Western Sudan Pony

Western Sudan Pony is an exonym for a Sudanese breed or group of breeds or ecotypes of small horse or pony. These are distributed principally in southern Darfur and south-western Kordofan, extending into southern Chad,[3]: 408  and are known generically as Gharbaui ("western")[lower-alpha 1] or by a variety of regional names including Darfur Pony and Kordofani.[4]: 8 [2]

Western Sudan Pony
Janjawid riding a Gharkawi
Conservation status
  • FAO (2007): not at risk[1]: 111 
  • DAD-IS (2023): not at risk[2]               
Other names
  • Gharbaui[3]: 408 
  • Darfur Pony
  • Kordofani
  • Mayray
  • Messeri
  • Reziegi Taaishi[2]
Country of originSudan
Distribution
Traits
Weight
  • Male:
    450 kg[2]
  • Female:
    400 kg[2]
Height
  • Male:
    140 cm[2]
  • Female:
    140 cm[2]
Colour

The Western Sudan Pony is one of four recognised horse breeds in Sudan, the others being the Dongola or Dongolawi, the Sudanese Country-Bred and the Tawleed.[5]: 505 [2]

History

The Gharbaui is originally of Barb type. In the twentieth century a government programme of "improvement" was instituted at the stud farm of Nyala in South Darfur, and local mares were put to stallions of Arab and Thoroughbred stock, with consequent degradation of the local types; what the cross-bred animals gained in size they lost in hardiness and type.[3]: 408 [6]: 245  By the 1950s or 1960s few of the horses remained unaffected by this process.[3]: 408 [2]

In 1994 the total number of the horses was reported to be 8000–10000.[2] The conservation status of the breed was listed as "not at risk" by the FAO in 2007, and also by the DAD-IS database in 2023.[1]: 111 [2]

Characteristics

The Gharbaui is a small horse, with an average height at the withers of some 140 cm[2] or 145 cm.[6]: 245  It resembles the Barb and has many of its good qualities, particularly its hardiness and endurance.[3]: 408 [6]: 245  The neck and shoulders are strong and the back and croup well formed; the legs tend to be poorly conformed.[6]: 245  The profile is convex.[3]: 408  The coat is most commonly grey, but may also be bay or chestnut.[3]: 408 [6]: 245 [2]

Use
A small dark horse drawing a loaded wooden cart
Sudanese vegetable cart drawn by a small horse or pony

The horses are used for riding and as draught animals.[3]: 408 

Notes
  1. Gharbaui derives from the Arabic root غرب, "west";[7]: 520  the spelling Gharkawi[2] appears to be a misprint.

References
  1. Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. Breed data sheet: Western Sudan Pony / Sudan (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2023.
  3. Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691167206.
  4. Farouk Mohamed Elamin, et al. (2007). First Report on: The State of Genetic Resources in Sudan Livestock. Annex to: Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 10 January 2017.
  5. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  6. Martin Haller (2009 [1994]), Der neue Kosmos-Pferdeführer (revised edition, in German). Stuttgart: French-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH. ISBN 9783440109908.
  7. J.G. Hava (1970). الفراۓد الدرية عربي إنكليزي = Al-Faraid: Arabic-English Dictionary, fourth edition. Beirut: Dar el-Mashreq. ISBN 2721421069.
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