The Lokai, a mountain horse bred in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

, is used as a riding horse, a packhorse, or even sometimes a light

draft horse A draft horse (US), draught horse (UK) or dray horse (from the Old English ''dragan'' meaning "to draw or haul"; compare Dutch ''dragen'' and German ''tragen'' meaning "to carry" and Danish ''drage'' meaning "to draw" or "to fare"), less oft ...

. Although small, the breed is agile and hardy. The breed was developed by crossing native mountain horses with a mixture of Central Asian and European bloodlines.

History

The Lokai was developed in the mountainous areas of central and southern Tajikistan, where it was developed to be an agile, hardy pack and riding horse. The breed has been in development since the 16th century, when Uzbek Lokai tribesmen began improving the local horses with a mixture of Central Asian breeds, including contributions from the

Iomud The Iomud is a breed of light horse from Turkmenistan. Like other breeds of Turkmen horse, it is named for the Turkmen tribe that raised it, the Iomud. Both the name of the horse and the name of the Turkmen clan may be spelt in many ways, inclu ...

, Karabair,

Turkmene ''Turkmene finitimus'' is an extinct lamprid from the Danata Formation Lagerstatten, of the Upper Paleocene of Turkmenistan. It lived sympatrically with its close relative, '' Danatinia''. In life, ''T. finitimus'' would have resembled a s ...

and

Akhal-Teke The Akhal-Teke ( or ; from Turkmen ''Ahalteke'', ) is a Turkmen horse breed. They have a reputation for speed and endurance, intelligence, and a distinctive metallic sheen. The shiny coat of the breed led to their nickname, "Golden Horses". ...

breeds. Later, Arabian stallions from Bukhara and

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

and Tersk horses were used to improve the breed.

Breed characteristics

The Lokai have well-proportioned heads with straight or slightly convex profiles, set on a long, well-formed neck and sloping, muscular shoulders. The

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle a ...

are prominent, running into a straight, short back and sloping croup. The legs are solid, clean, and well-muscled. The Lokai generally stands between , and is usually chestnut (often with golden highlights), bay, or

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, although they are occasionally

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

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 ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognat ...

. Some members of the breed exhibit a curly coat that can be traced to the stallion Farfor, used for breeding from 1955 to 1970. The breed tends to mature late, especially when raised in their native habitats. When bred and reared in good stable conditions, with improved feed and

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

, they mature faster and grow larger than their more native counterparts. Currently, the Lokai is being crossed with Arabian and Thoroughbred horses to create a new type of saddle horse in Tajikistan.

Uses and purposes

Lokais have been used for a variety of purposes throughout the years. These horses provide transport over precipitous mountain country, they are raced, they are used in the game of kokpar, and they are often employed as a

pack animal A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft ani ...

. The Lokai horse is even sometimes used as a

References

{{Equine Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Tajikistan