# Basuto Pony > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Basuto_Pony > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Basuto_Pony.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basuto_Pony > Source revision: 1328886179 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Breed of horse}} {{use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} {{use list-defined references|date=June 2025}} {{use South African English|date=June 2025}} {{infobox horse breed | name = Basuto Pony | image = Basuto-Pony.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | image_caption = Illustration from 1909 | image2 = | image_size2 = | image_alt2 = | image_caption2 = | status = {{ubl|[FAO](/source/FAO) (2007): extinct{{r|barb|p=75}}|[DAD-IS](/source/DAD-IS) (2025): extinct{{r|dad}}}} | altname = Basotho Pony | country = South Africa | distribution = [Lesotho](/source/Lesotho) | standard = | extinct = | use = | colour = dark colours, grey{{r|cabi|p=443}} | height = up to 147 cm{{r|cabi|p=443}} | male_height = | female_height = | weight = | male_weight = | female_weight = | note = }} The '''Basuto''' or '''Basotho Pony''' was an African [breed](/source/list_of_horse_breeds) of small horse. It developed in the territory that is now South Africa, but is more closely associated with [Lesotho](/source/Lesotho) (formerly Basutoland). In the twenty-first century it is reported to be extinct{{r|barb|p=75|dad}} or close to extinction.{{r|cabi|p=443}} == History == The origins of the Basuto Pony go back to the horses taken to southern Africa by the Dutch settlers who established the first European settlement in the area of the [Cape of Storms](/source/Cape_of_Storms) in 1652 – there were no indigenous horses in the area. The first four of these were imported from [Java](/source/Java) by the [Dutch East India Company](/source/Dutch_East_India_Company) in 1653; it is likely that they were of [Arab](/source/Arab_(horse_breed)) or [Barb](/source/Barb_(horse)) type, but some may been of [Mongolian](/source/Mongolian_(horse)) origin, as Mongolian horses had earlier been introduced to Java.{{r|cabi|p=445}} A few Persian Arab [stallion](/source/stallion)s were later added to the horse population in the area when a ship sailing from Java to Persia ran aground on the South African coast.{{r|cabi|p=445}} From about 1820 European horses of many types – [Cleveland Bay](/source/Cleveland_Bay), [Friesian](/source/Friesian_(horse)), [Hackney](/source/Hackney_(horse)), [Norfolk Trotter](/source/Norfolk_Trotter), [Oldenburger](/source/Alt-Oldenburger) and [Thoroughbred](/source/Thoroughbred) – were imported and [cross-bred](/source/cross-bred) with local stock with the aim of increasing its size and "quality"; the Basuto Pony derives from horses that escaped this inter-breeding, {{r|cabi|p=445|hq}} many of which were taken into [Basutoland](/source/Basutoland) at about the time of king [Moshoeshoe I](/source/Moshoeshoe_I), the 1820s.{{r|reg|p=59}} In the early twentieth century the breed was close to extinction;{{r|cabi|p=443}} an unsuccessful attempt to introduce [Highland Pony](/source/Highland_Pony) blood was made in 1917.{{r|reg|p=60}} a conservation project involving cross-breeding with the [Connemara Pony](/source/Connemara_Pony) was initiated in the 1970s.{{r|cabi|p=443|tamolo}} It was listed as "extinct" by the [Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations](/source/Food_and_Agriculture_Organization_of_the_United_Nations) in 2007, and in 2025 was listed in [DAD-IS](/source/DAD-IS) with the same [conservation status](/source/conservation_status).{{r|barb|p=75|dad}} == Characteristics == The Basotho Pony is a small, sturdy horse; height at the [withers](/source/withers) does not exceed {{val|147|u=cm}}.{{r|cabi|p=442}} It is well adapted to the mountain terrain in which it lives – it has good [endurance](/source/endurance), can withstand extreme temperatures, can graze on poor pasture and has strong thick-walled [hooves](/source/hooves) that do not need to be [shod](/source/horseshoe).{{r|reg|p=60|cabi|p2=443}} It has two gaits in addition to the usual walk, trot and gallop, one of them the [stepped rack](/source/rack_(horse_gait)) known in South Africa as the {{lang|af|trippel}}.{{r|cabi|p=443}} The coat may be grey or any of the usual dark colours.{{r|cabi|p=442}} == Use == The horses were used by [Sotho people](/source/Sotho_people) for [riding](/source/riding_horse) in the harsh mountain terrain of Lesotho, which lies entirely at over {{val|1400|u=m}} above [sea level](/source/sea_level).{{r|reg|p=60|cabi|p2=443}} == References == {{commonscat}} Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20200623201209/http://www.fao.org/3/a1250e/annexes/List%20of%20breeds%20documented%20in%20the%20Global%20Databank%20for%20Animal%20Genetic%20Resources/List_breeds.pdf List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources], annex to [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110125634/http://www.fao.org/3/a-a1250e.pdf ''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture'']. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{isbn|9789251057629}}. Archived 23 June 2020. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). [https://books.google.it/books?id=2UEJDAAAQBAJ&hl=en ''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''] (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{isbn|9781780647944}}. [https://dadis-breed-datasheet-ws.firebaseapp.com/?country=LSO&specie=Horse&breed=Basotho%20Pony&external=1&lang=en Breed data sheet: Basotho Pony / Lesotho (Horse)]. Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2025. [s.n.] (29 October 2019). [https://hqmagazine.co.za/the-basuto-pony/ The Basuto Pony]. ''HQ Magazine''. (issue number needed). Accessed June 2025. R.S. Summerhays (1948). ''The Observer's Book of Horses & Ponies''. London: Frederick Warne & Co. Tamolo A. Lekota (2001). [https://www.fao.org/4/Y3970E/y3970e08.htm The State of the Basotho Pony in Lesotho]; in: [s.n. (2003). ''Community-Based Management of Animal Genetic Resources: Proceedings of the workshop held in Mbabane, Swaziland, 7–11 May 2001''. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed June 2025. {{Horse breeds of Africa}} Category:Horse breeds originating in South Africa Category:Horse breeds Category:Mammals of Lesotho Category:Mammals of South Africa Category:Horse breeds originating in Lesotho {{bots|deny=Citation bot}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Basuto Pony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basuto_Pony) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basuto_Pony?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.