KATHIAWARI HORSES:

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the princely family of various States of Kathiawad, have evolved this 'Kathiawadi' breed by breeding the indigenous stock with the 'Arab' stallions to fulfill their sporty needs. Some State of old Kathiawad province took special interest and care in the development of this breed and due to their sustained efforts, present Kahtiawadi breed of horse has been developed.

The superintendent of Gaekwar Contingent in 1880 suggested that the KATHIAWARI breed may have sprung from the wild horses of KATHIAWAR (a sort of Quagga, Bombay Gazette, KATHIAWARI, foot note, page 97). The breeding tract of the breed is SAURASHTRA province of Gujarat which comprises of Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Surendranagar Junagarh and Amreli districts of Gujarat. The Kathiawari horse looks like an Arabian, but has curving ears that touch and are extremely movable. The most prominent body colour in KATHIAWARI horses is chestnut followed by bay (body chestnut, Foreleg up to knee and fetlock are black, KATHIAWARI black, Hairs of tail and neck are black), gray (complete white colour) and dun (light chestnut). The physical characteristics of KATHIAWARI horses are concave profile, long neck, short leg and squared quarters. Face is dry and short, triangular from pale to forehead and small muzzle, big nostrils, edge of nostril is thin; small, fine and curved upright ears on 90 degrees axis that can touch and rotate at 180 degrees , broad forehead and large expressive sensitive eyes. Tail is long, not bushy, curved well and touching to the ground, foot round and broad. KATHIAWARI horses have on an average 119 cm long body, 147 cm height and 160 cm heart girth. The average ear length is 15 cm. The average face length and width are 53 and 21 cm, respectively. The tail length without switch is 42 cm. These horses are friendly, compliant, and smart. The Kathiawari Horses today are used in India's police force

MARWARI HORSES :

The Marwari breed is derived from the Marwar region of the Rajasthan - the natural habitat of the breed. The Marwar region includes Udaipur, Jalor, Jodhpur and Rajasamand districts of Rajasthan and some adjoining areas of Gujarat. The Marwari horses are reared mainly for riding and sports and no attempts are being made to prepare them as thoroughbred race animals. The predominant body colour is brown where as other body colours are roan, chestnut, white and black with white patches. The Marwari horses have 130-140 cm long body, 152-160 cm height, 166-175 cm heart girth, 60 cm face length, 22 cm face width, 18 cm ear length and 47 cm tail length without switch. The Marwari horses are longer and taller than Kathiawari horses

SPITY HORSES :

The Spiti horses are distributed in Spiti valley and adjoining areas of Kullu and Kinnaur divisions of Himachal Pradesh. These horses are smaller in height. The Spiti ponies have two strains, Spiti pure and Konimare. The Konimare ponies are comparatively taller. They are capable of thriving in cold regions under adverse conditions of scarcity of food, low temperature and long journeys at high altitude. The Spiti horses are used for riding and as pack animals. The predominant body colour is gray (complete white) followed by black, black flay bone (white body with black patches), brown and bay. The Spiti horses are hardy and surefooted. Body is well developed with fairly strong bones. The legs are thick and covered with long coarse hairs. The mane is longer having 20 to 30 cm long hairs. Solid and compact body, convex face, erect ears, black eyes, straight back, long and straight tail, alert looking and short height are some of the important breed characteristics. The horses are nervous in temperament. The Spiti horses have on average 97 cm body length, 127 cm height, 150 cm paunch girth, 15 cm long ear, 49 cm face length and 20 cm face width. It has been observed that females have shorter body, height, heart girth and paunch girth

ZANSKARI HORSES :

MANIPURI HORSES :

Manipuri breed of ponies is one of the purest and prestigious breed of equines of India. It is a strong and hardy breed and has very good adaptability to extreme geo-climatic conditions. It is one of the well-known breeds of India and has been claimed as the oldest polo pony. They are found in Manipur and Assam, and are similar to the south-east Asian type pony. Generally the Manipuri ponies are of 11-13 hands high at wither with a good shoulder, short back, well developed quarters and strong limbs. Mane is generally coarse and upright. It has small pointed pricked ears, eyes are alert and slightly slant .The area between the nostrils is flat not crispy. Withers are not prominent. Face is concave and tail is well set and commensurate with height. Manipuri ponies are intelligent and extremely tough, and have tremendous endurance. Perhaps all these good qualities made it suitable for polo game for which it is globally famous. The breed is available in 14 different colours viz Bay, Black, Gray, Mora white, Leiphon white, Sinai White, Stocking, liver chestnut, Roan, light gray, Reddish.

BHUTIA HORSE :

Bhutia horses are distributed in Sikkim and Darjeeling . They are usually gray or bay coloured and similar to the Tibetan pony.