Sandalwood Pony

The Sandalwood Pony is a breed of small horse originating from Indonesia, on the Sumba and Sumbawa Islands. It is named after the Sandalwood trees,[1] which are a major export of the country. The Sandalwood pony is one of the finest in the country, partly due to the great amount of Arabian blood. They make suitable children's ponies, and have been exported to Australia for this purpose. They have also been exported to other Southeast Asian countries for use as racing ponies.

Sandalwood Pony
Sandalwood Pony
Country of originIndonesia

The Sandalwood is used for light draft, pack, farm, and riding work. They are especially popular in horse racing, both on the flat and in harness. They are also used in the bareback races held on the islands, which are often over three miles (4.8 km) long.

Sandalwoods have good endurance, and are considered easy to manage. They should have a nice head with small ears, a short, muscular neck, and a deep chest with a sloping shoulder. The back is usually long, and the croup is sloping. The ponies are usually 12–13 hands (48–52 inches, 122–132 cm) and may be any color.

They are said to closely resemble the Batak pony and show influence of their Arabian ancestors. They are fast, and used for racing in local areas.[1]

History

Horses were introduced to Java in unknown date, they are descended from Tibetan or Mongol-type horses.[2]: 39  It is possible that ancient stocks were brought to Indonesia by the Chinese Tang dynasty in the 7th century, recorded as being given to Dja-va (Kalingga kingdom), Dva-ha-la, and Dva-pa-tan (Bali). Mongolian horses are probably captured during the Mongol invasion of Java (1293). If this true, the Java pony would owe much of its roots to the Mongolian horse as well as horses obtained from other areas of western Asia like India and Turkmenistan.[3]: 14 [4]: 60 [5]

In the 14th century AD, Java became an important horse breeder and the island was even listed among horse suppliers to China.[6]: 208  During the Majapahit period, the quantity and quality of Javanese horse breeds steadily grew. In 1513 CE Tomé Pires praised the highly decorated horses of Javanese nobility, complemented by gold-studded stirrups and lavishly decorated saddles that were "not found anywhere else in the world".[7]: 174–175 [8]: 196–197 

It is likely that Sumbawa horse was introduced to the island by the Javanese people of Majapahit Empire,[9][10] who conquered the island in the 14th century. The sultans of Bima and West Sumbawa are deemed to possess numerous horses.[11]: 56  Sumbawa and the Sumba (Sandalwood) horse are supposed to be close from the Mongolian Horse.[12]: 407 

See also

References
  1. "Races de chevaux et d'équidés" Lexique du cheval! (Includes English section) Web page accessed June 25, 2015
  2. Boomgard, Peter (2007). "3. Horse Breeding, Long-distance Horse Trading and Royal Courts in Indonesian History, 1500–1900". Breeds of Empire: The 'Invention' of the Horse in Southern Africa and Maritime Southeast Asia, 1500–1950. Vol. 42 (NIAS studies in Asian topics). Copenhagen: NIAS. pp. 33–50. ISBN 978-8-7769-4014-0.
  3. Groeneveldt, Willem Pieter (1876). "Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca, Compiled from Chinese Sources". Batavia: W. Bruining.
  4. Hendricks, Bonnie L. (1995). International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806127538.
  5. Kentucky Horse Park. "Bali". Horse Breeds of the World. International Museum of the Horse. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  6. Ptak, Roderich (1999). China's Seaborne Trade with South and Southeast Asia, 1200-1750. Ashgate. ISBN 9780860787761.
  7. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Cortesão, Armando (1944). The Suma oriental of Tomé Pires : an account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515 ; and, the book of Francisco Rodrigues, rutter of a voyage in the Red Sea, nautical rules, almanack and maps, written and drawn in the East before 1515 volume I. London: The Hakluyt Society. ISBN 9784000085052.
  8. Jákl, Jiří (2016-05-15). "The Loincloth, Trousers, and Horse-riders in Pre-Islamic Java: Notes on the Old Javanese Term Lañciṅan". Archipel (91): 185–202. doi:10.4000/archipel.312. ISSN 0044-8613. S2CID 164528855.
  9. Excerpta Indonesica. 1996.
  10. Turner, Peter (1998). Indonesia's Eastern Islands. Lonely Planet. p. 181. ISBN 9780864425034.
  11. de Jong Boers, Bernice (2007). "4. The 'Arab' of the Indonesian Archipelago: The Famed Horse Breeds of Sumbawa". Breeds of Empire: The 'Invention' of the Horse in Southern Africa and Maritime Southeast Asia, 1500–1950. Vol. 42 (NIAS studies in Asian topics). Copenhagen: NIAS. pp. 51–64. ISBN 978-8-7769-4014-0.
  12. Hendricks, Bonnie Lou (2007). International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds (2nd ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 406–407. ISBN 978-0-8061-3884-8. OCLC 154690199.
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