This message is from: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> I'm on the digest, so sorry for the delay of topic. I have read somewhere that one very good reason for Przewalski's not being ridden/domesticated frequently is that they can drop to the ground and roll to scrape off their rider. Of course, in my following source, there is a photo of a wildcaught stallion being ridden (early 1900's photo).
Zoonooz newsletter, December 1991 issue, published by San Diego Zoological Society, "Back in the USSR", pp 6-11. "One horse lacked black pigmentation altogether, being reddish or fox-colored." *Is this what we know as "Fjord" red dun expressed in a Przewalski's? *Next up: an older book on Przewalski's horses... Weeks, Morris. The Last Wild Horse. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, 1977. pp. 39-40: "Two distinct types emerged from the smaller [common ancestor] horse and survived to modern times. One was the Przhevalsky of Asia. The other was the lesser known tarpan, the wild horse of the southern Russian grassland. Not much bigger than a pony, but strongly muscled, the tarpan was lighter and less chunky than the Przhevalsky. Its head was short, its ears small and pointed. Its coat was a light gray. But it had some features like a Przhevalsky's, including a black stripe along the back and a mane that stood straight up. Its winter coat was very pale, almost white." *hmmm, sounds like grey dun in Fjords... and the foxy little ears and short face sound like desired Fjord characteristics. p. 50: "The tarpan may well have been the ancestor of some domesticated horses still found in the rural areas of eastern Europe..." *The author cites the hutsul (Hucul?) and the Konik. The few photos I have seen of Koniks really bring to mind Fjords. He mentions the dun factor and the light-colored winter coat. The author also says that despite chromosomal differences, domestic horse and Przewalski's crosses are fertile, unlike most equine hybrids (mules & hinnies). The previously mentioned source (1991) said that despite claims of hybrids infiltrating captive breeding programs, DNA testing found these "questionable" animals, in all their various dun colors, to be pure Przewalski's. There is also an incorrect statement made as an example of how Prz. & domestic horses differ, p. 24: "...domestic horses don't shed their mane and tail hairs on an annual basis.(Like people, they lose and replace one hair at a time.)" *Most horse people would pipe up here with the Bashkir Curly (a domestic breed that goes quite bald annually), interestingly enough, a mutation thought to have originated in eastern Europe, and surfaced again in the USA. Has anyone had a Fjord shed out a large percentage of its mane & tail hair in spring sheds? In regards to Fjords (trying to stay on topic here!), this was interesting regarding spring shed: p. 22: "If the [Przewalski's horse] is ailing at this season, or getting old, the mane hairs may take longer to replace, and the whole mane temporarily falls over to one side." *If Fjords aren't trimmed regularly, their manes fall over to the side, as everyone on the list knows. This is the first reference I have found to a Przewalski's mane being thick enough to flop. If only we had true (not reconstructed) tarpans to look at! In my opinion, Fjords are closer to ancestral tarpans than Przewalski's horses and have been selectively bred for so long that the only real hints we have to go by are the dun colorations- ironically, dun is a dominant modifier gene. Once it's in a line, it will continue to be expressed, modifying whatever base color is inherited... forever! Just having fun and so looking forward to the arrival of my Fjord geldings! Kristina http://www.lucasfrancisstudio.com/animal_art/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
