during the early 20th century, primarily because of civil and ethnic wars in the Caucasus in general and the Karabakh region in particular. The breeding enterprise established by the Karabakh khans and developed by their heirs was destroyed in 1905. Karabakhs were bred to other breeds, resulting in changes including a reduction in size. In 1949, the breed was revived at the Agdam stud in Azerbaijan. Seven years later, the Karabakh stallion Zaman and an Akhal-Teke named Mele-Kush were presented to Queen Elizabeth II by the Soviet government. The breed experienced another setback during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Before the 1993 capture of Agdam by Armenian forces, most of the Karabakh horses were moved from the Agdam stud. They are currently bred in winter pastures on the lowland Karabakh plains between Barda and Agjabadi. During the years of Russian Empire In 1805 Karabakh became part of Russia. Mehdigulu Khan, who ruled after Ibragim Khan, was not interested in the development of stud farms. As a consequence the quantity of khan horses was decreasing. In 1822, Mehdigulu Khan ran away to Persia, and his best horses were presented as gifts to his close people. Unlike Mehdigulu Khan, his daughter Khurshidbanu Natavan was actively engaged in the development of stud farms. Natavan's Karabakh horses took part in the Exposition Universelle (1867), agricultural exhibition in Moscow (1869), in Tbilisi (1882) and were awarded golden medals and certificates of honour. Karabakh horses were also awarded at the Second All-Russian Exhibition in 1869: Meymun – silver medal, Tokmak – bronze medal. At the Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris, Khan got a silver medal. According to modern Azerbaijani sources, not only Khan's daughter, but also many Karabakh bays owned stud farms. Among them were Ugurlu Bay, Jafargulu Khan, Rustam Bay Behbudov, Kerim-aga Javanshir, Shamil bay and others. Overall in the middle of the 19th century, there were 11 stud farms, with 250 stallions and 1450 fillies. Karabakh horses were used by Russian officers who served in the Caucasus. Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin, who traveled to Arzurum in 1829, wrote in his travel notes that young Russian officers were riding Azerbaijani horses. On 21 May 1843, the coat of arms of Shusha was approved and Karabkh horse was depicted on it. In the Soviet Union In 1948, the Soviets began a breeding program which included the use of nine Arabian stallions, as no pure Karabakh stallions were