Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 26, 2026

Csikós

The csikós is a horse-mounted herdsman of Hungary. The csikós tradition is closely associated with the Hungarian puszta, the temperate grasslands of the Great Hungarian Plain, which encompasses the largest stretches of the greater Pannonian Basin. In recent times, csikós have been particularly tied to the environs of Debrecen and Hortobágy National Park, the latter deploying csikós to watch over and maintain large herds of free-ranging native Hungarian ungulate breeds, including cattle, horses and sheep. The csikós tradition is also tied to the Nonius, a breed of horse with an epicentre of breeding in the Máta Stud, located some 3 kilometres from Hortobágy.

Last revised
Jun 26, 2026
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A csikós in the puszta of Hortobágy, 1846 source ↗
Csikós in the puszta near the Körös River, 1855 source ↗
A modern-day csikós source ↗

The csikós (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈt͡ʃikoːʃ], singular) is a horse-mounted herdsman of Hungary. The csikós tradition is closely associated with the Hungarian puszta, the temperate grasslands of the Great Hungarian Plain, which encompasses the largest stretches of the greater Pannonian Basin. In recent times, csikós have been particularly tied to the environs of Debrecen and Hortobágy National Park, the latter deploying csikós to watch over and maintain large herds of free-ranging native Hungarian ungulate breeds, including cattle, horses and sheep. The csikós tradition is also tied to the Nonius, a breed of horse with an epicentre of breeding in the Máta Stud, located some 3 kilometres from Hortobágy.1

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References

  1. Cesare Della Pietà, Mariella Bussolati, Hans Silvester (May 1987) "La puszta di Hortobágy" (in Italian), in Silva I (2): 70–85. "The puszta of Hortobágy"