Another Friday and time to visit an exotic location and learn about the interesting horse breeds it’s given rise to. Looking at each breed in the context of their origins is a fascinating ride, & today a peek at the breeds from Japan.
Island Ponies
Japan is an island nation and one with a variety of island geographies. These pockets of isolation make for relatively pure bloodlines in what are primarily small horse and pony breeds of Mongolian descent. Many of the pony breeds are revered and protected under Japanese law, continuing already incredibly pure bloodlines.
Born to Run
One exception is the bulky Ban-ei horse, a heavy draft horse created using Percheron, belgian and Breton bloodlines. Interestingly enough these animals aren’t bred for agriculture work but for racing. This type of draft racing requires the animals to pull heavy sleds over large hills, the weight of the sled is determined by the animal’s age & track record.
Japanese Horse Breeds
Ban-ei
Donsanko
Kandachime
Kiso
Misaki Pony
Miyako Pony
Nambu Horse
Noma
Tokara Pony
Taishu Horse
Yonaguni
yururi Island Horse
Horses of the World
There is a whole worlds worth of countries to visit, so be sure to keep yourself updated. Please let me know in the comments below if I’m missing any horses of the Japan & check back next week for the breeds of Kazakhstan.