The Bali pony is an ancient breed now living on the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n island of
Bali
Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
.
Characteristics
The Bali ponies are quite hardy and self-sufficient, surviving with little outside care. They are tough animals that are not shod and are remarkably sound, with hard feet, and strong legs.
[ The ponies show the usual "primitive markings" such as a dorsal stripe, shoulder bars, and zebra stripes on the legs, in addition to their ]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"), ...
coat, that includes a black mane, tail, and legs.[Bongianni ''Simon & Schuster's Guide to Horses & Ponies of the World'' entry 127]
The ponies lack the traditionally "pretty" conformation, having a large and unrefined head,[ and upright shoulder that produces short and choppy strides. The chest and back are narrow, although the neck is usually of a good length. The ponies usually range from .][ Both the conformation and the coloration produce a pony that looks similar to the ]Przewalski's Horse
Przewalski's horse (, , (Пржевальский ), ) (''Equus ferus przewalskii'' or ''Equus przewalskii''), also called the takhi, Mongolian wild horse or Dzungarian horse, is a rare and endangered horse originally native to the steppes of Ce ...
.
Breed history
It is possible that ancient stocks were brought to Indonesia by the Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
in the 7th century, recorded as being given to Dja-va (Kalingga kingdom
Kalingga ( jv, Karajan Kalingga; 訶陵 ''Hēlíng'' or 闍婆 ''She-pó / She-bó'' in Chinese sources) was a 6th-century Indianized kingdom on the north coast of Central Java, Indonesia. It was the earliest Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in Central ...
), Dva-ha-la, and Dva-pa-tan (Bali). Mongolian horses are probably captured during the Mongol invasion of Java
The Yuan dynasty under Kublai Khan attempted in 1292 to invade Java, an island in modern Indonesia, with 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers. This was intended as a punitive expedition against Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to t ...
(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.[Groeneveldt, Willem Pieter (1876).]
Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca, Compiled from Chinese Sources
. Batavia: W. Bruining.
Uses
The Bali pony has not been selectively bred for any particular set of characteristics. However, they easily perform the tasks required by the native people, including carting coral and stones from the beach. Their strength has also made them a popular mount for trekking and sightseeing tourists.[
]
Citations
References
*
{{short description, Horse breed from the island of Bali
Horse breeds originating in Indonesia
Horse breeds