indian horse breeds Archives - Liz Staley Studios

The Nokota horse breed developed in the southwest corner of North Dakota, in the Little Missouri River Badlands. In the 19th century feral horses mingled with the domestic horses of ranchers. The ranchers ofter crossbred the local ponies, Spanish horses, and various draft, harness, stock horses, and Thoroughbreds to make hardy ranch horses.

By the early 20th century, the feral horse population was the target of ranchers who wanted to limit their grazing so it could be used for livestock instead. Horses were rounded up to either be used for ranch horses, sold to slaughter, or be killed. In the 1930s and all the way to the 1950s, federal and state agencies worked to take horses from western North Dakota. The Nokota was saved from extinction when Theodore Roosevelt National Park was established in the 1940s. During construction of the park, several bands of horses were accidentally enclosed in the park fence, and by 1960 these bands were the last feral horses living in North Dakota.

Love the Nokota Horse? Purchase a Nokota print by clicking the above image!

The park, however, wanted to eliminate these horses. The National Park Service was declared exempt from the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, allowing them to view the horses as a nuisance and to send many of them to slaughter. In the late 1970s, public opposition to the removal of the horses grew to the point where management strategies changed, and today the herds within Theodore Roosevelt National Park are kept for purposes of historical demonstration. In 1986 the dominant herd stallions were removed and outside bloodlines were introduced to the herds with the aim of modifying the appearance of the Nokota. Park management felt that horses created with outside bloodlines would sell better at auctions.

At the 1986 auction, Leo and Frank Kuntz purchased 54 horses that had been rounded up from the Nokota herds, including a dominant blue roan stallion. They purchased more horses at subsequent auctions, and by 1993 the Kuntz herd was 150 horses strong. In 1999 the Kuntz brothers founded the Nokota Horse Conservancy to protect and conserve the breed. The Nokota Horse Conservancy tracks about 1000 living and dead horses throughout the United States.

In north-west India is a region called Rajasthan. This region contains Marwar, sometimes called Jodhpur, and that is where the Marwari horse comes from. The first to breed the Marwari horse were the Rathores, traditional rulers of the Marwar region. Throughout history, the Marwari has been used as a cavalry horse by the people of Marwar. This horse breed is noted for its loyalty and bravery in battle. In the 1930s the breed deteriorated some because poor management practices led to a reduction in breeding stock, but today the breed has regained some of its popularity.

The true origins of the Marwari are hard to pin down. They are thought to descend from the warhorses of the Rajput warriors of the Marwar region, with the influence of the Turkoman type of horse brought by invaders in the sixteenth century. Unlike the Kathiawari, another horse breed from the area, the Marwari shows little influence from the Arabian horse. The Rathores, the traditional breeders of the Marwari and the rulers of the Marwar region, began following strict breeding guidelines for the horses in the 12th century. The horses were considered divine beings, and could only be ridden by the rulers and the warrior caste. The Rathores believed that a Marwari horse could only leave a battlefield on one of three conditions: victory, death, or carrying their wounded master to safety. The Marwari horses were trained to be cavalry and were extremely responsive to battlefield conditions and complex riding maneuvers. Over three centuries later, Marwari lancers assisted the British in World War I.

Love the Marwari horse? Purchase a Marwari print by clicking the photo!

The British occupation of India led to reduced numbers of Marwari horses. The British preferred other breeds and tried to eliminate both the Marwari and Kathiawari breeds. They reduced the reputation of the Marwari so much that even the distinctive inward-turning ears were ridiculed and seen as a mark of an inferior “native horse”. The breed was on the brink of extinction until the intervention of Maharaja Umaid Singhji in the first half of the 20th century saved them.

The Marwari horse is one of my favorite designs in this series of artworks! I am fascinated by the Marwari and their unique ears that turned inward, sometimes even to the point where the tips touch. I wanted to create a Marwari piece that would celebrate the area it came from, which is why I decided to put this black horse in a beautiful bejeweled headstall and breastcollar. I drew the horse from the front-on, to really show off the unique ears.

This piece was done with india ink, Copic markers, colored pencils, and watered down acrylic paint for the white areas.