INDIAN HORSE BREEDS AND CLASSIFICATION OF HORSES

Breed	Loation	Purpose
Kathiawari	Gujarat	Pace & Speed
Marwari	Rajasthan	Pace & Speed
Bhutia	Himalayan Ranges	Hill purpose
Manipuri	Manipur	Speed, polo and sports
Spiti	Himachal Pradesh	Pace
Zanskari	Jammu & Kashmir	Hill purpose

Classification of horses

Character	Light horse	Draught horse	Ponies
Height (M)	1.47 to 1.52	1.47 to 1.52	>1.47
Weight (Kg)	400 to 600	600 and above	200 to 400
Uses	Riding and pack	Riding & Heavy work	Pack

MARWARI HORSE

The Marwari horse has its origin in the Marwar and Mewar region of Rajasthan State in Western India, which is the natural habitat of this breed.

These horses are mainly reared for riding, sports and safari. The Marwari horse measures in height from 142-169 cm. In appearance the face is finally chiselled, slightly longish, pointed with round nostrils and large expressive eyes. The ears are longer measuring up to 16 cm in length and 6-10 cm width. Ears are at 90º axis and can rotate at 180º angle. Ear tips are pointed and curved inward like a sickle. The ears meet or overlap each other when the animal rotates them. The animal have fine coat. The predominate body colours are chestnut, liver chestnut, black, brown, piebald and skewbald. Marwari horses are docile, beautiful and known for endurance, speed and adaptability under adverse climatic conditions and scanty feed and fodder. Long distance endurance and docile nature makes Marwari horses best suited for safari. The Marwari horse described as “as fine a the horse as any other in the world” by General Tweedie, a British Cavalry Officer. The breed is under threat of extinction as only few hundred animals true to breed are left.

KATHIAWARI HORSE

The breeding tract of Kathiawari horses is erstwhile Saurashtra province of Gujarat. The breed is believed to have evolved from the wild horses of Kathiawar of Gujarat State and Arabian horses which happened to land on seashore after the crash of a ship in Arabian sea. Common body colours observed are chestnut, bay, grey and dun. The ears are upright on 90º axis and can rotate at 180º. As compared to Marwari breed, the ears are smaller in length and less in width. The forehead and poll gives a triangular appearance. Other features are long neck like a cock, short legs and squared quarters. The height is 130-150 cm.

 Triangluar forehead and poll, smaller ear compared to marwari, Chestnut, bay, dun are common colours

SPITI HORSE

Spiti ponies have their origin in Tibet and are found in Pin valley of Spiti Division of Himachal Pradesh. These strong and hardy ponies are adapted to cold desert regions and capable of thriving under adverse condition of nutrition, food scarcity, low temperatures and longer journey at high altitude. These are mainly used as back animal and for riding. The average height is 120-122 cm. Predominant body colour includes gray, black, brown and dun. The neck is short with a long and thick mane.

ZANSKARI HORSE

Zanskari breed of horses is available in Laddakh area of Jammu and Kashmir. Common body colour are gray, black and copper. These horses are known for their hardiness and ability to work at high altitude. The animals are alert, well build, medium in size. The height ranges between 132-147 cm. The tail is long and heavy, almost touching the ground. These horses are used for draught, transport, riding and polo.

MANIPURI HORSE

Manipuri ponies are found in Manipur and Assam. 

 These alert ponies are known for beauty, fastness and are famous for polo and riding purpose. The animals are of medium built standing 112-132 cm at withers. The common body colours include bay, brown, gray or chestnut. The ears are alert and almond shaped.

BHUTIA HORSE

These horses are distributed in Sikkim and Darjeeling. Predominant body colour are gray and bay. Height at withers is from 130-132 cm. These are mainly used as pack and riding animals in hilly terrains. Strong legs and long hairs on neck and tail are characteristic features of this breed.

CHUMMARTI HORSE

This breed is found in the Chummarti valley of Tibet. In India, these horses are available in Himachal Pradesh. This breed is very similar to Spiti. Height at withers is 127-129 cm.

EXOTIC BREEDS

 Thoroughbred horses

Thoroughbred horses have been developed by crossing warm-blooded Arabian horses with cold blood heavy breed European horses. These are maintained by the private breeders. Registration of individual thoroughbred stallion and brood mares is governed by Stud book authority of India which is a part of Royal Western India Turf Club Limited, Pune, Ministry of Agriculture undertake registration of studs. Presently, more than 130 organized stud farms are there. These horses are used for competitiveness at various racecourses. Indian Army and Paramilitary forces and police use thoroughbred horses for their requirements. Most of the stallion are yet imported for breeding activity by Indian army and thoroughbred industry. Distinctive feature Long fore arm and lesser thigh, long distance from hip to hock, long smooth muscling. The rear quarters are highly powerful.

