Horses Around Us

Here ApnuAhmedabad is happy to bring you an article about horse written by none other than our own "Horse Man", Anish Gajjar. We promised to publish an article written by him when we wrote about him. That article got rare reviews and we hope the same for his article.

Anish Gajjar

Horses Around Us

At general discussions, the question that I have most frequently been asked by aspiring horse lovers is, “Which is the best horse breed?” and in spite of knowing that this has no answer, I often find myself wondering. My answer has always been, “The one that YOU like !”

There are hundreds of breeds of horses around the world, which have evolved over thousands of years to adapt to certain climate, conditions or functionality. People have bred horses for various reasons. The Thoroughbreds have been bred for their racing abilities and longer stride; the Arabians are known for their looks and enduring power; the Shetlands for their small size suited for carriages and riding for children; and the draught horses for load pulling and hauling. Every breed has some or the other purpose which they are good at. But in general, most of them are good for riding.

In India, we have 8 commonly available breeds from the equestrian family. They are the Marwari, Kathiawari, Sindhi, Thoroughbred, Manipuri, Zanskari, Bhutia and Spiti. There are also other crossbreeds of these that one can find, depending on what purpose one is buying a horse for.

When one thinks of horse riding, they always perceive it to be very expensive. It has been known as a sport of the kings. But you would be surprised to know that most of the equine population of India is found in the villages with poor farmers. The same activity  becomes expensive if pursued in a metro city, but can be very affordable in a town or a village or even a city with the farmlands nearby.

The main costs attached to owning a horse is the feed of the horse, salary of the caretaker, medication and first aid, farrier charges and tack. It is possible to manage all of this, very economically and well within the amount one pays for charges at riding clubs. Within the same amount, one can own and keep a horse. This gives us the freedom to ride whenever we want and also breed from the horse if required. 

Most countries adopt a system of sharing a horse, which makes it easier to afford, exercise and maintain a horse between 2 or more people. People share resources like space, time and expense in order to keep a shared animal comfortable.

Horse Riding is the only international sport, where men and women compete at par with each other in the same arena and there is no handicap given. Riding is a complete exercise and also helps to loose weight and remain fit.

~ Anish Gajjar (Co-founder : Equestrian Club of Gujarat, Ahmedabad; 09825307774)