The Noriker horse, also called the Norico-Pinzgauer and historically known as the Pinzgauer horse, is a moderately heavy Austrian draught horse breed. The Noriker is considered indigenous to the central Alpine region of Europe, and is believed to have originated around the highest mountain of Austria, the Grossglockner. This region was once known as the Roman province of Noricum. At the end of the 19th century the original name Pinzgauer horse was changed to Noriker horse, due in part to the Romanophile attitude in this time.
  The breed played an important role in the transportation of goods through the Alps, carrying salt, gold and Celtic iron from Salzburg to Italy, and on the return journey bringing back wine and spices. This use developed a powerful, long, deep-barreled and sure-footed draught horse as an adaptation to the alpine terrain. The use of Noriker horses in agriculture started much later, during the industrialisation period in the 20th century.
  The Pinzgauer High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle takes its name from this breed.
context_section_description: Up to the end of the 19th century, Noriker horses were an important link in the trade between central Europe and the Adriatic. Very early in the breeding history of the Noriker horse, baroque horses also played an important role. With the establishment of the stud farm Rif, near Salzburg in 1565, the phase of the refinement by Neapolitan and Iberian stallions began, which exerted their influence on the Noriker horse until 1806. Down to the present day this influence is visible in the conformation of these horses: Roman heads with a powerful and compact topline, long manes and tails. Baroque influence is also visible in coat colours, with a large number of black horses as well as blue roans, called mohrenkopf referring directly to the Italian expression testa di moro or capo moro, meaning "dark head" or "Moor (dark) head". Besides Mohrenköpfen, the leopard spotted coat colour, named tiger (reflecting the linguistic absence of a distinction between "tiger" and "leopard" cats), is still an active breeding objective of the breed as well, which is unusual for nearly all other European horse breeds.
  In 1903, the stud book was closed. Since then, Noriker horses are strictly purebred. The years between the two world wars were when the popularity of the Noriker horse peaked, and the population grew constantly. However, after the second World War, mechanisation started to take over, though in the poorer mountainous regions of Austria the machinery was not affordable, so horses in the Alps have continued to be part of everyday life until about 1968, when the Noriker horse population, then at 34,510 head, began to decline.
  The late 1970s were called the crisis of horse breeding in Europe, and within about twenty years, 80% of the Noriker horses disappeared, a fact that was directly connected to the third wave of mechanisation. By 1985, only 6,996 Noriker horses survived. While today, many draught horse breeds of Europe are endangered, the Noriker has rebounded to some extent, and currently about 10,000 Noriker horses are living in the Austrian countryside. The Noriker is also bred in Italy, predominantly in the Puster Valley and the five Ladin valleys, areas formerly in Austria-Hungary. Under the name Norico-Pinzgauer, it is one of the fifteen indigenous horse "breeds of limited distribution" recognised by the AIA, the Italian breeders' association, which also publishes the Italian breed standard. The regional breeders' federation is the same as that for the Haflinger, the Provincial Federation of South Tyrol Haflinger Horse Breeders.
caption: The Noriker horse is ridden in the Kufenstechen, part of a traditional folk event in Feistritz an der Gail during the annual Kermesse on Whit Monday, wherein unmarried young men attempt to smash a wooden barrel with an iron
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