KISO UMA 木曽馬
(JAPANESE KISO HORSE)
The
horses ridden by the Samurai weren’t the sleek, long legged beasts you see in
the movies, but were stub
faced, long haired, short legged, shaggy looking creatures that resembled stocky ponies rather than modern-day
thoroughbreds called
Kiso-uma.
Samurai mounted
their horses not from the left, like modern equestrians, but from the right
side of their steeds.
History
and Background
The Kiso
Horse is a breed of critically endangered equines that developed primarily
as a Japanese war horse. Native to Honshu, the largest and most populous island of Japan, it is one of the eight indigenous
breeds of the country and is also used for light draft work and riding
purposes. With their short, pony-like stature and gentle disposition
The origination of
the Kiso horse, local name Kiso-Uma, is still shrouded in mystery. Exact origin of the Kiso and
other ancient horse breeds of Japan
is uncertain. They are believed to be descended from either the plateau horses
of Central Asia or the Mongolian horses of the
grasslands.
The only thing
known is that they developed in Japan
more than 1000 years ago sized more like a pony, and gets their name from the
river Kiso that flows through the region where this breed originated. During
this time they were used both as a mount in the battlefields, as well as an
animal for agricultural and transportation works.
Bred and raised in
the severe environment of cold mountains over many years, the Kisouma is very
robust and can live on simple diet. Its hooves are so hard that it does not
need to be horseshod.
Kisouma can
steadily climb up and down narrow and steep mountain trails with their sturdy,
stable legs.
There are records
of horses being raised systematically in the Kiso region of Nagano Prefecture
as early as the 6th century.
Kisouma have been
raised for military and agricultural purposes since the Heian period (the
8th-12th century) for
military purposes as well as in agriculture and transportation. In the twelfth
century, the region was able
to produce, according to legends, 10,000 cavalry mounts for Kiso Yoshinaka’s
army.
In
the Edo era (1600-1867) there was again
emphasis on military use. Kiso canyon belonged to the Owari feudal clan.
Records from this time regarding the ancient types have been a valuable aid to
modern horse breeders. The government of the Kiso area considered the Kiso
horse a strategic material, and produced many; numbers again reaching more than
10,000.
Records from the Edo period indicating the importation of horses by the Dutch to be given as gifts to the Shogun. Although it cannot be sure, these animals, generally referred to as “Persian,” may have been Arabians or perhaps a variety of Turkmen. Most white and Piebald horses are for Shoguns, high ranking Commander and samurai.
During
the Meiji period (1868-1903), Japan
fought against several foreign countries. Because Japanese horses are generally
small in size, the authorities discouraged breeding purebred Kiso and
encouraged a crossbreeding program between the Kiso and larger purebred horses
from Europe and North America were imported to
increase the size of Japanese horse and make them more suitable for military
use.
To encourage this, the government introduced training classes throughout Japan
to increase the use of horses in agriculture. The goal was to motivate farmers
to breed larger horses to ensure a supply for the army. Foreign breeds imported
included Thoroughbred, Anglo Arabs, Arabs, Hackney and several draft breeds
including Belgian and Bretons. Two recognized breeds, Kandachi horse of Aomori and the Yururi
Island horse of Nemuro, Hokkaido,
are the descendants of native horses crossbred with larger European horses. The
result of these many importations was the almost total disappearance of local
Japanese breeds except in very remote areas or on islands.
Thoroughout
World War II Japanese government program was administered for the purpose
of castrating purebred Kiso males. Consequently, almost all Kiso
stallions were castrated. The Kiso was effected more dramatically by this
administration plan because the breed had traditionally been considered a good
military horse. Other Japanese horses were primarily used for agricultural
purposes.
In Japan
today there are eight recognized native breeds all of them identified with a
particular region and each displaying some differences in color size and
conformation. Despite the fact that all of them are ponies, they played an
important role in the Japanese history, being used for work, pleasure, and in
combat. Unfortunately, all of them are very rare, and except for the many
recently formed organizations fighting for their survival, some of them would
already be extinct. There are today only 149 Kiso horses left, which are often seen in
processions in local festivals. They are also used as riding horses.
Currrently the eight
Japanese native breeds, it is critically endangered:
Kiso horse
Main production
area: Nagano Prefecture,
Honshu island
Hokkaido Washu (also called
"Dosanko")
Main
production area: Hokkaido
Noma
horse
Main
production area: Ehime
Prefecture
Taishu horse
Main
production area: Tsushima, Nagasaki
Prefecture
Misaki
Horse
Main
production area: Miyazaki
Prefecture
Tokara Horse
Main
production area: Tokara Islands, Kagoshima
Prefecture
Miyako Horse
Main
production area: Miyakojima, Okinawa
Prefecture
Yonaguni
horse
Main
production area: Yonaguni Island, Okinawa
Prefecture
All of these local
breeds are known for their endurance, their ability to survive on poor food and
in severe weather conditions and they all share the characteristics of having
extremely tough hooves.
Physical
Characteristics
The
horses of the Kiso breed have
a mid-sized stature with a massive head, a thick, short neck. The trunk is long, with legs are also short but sturdy,
while the hooves are tough, well-shaped and well-formed. The mane is heavy and so is
the tail. The males (studs and
stallions) are insignificantly larger than the females (mares); a dorsal stripe
that runs down the back (mane to tail) is considered to be a primitive marking.
The Kiso horse
stands at an average height of just over 13 hands (52 inches, 132 centimeters).
Their average weight is 992
pounds.
For Male: 450 kg Female: 300
kg
Coat Colours
The most common
colors are bay, gray, brown, chestnut, roan, cremello and, more rarely dun. They do not, in
general, have white markings on legs or face but a black dorsal stripe is
extremely common.
Personality
and Temperament
The
horse has the ability to adapt to different climates. The horse is said
to have a mild personality as well as an easy-going temperament.
Performance
and Endurance
In 2015 tests were
conducted by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation and shortened from Nippon Hōsō
Kyōkai), on the short-legged, heavy-set, shaggy-haired native Kiso horse (131
cm high), compared with a modern bred horse (152 cm high) and found that the
pony-like Kiso was faster and more agile than expected. Carrying a 62kg rider
in full armor and weapons, traditional Abumi stirrups and Kura (saddle) making
92kg in all, and using a purebred Kiso horse, the type used by the samurai,
they discovered that the horse could gallop 100m in 12.03 seconds, a fraction
faster than a modern bred Sawago horse, which managed 12.07 seconds. In the
Figure 8 test, the smaller native horse was found to be more agile, and able to
make a tighter turning circle.
As for the endurance
of native Japanese horses, a test done by the Nihon Kacchū Kiba Kenkyūkai (日本甲冑騎馬研究会, Japan Armoured Equestrian Research
Society) established that a trained Kiso horse was able to run for 1 km with an
average speed of 21 km/h carrying an armoured rider, and it was able to run for
about 3.5 km before being exhausted.
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