Characterisation of Spiti Horses of India - R.K. Pundir

National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal 132001, India

Summary

The breeding tract of Spiti horses is located in the Kaja subdivision of the Lahul and Spiti district and the Yanthang area of the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh in India. The horses in this area are smaller in height and called Spiti ponies. They are reared as pack animals at high altitude. Their body is well developed with fairly strong bones. The mane is long and has hairs of 25to 40 cm in length. The body is solid, displaying and alert attitude, the face is convex, the ears are erect and the eyes are black. The tail is medium in length and straight. The horses are docile in temperament. The body colours are grey, brown, black and piebald. On an average, these horses stand 129 cm height, have a body length of 100 cm, a heart girth of 148 cm, an ear length of 15 cm and a face length of 50 cm. Animals are reared on grazing (alpine pasture) from May to November and stall fed from December to April. The breeding season is from February to July. The average age at first fertile service, age at first foaling, gestation period, service period and foaling interval were estimated as 1054, 1297, 333, 63 and 516 days, respectively under intensive management at Kamand farm. It has also been ascertained from various sources that their number is declining rapidly, however breed population statistics are not available. There is, therefore, an urgent need to conserve this breed.

Resumen

La zona de localización de la raza equina Spiti se encuentra en India, en los distritos de Lahul y Spiti (zona de Kaja) y en la zona de Yanthang en el distrito de Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh). Los caballos de esta zona son de tamaño pequeño y se denominan poneys Spiti. Se crían como animales de tiro para altas altitudines. Poseen un cuerpo bien desarrollado con fuertes huesos. El manto es largo con pelo de 25 a 40 cm. El cuerpo es sólido, presenta una actitud alerta, la cara es convexa, las orejas erectas y los ojos negros. La cola es media en cuanto a longitud y estrecha. Los caballos poseen un temperamento dócil. El manto es gris, marrón, negro y picazo. En media, estos caballos miden 129 cm al garrete, tienen una longitud de 100 cm, circunferencia torácica de 148 cm, longitud de orejas de 15 cm, y una cara de unos 50 cm. Los animales se crían al pasto (pasto alpino) desde mayo hasta noviembre y en estabulación de diciembre a abril. La estación de celo va de febrero a julio. La edad media fértil al primer cruce, al primer parto, periodo de gestación, periodo de cubrición e intervalo entre partos se estimó en 1054, 1297, 333, 63 y 516 días, respectivamente, en condiciones de manejo intensivo en la explotación de Kamand. También se estableció en base a diferentes fuentes que el número de estos animales se encuentra en declive rápido, a pesar de no existir estadísticas sobre la población de esta raza. De ello se concluye la necesidad urgente de un programa de conservación para la raza.

Key words: Pony, Characterisation, Conservation, Genetic resources, India.

Figure 1. Breeding tract of Spiti horses

Introduction

Equines provide good draft power and an excellent means of transportation in mountains and hilly terrain in India. India has six distinct breeds of horses; Kathiawari and Marwari are the horses of north western region used for sports and transport, Spiti and Zainskari as pack animals for high altitude temperate areas of the northern hills and Bhutia and Manipuri ponies of the eastern region as pack and transport animals.

The Spiti horses are found in the Kaja subdivision of the Lahul and Spiti district and the Yanthang area of the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. The horses in this area are smaller in height and called Spiti ponies. The Spiti ponies have two strains, pure Spiti and Konimare. The Konimare ponies are comparatively taller than the pure Spiti. The Kannait community found in this area is mainly responsible for sustaining these horses. Spiti horses are mainly used for riding, sports and as pack animals at high altitude. They have ability to smell glaciers, move easily on sloping areas and walk easily on ice. They are capable of thriving in cold climates and can survive such adverse conditions such as scarcity of feed and low temperatures (-45°C). They are able to undertake long journeys at high altitude. The breeding tract of Spiti horses is shown in Figure 1.

Materials and Methods

Information on the performance traits and various management practices followed in the breeding was generated by interviewing farmers using a structured questionnaire at a horse show held on 3-5 December, 1999 at Rampur Bushair, Himachal Preadesh as well as farmers from Kullu district. Farmers from Lahul Spiti, Kinnaur and Kullu districts brought their horses to the horse show. The physical characteristics of 107 Spiti horses, the coat colour of 151 and the different body measurements of 107 Spiti horses were recorded at the horse show (77) in 1999 and from Himachal Pradesh State Government Horse Breeding farm, Kamand (30) in 1998. At Kamand Farm nine horses were less than 2.5 years of age and the rest were adults above 3 years. At the horse show all horses were adults. Physical characteristics and coat colour were expressed in percentage/frequency. Data on different body measurements was analysed by the LSMLMW-PC Version-2 computer programme (Harvey, 1990), by assuming a fixed model incorporating location and sex and their interaction effects. The paunch girths were recorded only at Kamand Farm, and hip width and fore-leg length at the horse show; all results were analysed only by sex effects. Performance of the breed was studied by analysing 36 foaling records of 22Spiti horses, maintained at the Government Horse Breeding Farm, Kamand, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, from 1988 to 1997. The traits included age at first fertile service, age at first foaling, gestation period, service period and foaling interval.

Results and Discussions

Physical characteristics

The Spiti horses are hardy and surefooted dwarf animals. Their body is well developed with fairly strong bones. The legs are thicker and covered with long coarse hairs. The mane is long with hairs of 25 to 40 cm in length. The body is solid, displaying an alert attitude, the face is convex, the ears are erect and the eyes are black. The back is straight and the tail is medium in length and straight. The horses are docile in temperament.

