The Gujarat government is planning to issue passports and a unique identification number to horses belonging to the Kathiawari breed in an effort to protect and increase their greatly diminished numbers.
The state’s animal husbandry department in association with the Kathiawari Horse Breeders’ Association (KHBA) will register the horses and also conduct DNA tests on them to identify the pure bred horses.
Rajeshsinh Jadeja, a trustee of the KHBA, said that 140 pure breed horses have already been registered. “There are around 15,000 horses belonging to the Kathiawari and Marwadi breeds in Gujarat, but according to our estimation, there might be around 500-600 pure Kathiawari breed horses,” he said. Both the breeds are closely related.
The main aim of the special project called ‘Nation studbook of Kathiyawadi Horses’, Jadeja said, is to preserve the desert war horses breed and encourage breeders to carry on their efforts.
An expert committee has been formed to identify the pure breed horses. Apart from Jadeja, the members of the committee include equine expert and former IPS officer RD Zala and Satyajit Kachar, a member of erstwhile Princely state of Jasdan.
“During the identification parade, experts examine the length, height, girth, colour and signs on the body. Photos of each horses are taken from right, back and centre with owner of the horse and then registration number is given to each of the identified pure breed Kathiawari horses,” Jadeja said.
He added that once the registration process is over, DNA test will be conducted on each of these horses to further ascertain the purity of the breed.
“A microchip will be inserted into all horses with a unique 15-digit number. This process will go a long way in conservation and preservation of our heritage and culture. Through this initiative, we will be able to identify how many pure breed Kathiawari horses remain in the country’’ added Jadeja.-
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