The Misaki horse originated in Japan. It lives in
the meadow of Cape Toi, or Toimisake, on the south side of Miyazaki
Prefecture. Misaki means "cape". Cape Toi is one of the best known
and most important sports of tourism in Kyushu, and the Misaki ponies
run wild in the meadows. All the native horses from Japan are believed
to have descended from horses brought from China around 2,000 years
ago. Now they have been separated into eight distinct breeds.
The Misaki horse has very rarely been handled by man, except
when almost all the male horses were removed, and a few left as
stallions to continue the breed. The numbers of this breed were
drastically reduced after WWII. Today, there are only about 100
of the horses remaining. They are mostly bay or black, with a few
chestnuts allowed. White markings on the face or legs are extremely
rare. They stand approximately 13.2 hh....hence, they should be
in the pony section, but I haven't put them there yet. :)
Return to Horse Breeds page
|