Riwoche horse
| Country of origin | Tibet |
|---|---|
The Riwoche horse /ˈriːwoʊtʃeɪ/ is a dun-colored, pony-sized horse indigenous to northeastern Tibet. It came to international attention in 1995, at which time its primitive appearance and small size led to speculation that it might be an evolutionary link between the prehistoric wild horse and the modern domestic horse. Subsequent analysis, however, demonstrated that it is genetically indistinguishable from modern horses.
Riwoche horses are pony sized, standing only 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) tall. They are said to resemble horses depicted in prehistoric cave paintings. They are dun in color, with angular bodies, upright manes and primitive markings including a dorsal stripe down their spine and striping on the back of their legs. These features are similar to those of some other modern horse breeds thought to have ancient roots. They also have small ears, rough coats, small jaws, straight, flat foreheads, and unique, narrow "duck-bill" nostrils.
Their unusual appearance led to speculation that they could be "living fossils." They strongly resembled horses in prehistoric cave art, a "number two" horse distinct from but often pictured alongside horses with a body type resembling the Przewalski's Horse. However, DNA testing indicated they were not a remnant wild population.
The name is pronounced "ree-WOE-chay"
The horse was named by European explorers after its home region, Riwoqê County, in Kham, northeastern Tibet. The breed was first observed by non-Tibetans in 1995 in an isolated, 27 kilometres (17 mi) long valley reached only by crossing a 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) mountain pass, by a team of explorers led by the French ethnologist Michel Peissel. While on an expedition to study another horse breed that Peissel had previously observed in 1993, the Nangchen horse, he came upon a number of small horses in an isolated valley in the Riwoche region of Tibet. These animals were unknown to the rest of the world, but familiar to and used by the local Bon-po people, Peissel and his crew obtained blood samples from the herd for DNA testing; the samples were given to Steven Harrison, a geneticist at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England. The horse was named by European explorers after its home region, Riwoqê County, in Kham, northeastern Tibet.
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