The Sumbawa Pony (
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
: kuda-Sumbawa) is a pony breed, named after the island on which they are bred,
Sumbawa Island in Indonesia. This breed is very similar to the Sumba or
Sandalwood Pony, a breed also developed in these islands, which came from crossing the native ponies on horses of
Arabian
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
breeding.
[''The Encyclopedia of Horses and Ponies''. Pickeral, Tamsin. Parragon Plus, 2001. ] The Sumbawa Pony descends from
Mongolian Horse
The Mongol horse ( Mongolian Адуу, ''aduu'': "horse" or ''mori''; or as a herd, ''ado'') is the native horse breed of Mongolia. The breed is purported to be largely unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan. Nomads living in the traditio ...
s and ancient Chinese stock
Characteristics
"Sumbawa", or in
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
"'", is the international name for this breed, according to the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
. This pony is known as the ' in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
.
[.]
Sumbawa ponies are quick, agile, athletic, and fast, with great endurance and a willing temperament. They usually have
primitive coloring, with many individual horses being
dun
A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse.
Etymology
The term comes from Irish language, Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), ...
with a dorsal stripe and
black points, although they may be any color. The Sumba and Sumbawa ponies have a heavy head, short, muscular neck, and low withers. The back is usually long, although it is still strong, and the legs are fine but tough with good hooves. Most ponies do not exceed ,
and the average height is around .
[.]
History
Very little is known about history of the horse in Southeast Asia, because few studies have been published, and many of those have a European
bias
Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, ...
. The first serious studies came with Peter Boomgaard in 2004. Horse trading in Sumbawa flourished throughout History, with tough competition between breeders from Sumba, which export the
Sandalwood Pony, and those of Sumbawa. There is also competition from breeders from
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
and
Savu
Savu ( id, Sawu, also known as Sabu, Havu, and Hawu) is the largest of a group of three islands, situated midway between Sumba and Rote, west of Timor, in Indonesia's eastern province, East Nusa Tenggara. Ferries connect the islands to Waingapu ...
.
It is likely that Sumbawa horse was introduced to the island by the
Javanese people
The Javanese ( id, Orang Jawa; jv, ꦮꦺꦴꦁꦗꦮ, ''Wong Jawa'' ; , ''Tiyang Jawi'' ) are an ethnic group native to the central and eastern part of the Indonesian island of Java. With approximately 100 million people, Javanese people ...
of
Majapahit Empire
Majapahit ( jv, ꦩꦗꦥꦲꦶꦠ꧀; ), also known as Wilwatikta ( jv, ꦮꦶꦭ꧀ꦮꦠꦶꦏ꧀ꦠ; ), was a Javanese Hindu-Buddhist thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia that was based on the island of Java (in modern-day Indonesia ...
, who conquered the island in the 14th century.
The
sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
s of
Bima
Bima (Indonesia: ''Kota Bima'') is a city on the eastern coast of the island of Sumbawa in central Indonesia's province West Nusa Tenggara. It is the largest city on the island of Sumbawa, with a population of 142,443 at the 2010 census and 155,1 ...
and
West Sumbawa are deemed to possess numerous horses. This breed and the
Sumba
Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...
are supposed to be close from the
Mongolian Horse
The Mongol horse ( Mongolian Адуу, ''aduu'': "horse" or ''mori''; or as a herd, ''ado'') is the native horse breed of Mongolia. The breed is purported to be largely unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan. Nomads living in the traditio ...
.
[.] Although Arabic origin is often cited in ancient documents (including the Dutch ones), there is no evidence of this in Indonesian horses and Sumbawa ponies.
[.]
Uses
Sumbawa ponies are today used for
packing,
riding, and light
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
work. They are strong, and many are ridden by men in games of lance throwing despite never reaching . Young boys also ride the ponies
bareback
Bareback riding is a form of equestrianism, horseback riding without a saddle. It requires skill, balance, and coordination, as the rider does not have any equipment to compensate for errors of balance or skill.
Proponents of bareback riding argu ...
in traditional dance competitions, manuveuring them in patterns as instructed. The legs of the ponies are decorated with bells that chime in rhythm to the drumming.
See also
*
List of horse breeds
This article is a list of horse and pony breeds with articles on Wikipedia, and also includes terms for types of horse that are not necessarily standardized breeds but are often labeled as breeds. While there is no scientifically accepted defin ...
*
Gayo Pony
*
Sandalwood Pony
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
* , « Sumba »
{{Horse breeds of Indonesia, state=expanded
Horse breeds
Horse breeds originating in Indonesia