The foal that came into the cold

The foal from the pole of cold was born on 15 December, on the iciest day of the winter in Oymyakon, so chilling that it was only 6C milder than the lowest temperature ever recorded in 1933. 

'This story deserves Guinness World Records as the foal was born in December at temperature of -62C,' said Mikhail Mestnikov, who runs VisitYakutia.com - the first stop website for travellers wishing to explore Russia's largest and most magical region, Yakutia, also known as the Sakha Republic.

'As Oymyakon horse breeders say, even when foals are born in such cold, the chances of them surviving are very, very slim. The main thing here is the mother horse's care during the first hours of the foals's life. And Dekabrina's mother managed to nurse her foal to survival. Only the tips of Dekabrina's ears suffered some frostbite'. 

The Yakutian Horse foal was born on the land of local farmer Mikhail Itegelov. The mare endlessly licked her foal in the piercing cold to keep her alive.

'Several weeks after Dekabrina was born and saved by its devoted mother, we arrived to visit,' said Mr Mestnikov. 'Mikhail took us out show us the 'wonder foal' and its heroic mama, praising the mare's devotion and the foal's incredible resilience. I've been to Mikhail's household several times, and each time I look out for Dekabrina. She is doing fine, and she was easily distinguished among other horses because of the unusual shape of her ears.'

Mikhail Mestnikov, a director of Yakutsk-based Nord Stream tour company, took these pictures but then suffered an occupational hazard common for photographers in these part of the world.

'I tried to do a proper photoshoot with Dekabrina, but my camera froze to death several minutes after I took it out'.

Yakutian horses are a rare native breed noted for adaptation to the fierce sub-zero temperatures  of Siberia's coldest region. 

The horses average 150 centimetres or 14.3 hands and is said to resemble the Shetland pony from the north of Scotland.