The Baise is a small horse from the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China. As the climate there
is nice and mild, horse breeding has been a part of the culture
for centuries. Horse riding has been included in marriage ceremonies
as early as 20 B.C. The earliest records of this horse, found in
the Xilin and Guixian Counties in the Guangxi region, where two
buried bronze statues covered with gold. These statues, of horses
and riders, were found in 1972 and 1980. It is common belief that
they are cultural relics belonging to the period of 206 to 25 B.C.
The body structure and conformation of the horse statues are exactly
like those of the Baise Horse.
In the record of Tiandong County, supposedly
in the Han dynasty there was a horse market in the town of Pingma,
where a lively horse trade began. The records of the Tianxi County
state that Song dynasty horses were an important part of the
marriage ceremony and receptions.
The Baise has a solid conformation.
Their heads are heavy with a straight profile, wide jaw, and
small ears. The neck is average in length, withers fairly pronounced,
rounded ribs, back is level, and the croup is sloped. Their shoulders
tend to be short and straight, with well-developed tendons and joints.
The legs are strong with good, solid hooves and thick mane and tails.
Their hind legs may sometimes be sickle-hocked.
Good pasture animals, these horses are
raised in the open mountains at a high altitude. They are caught
when they are needed for work, and they get to roam freely through
the mountains the rest of the time. During farming season, they
are generally kept in barns. It is a light breed that stands fourteen
hands or taller, and they are mainly bay with some gray, chestnut,
and black individuals. This breed is strong and fast with a good,
willing temperament for work. They are used for riding, pack horses,
carriage horses, and draft animals for working.
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