5 Most Popular Indian Horse Breeds

Four Indian horse breeds Bhutia, Manipuri, Spiti and Zaniskari are belong to separate group, while Marwari and Kathiawari are crossed with Arabian horses and influenced by the Mongolian horse.

Thoroughbreds and Arabian horses were crossed with native Indian ponies with some Mongolian influence. Polo ponies horses are used for the game of polo and crossed with Manipur ponies and mountain ponies.

* Marwari Horse

Marwari horse is a rare breed from the Marwar region Rajasthan state and very easy to recognize by inward turning ear tips. Marwari Horse and Kathiawari Horse are quite similar in appearance and used by Indian military in the Jodhpur and Jaipur areas of Rajasthan.

* Kathiawari Horse

Kathiawari horse from the Kathiawar peninsula of the Saurashtra region in Gujarat are desert war horse and closely related to the Marwari horses of Rajasthan. They are now used as a police horse in India, by the Indian Army and also used as a war horse and cavalry mount.

* Bhutia Horse

Bhutia horse breed from Sikkim and Darjeeling have similarity to Mongolian and Tibetan horse breeds. The small mountain horse also found in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Bhutan.

* Spiti Horse

Spiti horse is a mountain horse or pony type from the Himalaya range of Spiti valley. The Spiti are mountain horse and well adapted to very high altitudes of Himalaya.

* Zanskari

Zaniskari are small mountain horse from Zanskar valley and very much similar to Spiti breed horse breed of Himachal Pradesh. The Zaniskari are strong and adapted to the high altitudes and challenging conditions of Ladakh.