Ethiopian horses are those breeds or types of horse found in Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia. There are about 2.8 million horses in Ethiopia, more than half the total in the African continent. Ethiopia reports only the Abyssinian breed to

DAD-IS DAD-IS is the acronym of the worldwide Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, within the FAO's management of animal genetic resources programme.Domestic Animal Diversity Infor ...

. In 2012 the horses of Ethiopia were characterised into eight distinct breeds or types with different regional distributions, including a gravely-endangered feral population, the Kundudo horse.

History

Horses from Ethiopia, formerly known as Abyssinia, were in the past described as a single type, the "Abyssinian Horse" or "Ethiopian Horse", of variable size, colour and conformation. In 1997 two distinct types, the Oromo and Dongola, were described. Morphological research published in 2012 characterised eight distinct breeds or types with different regional distributions. In 2007 no population data was available to the

FAO 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 ...

, and no assessment of

conservation status The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservatio ...

was made.

Characteristics

Eight distinct breeds or regional types of horse are found in Ethiopia.

Abyssinian

The Abyssinian type or breed is found mostly in the northern part of Ethiopia, particularly in the

Semien Mountains The Simien Mountains (Amharic: ስሜን ተራራ or Səmen; also spelled Simen and Semien), in northern Ethiopia, north east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a World Heritage Site and include the Simien M ...

in the area of

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...

, in the

Amhara Region The Amhara Region ( am, አማራ ክልል, Åmara Kilil), officially the Amhara National Regional State (), is a regional state in northern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Amhara people. Its capital is Bahir Dar which is the seat of the Re ...

. It is poorly conformed, sway-backed and heavy in the belly. It is much used in agricultural work.

Bale

The Bale breed or type has poor conformation, with a heavy belly and sway back. It is found in highland areas of the

Bale Zone ( Oromo: Aaana ''Baalee'') is a zone in Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Bale is bordered on the south by the Ganale Dorya River which separates it from Guji Zone, on the west by the West Arsi Zone, on the north by Arsi Zone, on the northeast by the S ...

of the

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benis ...

, in the southern part of the country.

Borana

The Borana is a lowland breed kept by the pastoral

Borana Oromo people The Borana is one of the two major subgroups of the Oromo people. They live in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Region and Liben Zone of the Somali Region of Ethiopia, former Northern Frontier District of Northern Kenya,Tana River in the former ...

, particularly in the area of the city of Megga in southern Ethiopia. It is of good conformation, is always bay, and is not used for

draught work A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks instead of being slaughtered to harvest animal products. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for t ...

Horro

The Horro or Horo breed is a poorly-conformed agricultural horse from the Horo area of western Oromia Region, in the west of Ethiopia.

Kafa

The Kafa is a well-conformed and robust breed from the

rain-forest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...

s of Sheka and Keffa zones of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region.

Kundudo

The Kundudo is a gravely-endangered population of

feral horse A feral horse is a free-roaming horse of domesticated stock. As such, a feral horse is not a wild animal in the sense of an animal without domesticated ancestors. However, some populations of feral horses are managed as wildlife, and these ...

s, of unknown origin, from the area of the

Kundudo Kundudo (also spelt as Kondudo or Qundudo) is a flat-top mountain (or ''amba'') in the Misraq Hararghe Zone of the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Part of the range that bears its name, its summit lies east of the walled city of Harar, with a heigh ...

plateau near the city of

Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Saint ...

, in the

Misraq Hararghe East Hararghe ( om, Harargee Bahaa) is a zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. East Hararghe Zone is bordered on the southwest by Bale, on the west by West Hararghe Zone, on the north by Dire Dawa and on the north and east by the Somali Region. ...

zone of Oromia.

Ogaden

The Somali, Ogaden or Wilwal is a well-conformed breed from the

Somali Region The Somali Region ( so, Deegaanka Soomaalida, am, ሱማሌ ክልል, Sumalē Kilil, ar, المنطقة الصومالية), also known as Soomaali Galbeed (''Western Somalia'') and officially the Somali Regional State, is a regional stat ...

of Ethiopia (the traditional Ogaden), and is concentrated in the area of the city of

Jijiga Jijiga (, am, ጅጅጋ, ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 70 km (37 mi) west of the bord ...

Selale

The Selale or Oromo is a good breed of

riding horse A riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for recreation or transportation. It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the hors ...

from the

Selale Selale (also known as Selalesh), was a sub-province of the Ethiopian Empire located in modern day Shewa in or neighboring Grarya and associated with Bulga prior to the Oromo expansion into the region. The region was home to the important Debre ...

or Shewa areas of central Ethiopia.

Use

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. About three-quarters of all farms are more than one and a half days' walk from an

all-weather road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

. Horses, mules and donkeys are essential to transport and horses are extensively used for transport, traction and agricultural work such as

ploughing A plough or plow ( US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden, iron or ...

. Some breeds, in some areas, are used mainly for riding.

References

* {{Equine, state=collapsed Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Ethiopia