The wild ancestors of the konik polski were tarpans. They inhabited the forested areas of eastern Poland. In the wild, the tarpans survived until 1780, around the Bialowieza Forest. At the beginning of the 19th century, the last tarpans were caught and transferred to the estate of Zamojski counts (Lubelskie...

Farm animals were smaller in the past.

In 1860, in Lublin (southeastern Poland), the Agricultural Society organized an Exhibition of Farm Animals.  The following were average weights of cattle at the show, according to their country of origin:

Dutch cows - 246 kg (600 pounds)
Swiss cows - 287 kg (700 pounds)