The Abaga (simplified Chinese: 阿巴加马; traditional Chinese: 阿巴加馬; pinyin: Abaga) is a type of Chinese Mongolian horse. Characterized by its generally black coat, it is also larger and faster than the latter, due to its selection for racing.
| Country of origin | China |
|---|---|
| Use | Saddle horse, and mare milk |
| Traits | |
| Height |
|
| Color | Generally black |
With fewer than 4,000 members at the end of 2008, the Abaga is a rare breed.
History edit
The Abaga is not reported to DAD-IS.[1]
However, the 2016 edition of the CAB International book refers to the breed as Black Abaga,[2] while scientific publications refer to it as Abaga.[3][4] According to the Delachaux guide (2014), it is also referred to as the "Sengseng black horse".[5] However, the same publication also refers to the breed under the erroneous name of "Black Agaba".[5]
Although ancient and the result of long selection,[6] the Abaga was only officially characterized in 2009.[5] Little is known about the different types of Mongolian horse, with research efforts focusing more on Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.[7] Genetic research on this breed is motivated (2018) in particular by research into racing performance during the Naadam,[4] in order to improve the speed of the different strains of Mongolian horses.[8]
Description edit
The Abaga is a typical steppe horse.[9] According to the Delachaux guide, its average height is 1.36 m to 1.40 m.[5]
The head is straight or slightly convex, with a broad forehead, large eyes and small ears.[5] The neck is fairly long.[5] The withers are rather flat.[5] The chest is broad and the shoulders muscular.[5] The back is fairly long, and the rump short, with a slight slope.[5] Hooves are small and hard.[5]
The coat is predominantly black, more rarely dark bay.[5]
These horses are renowned for their stamina and good temperament.[5] They are extremely hardy, enabling them to live outdoors, on high plateaus, all year round, at low temperatures, with little rainfall, and in a hypoxic environment.[6]
Usage edit
The Abaga is primarily a racehorse, whose speed was measured over 1,600 meters by the Chinese Animal Genetic Resources Commission in 2011.[9] It is notably faster than the Wushen, another type of Mongolian horse.[10] It seems that this speed is the result of selective breeding, which favors certain characteristics such as heart and muscle development.[11]
It could be used for pleasure riding, and is also bred for meat and mare milk.[5]
Spread of breeding edit
As its name suggests, the Abaga originates from the northern Abag Banner in the Xilingol League, Inner Mongolia.[5][12][13] It is a rare breed overall, with 3,758 individuals recorded at the end of 2008.[5]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Browse by species and country". DAD-IS.
- ^ Porter et al. (2016, p. 432)
- ^ Wang, Wei; Wang, Shenyuan; Hou, Chenglin; Xing, Yanping (2014). "Genome-Wide Detection of Copy Number Variations among Diverse Horse Breeds by Array CGH". PLOS ONE. 9 (1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0086860. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3907382. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ a b Pan et al. (2018, p. 3)
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rousseau (2014, p. 359)
- ^ a b Wang, Wei; Wang, Shenyuan; Hou, Chenglin; Xing, Yanping (2014). "Genome-Wide Detection of Copy Number Variations among Diverse Horse Breeds by Array CGH". PLoS ONE. 9 (1). Retrieved 9 November 2018.
- ^ Pan et al. (2018, p. 3-4)
- ^ Pan et al. (2018, p. 5)
- ^ a b Pan et al. (2018, p. 4)
- ^ Pan et al. (2018, p. 11)
- ^ Pan et al. (2018, p. 12)
- ^ Porter et al. (2016, p. 453)
- ^ "China-Mongolia international horse racing kicks off - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
Bibliography edit
- Porter, Valerie; Alderson, Lawrence; Hall, Stephen; Sponenberg, Dan (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (6th ed.). CAB International. ISBN 1-84593-466-0.
- Rousseau, Élise (2014). "Agaba noir". Tous les chevaux du monde (in French). Delachaux et Niestlé. ISBN 2-603-01865-5.
- Pan, Jing; Purev, Chimge; Zhao, Hongwei; Zhang, Zhipeng; Wang, Feng; Wendoule, Nashun; Qi, Guichun; Zhou, Huanmin (21 May 2018). "Exercise-related genes analysis of Mongolian Horse". bioRxiv 10.1101/327536.