History of the breed
Similarly to other traditional Hungarian horse breeds the Furioso North Star was developed on the Mezőhegyes State Stud Farm. It is due to the efforts of József Csekonics and his colleges that the founders of the later foundation mare families were selected. By the 1840s the Thoroughbred had become the most important enhancer breed in Hungarian horse breeding. The management of the Mezôhegyes Stud Farm also adopted this concept. Of the stallions involved, two excelled because of the superior quality of their offspring: Furioso, bred on the Derekegyház (Hungary) stud farm, and North Star, imported from England These two stallions founded two lines that supplemented each other very well in the breeding. After the reclassification of the stud in 1855, III and VIII had bay horses, and only Thoroughbred and Thoroughbred crossbred stallions were used in breeding. In two decades, a heavier riding horse also useful as a medium carriage horse type emerged that was clearly distinct from other horses and met the requirements of private breeding demands as well. It was called the Mezôhegyes crossbred, later the Furioso North Star breed.
After World Wars I and II, the number of Furioso North Star horses was dramatically reduced, and regeneration of the breed had to rely on only a few horses. However, the goals were clearly set and persistently followed through. The breed had survived two world wars, and as the old breeding culture was followed, it was regenerated at its cradle at Mezőhegyes. Sadly, the breed has not been able to fully recover from the dramatic losses suffered during the wars and the restructuring of the Mezőhegyes Stud Farm in and after 1961. Several foundation mare families were lost, and stallion lines also suffered irremediable losses. Breeding stocks on the co-operative farms in Orosháza, Szentes, Abádszalók, Jászboldogháza, Karcag, just to mention a few examples, founded in the mid1960s somewhat mitigated the losses. Horses originating from the above mentioned breeding stocks are still found in the breeding today.
Furioso North Star horses regularly featured in equestrian disciplines over the years. Excellent dressage horses included the stallions North Star„A” XIX and Csapláros (669 Furioso VII-14 x 814 Baba). Among jumpers, 306 Ürmös (Furioso „A” XXVII x 42 Mátészalka Labda), Furioso III Kártya (Furioso „B” XIX x Szentes Kártya), and Katyusa (Furioso III x 1281 Kati) and the offspring (Nárcisz, Nóra) of the stallion Furioso “B” XX inherited excellent abilities, and the offspring of Blokád xx (Bálvány, Írisz, Parafa, Párkány, trained for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich) excelled. In the 1990s Ramzes Furioso I Merán, Furioso XXIX Fáraó, Jutka (Furioso XXVI x 1553 Furioso XIII Júnó), and Mályva (Furioso XIII x 1449 Marina) were successful in jumping. Furioso North Star horses did well in carriage driving as well: between 1952 and 1957, Furioso North Star horses participated regularly in 100 km competitions. In 1957, at the last such competition in Csongrád, 16 of the 66 horses running were Furioso North Star. In the turnout of Sándor Fülöp, who was Hungarian Derby winner and Hungarian Champion, as well as winner in Aachen, and fourth at the Hamburg Derby in 1969, there were horses sired by Furioso North Stars (3 offspring of the stallion Furioso “B” XX, 1 offspring of the stallion North Star “A” XVIII, and 1 offspring of the stallion North Star “A” XX).
There have been successful Furioso North Star horses in recent years proving the genetic value of the breed. Excellent horses in jumping are: the Bart Furioso I Igor, Aranyági Kisaranyos (Aldato Furioso I x North Star III-3 Aranyos), Aldato Furioso II Talizmán, and Ideál (Furioso XXIX x Furioso XXVII-11 Ibike). A promising pair turnout at driving competitions has emerged this year with horses from the stallion the Bart Furioso II. In 2005, the Grand Prix winner mare of the Hungarian Agricultural and Food Industrial Exhibition (OMÉK) in Hungary was a Furioso North Star mare. Furioso North Star breeding has been coordinated by its association since 1989. After the political changeover in 1989-1990, state farms and co-operative breeding stocks ceased. Today, there is no state stud farm of the breed, however, the number of registered mares is 550.