The Dongola or Dongolawi is an African

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

riding horse A riding horse or a saddle horse is a horse used by mounted horse riders for recreation or transportation. It is unclear exactly when horses were first ridden because early domestication did not create noticeable physical changes in the hors ...

. It is predominantly of

Barb Barb or the BARBs or ''variation'' may refer to: People * Barb (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Barb, a term used by fans of Nicki Minaj to refer to themselves * The Barbs, a band Places * Barb, ...

type, though there may have been some

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

influence in the past. It originated in the

Dongola Dongola (), also known as Urdu or New Dongola, is the capital of Northern State in Sudan, on the banks of the Nile. It should not be confused with Old Dongola, a now deserted medieval city located 80 km upstream on the opposite bank. Et ...

province of Sudan, for which it is named. In eastern Africa it is distributed in the northern part of Sudan and in western

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

; it is also present in several

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n countries including Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic. A number of local West African breeds or types derive from it; they may be regarded as sub-types, or may be reported as separate breeds.

History

Regional variants of the Dongola include: * the West African Dongola in Cameroon and the Central African Republic, usually dark or black with extensive white markings to the legs and sometimes to the belly * the Bahr-el-Ghazal or Dongola breed of the Bahr-el-Ghazal

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of Chad, which stands about , weighs some , and is usually dark with extensive white markings to the legs and sometimes to the belly; it may also be called the Kréda or Ganaston * the Bornu of north-eastern Nigeria * and the Haoussa or Hausa in northern Nigeria and parts of Niger. A number of local West African breeds or types derive from

cross-breeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. A domestic animal of unknown ancestry, where the breed status of only one parent or grandparent is known, may also be called a crossbreed though ...

Dongola and

stock; they may be regarded as sub-types of the Barb or of the Dongola, or may be reported as separate breeds. They include: * in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, the Mossi and, in the northern part of the country, the Yagha or Liptako * in Mali, the Bandiagara or Gondo, a light horse of about , normally either

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, and the Songhaq or Songhoï * in central Niger, the Djerma, a light horse seen in dark coat colours * in Nigeria, the Nigerian, which stands about and is used for riding, for light traction and for pack work.

Characteristics

The Dongola usually has a convex profile.

References

{{Horse breeds of Africa Horse breeds