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Basuto Horse
Origin: South Africa - Basutoland.
Height: About 14.2hh.
Color: Chestnut, bay, brown, gray.
Character: Fearless and exceptionally self-reliant and enduring.Physique: Sometimes a quality head, intelligent eye; lean, longish neck,often "ewe", on strong shoulder tending to the upright. Back on long side.I egs short and hard. Feet exceptionally hard. Amazingly sure-footed.
This pony, not native to Basutoland, derives from Arabs and Barbs im-ported by the Dutch East India Company in 1653 and from Arabs, Barbs, Persians and Thoroughbreds imported until early in the 19th century. Thisearly cross-breding of quality horses happened not in Basutoland but inCape Province, It resulted in the Cape Horse, which crossed into Basuto-land round abtut the 1830s by way of border raids and gradually deteriorated, through lack of interest and the demands of the hard, arid climate, intothe Basuto pony.
An almost complete absence of cosseting in an inhospitable region hasmade the BasLito one of the toughest and bravest ponies in the vvorld. Itserved extensively in the Boer War, has been used for racing and for polo,and can carry ,a full- grown man for 60 to 80 miles a day.
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