In 1816, an Anglo-Norman covering stallion was assigned to Mezőhegyes, whose name was Nonius.
This stallion had been covering in Mezőhegyes for 17 years, and as a result, 79 stallions and 122 mare foals were born. As a result of the breeding work in Mezőhegyes, Nonius has become one of the best horse breeds of the world. It was the most modern horse of the 19th century, which did not only serve the hussars as an excellent saddle horse but it also pulled the cannon, if it was necessary. It worked perfectly in agriculture as a workhorse, too.
The Nonius horses contributed to the positive reputation of Mezőhegyes and our country also when in 1900, in the Paris Exposition it received the award of “the ideal horse”! Mezőhegyes is the only Hungarian stud which did not give only one horse breed to the country but four breeds: Nonius, Gidran, Furioso-North Star and the Mezőhegyes sports horse.
For almost 80 years everything had been about horse-breeding; there was an early period in which there were 60 000 horses in the pasture! Other livestock has been brought to the Estate from the 1860’s.
The Hungarian grey cattle has been brought to Mezőhegyes by the military leadership, primarily because of its draught power. The fattening had begun soon, too. The excellent production capacity of the local soil resulted in huge, well-developed animals: the cows of Mezőhegyes were up to 45 % heavier than their peers in other areas of Tiszántúl Region!