 DONKEY

It is considered that ass are of purely African origin. The ass was first domesticated in the valley of the Nile. Three wild races of asses were observed:

o                  North-East African race (Nubia).

o                  North-East African race (Sudan) and

o                  Somalian race (Somali-land).

The greatest contribution to animal husbandry that ass has made is the production of mules. Mules fit well in different agricultural operations. The asses have several features that differ from horses; one of the most noticeable characteristics is longer and much larger ears of asses. The hair on mane and tail are very scanty and there is a brush like switch at the end of the tail. Jacks and their mule offspring have well-muscled, broader loins, long and well sprung ribs. Consequently, they can take more abuse and punishment than the horse. Jacks lack apparent muscling, have larger bone and joints but smaller rounder feet than the horses. Jacks also have a characteristic bray, which is a decidedly in contrast to the whinney of the horse. The modern domesticated asses have mainly descended from the Nubian race. Though grey colour predominates but black, white and even piebald asses can be seen. The ass is indisputably one of the most useful animals and is available everywhere. FAO has reported three distinct types of Indian asses viz. Indian, Indian wild and Kiang. Indian wild asses are available in Rann of Kutch while Kiang are available in Sikkim and Laddakh. They are dark red brown with white underparts and patch behind the shoulder. Among Indian, two major types of donkeys i.e. those of larger size and smaller size are common.

o                  The larger size donkeys are light grey to almost white in colour.

o                  The smaller size ones are dark grey in colour.

Good quality donkey stallions of exotic breed obtained from France and other European countries are maintained by NRCE, State Animal husbandry Deptt. of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, and at Equine Breeding Farms of the Army.

ASS OR DONKEY

The asses are believed to be of African and Asian origin. They differ from horses my many ways. The most noticeable characteristic is large and much longer ear. The hairs on mane ad tail are very scanty and there is a brush like switch at the end of the tail. The FAO has reported three distinct types of Indian assess namely, Indian donkeys, Indian wild ass and Kiang.

There are three types of donkeys available in India.

o                  Small size dark grey

o                  Large sized light grey to white

o                  Large size dark brown colour with long hair.

In India there is an organized exotic donkey breeding farm at National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar and Bikaner, which is able to proved donkey semen for mule production as well as for upgrading of indigenous donkeys. During the recent past, China has utilized the potential of donkeys with special breeding programme. Presently, china has raised about 10 million high bred donkeys for carting. Donkey carts in China carry about 400 kg loads. (Indian wild ass is found in Little Rann of Kutch (Gujarat) and Kiang in Ladakh, Kiang is largest and heaviest of all the Asiatic wild Ass.)

MULE

These are hybrid born out of donkey stallion and the horse mare. The production of mules involves three steps including breeding of jack stock for use as stallion, breeding of the horse mares and crossing of jack with mare. One of the difficulties in mule production is to locate a fertile jack that can serve the horse mare. The mules are usually produced for draught purposes. The mules are most useful as draught, pack and transport animals particularly in difficult terrains including hills. The mule combines some of the superior qualities of both the species. It has size, speed, strength and spirit of the horse and surefooted-ness, lack of excitability, endurance and ability to thrive on poor food of donkey. The draught mules stand from 155-172 cm in height and weigh from 450-650 kg.

There are two distinct types of mules, namely,

o                  Mountain Artillery (MA) and

o                  General Service (GS) kept by Indian Army.

Mountain Artillery mules are used for carrying heavy load and artillery in mountain region and general services mules are used for general transportation.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MULE

With its short thick head, long ears, thin limbs, small narrow hooves, and short mane, the mule shares characteristics of a donkey. In height and body, shape of neck and croup, uniformity of coat, and teeth, it appears horse-like. The mule comes in all sizes, shapes and conformities. There are mules that resemble quarter horses, huge draft mules, fine-boned racing mules, shaggy pony mules and many more types. A mule does not sound exactly like a donkey or a horse. Instead, a mule makes a sound that is similar to a donkey's but also has the whinnying characteristics of a horse (often starts with a whinny, ends in a hee-haw). Sometimes, mules whimper. The coats of mules come in the same varieties as those of horses. Common colors are bay, black, and grey. Less common are white, roans (both blue and red), dun. The mule possesses the sobriety, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigour, strength and courage of the horse. Operators of working animals generally find mules preferable to horses: mules show less impatience under the pressure of heavy weights, and their skin, harder and less sensitive than that of horses, renders them more capable of resisting sun and rain. Their hooves are harder than horses', and they show a natural resistance to disease and insects.

Mules exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species - horses and donkeys. This is believed to be the result of hybrid vigor, similar to how mules acquire greater height and endurance than either parent. Mules are highly intelligent. They tend to be curious by nature. A mule generally will not let the rider put it in harm's way. However, the stereotype of the mule as being stubborn is somewhat unfair and inaccurate.