Management practices

The herd size per farmer ranged from 1 to 3. Farmers are maintaining their animals with green fodders and small amount of concentrates comprising kala matar (Pisum sativum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) during stall-feeding. They use Spiti horses as pack animal to carry their luggage, whenever they go to upper hills with livestock for grazing. Farmers provide water twice a day and adopt natural breeding methods. The horses are housed in roofed wooden/katcha houses. Animals are reared on grazing (Alpine Pasture) from May to November and stall fed from December to April. The breeding season is from February to July.

Body colour

The body colour pattern studied on 151 Spiti horses from the Government Horse Breeding Farm (74), and Spiti Horse Show revealed that grey and brown colours are common (Table 1). Other body colours were black and piebald (black body with white patches).

Body measurements

The average body measurements of Spiti horses less than 2.5 years of age are given in Table 2. The average height, body length, heart girth, ear length, face length and face width of Spiti Horses aged 12-18 months were 119, 86, 127, 37, 15, 44 and 19 cm, respectively. The least squares means of different body measurements in adult Spiti horses are presented in tables 3a and 3b. Horses surveyed at the Spiti Horse Show were taller in comparison with horses from Kamand Farm, and males were taller than females. However, all the differences were statistically non-significant. The estimate was similar to the reports of dad-is (www.fao.org/dad-is) in stallions of the Spiti breed and lower than the Bhutia (145 cm) and Manipuri pony (140 cm). Horses surveyed at the Spiti Horse Show had longer bodies in comparison with those from Kamand farm but all the effects included in the study were non significant on this trait. The heart girth was greater in the horses surveyed at Kamand Farm than the show horses but none of the effects exerted significant influence on this trait. The paunch girth was recorded only at Kamand farm and average was 150.44±2.80 cm. The hip width and fore leg length were recorded only in the horse show. The sex effects influenced hip width however fore leg length was not similarly influenced. The tail length without switch was affected significantly by location effects. The tail was longer in horses at show than the Kamand farm. Sex and interaction of sex and location did not affect this trait significantly. The ear length was influenced significantly by location effects. The horses available at Kamand farm had longer ear than the show horses. The least square means of face length and width was 49.21±0.41 and 18.33 ±0.58 cm respectively. The location effects were significant on face width only, rest of other effects were non-significant. There was no information available on body measurements of Spiti/Bhutia/Manipuri/Zainskari horses except for height comparisons but all the measurements were lower than the estimates reported by Pundir et al., (1997) for Kathiawari and Marwari horses.

Table 1. Body colour in Spiti horses.

Table 2. Average body measurements (cm) of Spiti horses of less than 2.5 years of age at Kamand. Farm.

Table 3a. Least squares means (cm), Standard Errors and number of observations for different body measurements of Spiti horses.

Table 3b. Least squares means (cm), Standard Errors and number of observations for different body measurements of Spiti horses.

* P<0.05
** P<0.01

Figure 3. Spiti horse stallion.

Figure 2. Head of Spiti horse.

Performance

Under field conditions

Information on body weights and reproductive performance was generated by interviewing the farmers. The birth weight ranged from 20 to 25 kg and adult weight from 200 to 250 kg. The average age at puberty in males was 48 months and in females 30 to 36 months. The average age at first fertile service, gestation period and foaling interval was 3 years, 340 days and 1.5 years respectively. The mares exhibited heat 10 to 15 days after foaling. The total life span of these horses was 22-25 years. The mares had on an average 7-8 foaling during their lifetime.

Under intensive management

The number of observation, mean and range of various reproductive performance traits are given in table 4. The age at first fertile service and age at first foaling were lower than the reports of Panchal et al., (1995) and Pundir et al., (1997), for Kathiawari horses. The average gestation period was 333 days and similar to the findings of Pundir et al., (1997). The service period ranged from 10 to 218 days and estimate was lower than the reports of Pundir et al., (1997). The foaling interval was lower than those reports of Panchal et al., (1995) and Pundir et al.,(1997).

Table 4. Performance of the Spiti Horses.

No information was available on the population of Spiti horses as censuses in India are conducted by species not by breed. However dad-is 2 (www.fao.org/dad-is) reported that in India there were 18000-20000 Spiti horses in the year 1982. Of these, 5000 were breeding females and 750 breeding males. Interviews with local horse breeders revealed that their number is declining rapidly due to the availability of alternative mechanical means of transportation.

Presently, they are in use only where such mechanical transportation means are not available. It is felt that there is an urgent need for improvement and conservation of this breed of horses which are well adapted to the hilly terrain of Himalayas. Based on effective population size and an increase in the inbreeding coefficient it may be concluded that 20-30 pedigree stallions and 100 pedigree mares would be enough for conservation under farm conditions. Attempts are also needed to preserve semen, embryo and ova of this breed.

References

Harvey, W.R. 1990. User’s guide for LSML-PC-Version-2, mixed model least square.

Panchal, M.T., M.L. Gujarati & F.S.Kavani. 1995. Study of some of the reproductive traits of Kathi mares in Gujarat state. Indian Journal of Animal Reproduction 63, 47-49.

Pundir, R.K., R.K. Vijh., R.N. Shukla., A.S. Vyas., B.K. Bhavsar & A.E.Nivsarkar. 1997. Characterisation of Indian Kathiawari horses. Animal Genetic Resources Informations 21, 71-80.