The Dongola or Dongolawi is an African breed or group of breeds of riding horse. It is predominantly of Barb type, though there may have been some Arab influence in the past. It originated in the Dongola province of Sudan, for which it is named. In eastern Africa it is distributed in the northern part of Sudan and western Eritrea; it is also present in several West African 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

The Dongola originated in – and is named for – the former Kingdom of Dongola in northern Sudan, now in the wilayat of Northern Sudan. A description from the eighteenth century compares its strength to that of a coach horse, while in the nineteenth century it was described as quite unlike any Oriental horse, over in height but short in the body.

It was valued as a war horse, and some were imported for this reason to various European countries; it was much used by the cavalry of the Ethiopian Army during the Italo-Abyssinian War of 1895–1896.

Regional variants or sub-breeds 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 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 Dongola and Barb 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, 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 or grey, 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

Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: 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. . Archived 23 June 2020.

Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. .

[Laboratoire de Recherches Vétérinaires et Zootechniques de Farcha, Ministère de l’Elevage] (2003). Rapport National sur les Ressources Zoogénétiques du Tchad (in French); annex to The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. . Archived 17 May 2018.

Breed data sheet: West African Dongola / Central African Republic (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2020.

Breed data sheet: Bahr-El-Ghazal / Chad (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2020.

Breed data sheet: Songhoï / Mali (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed September 2020.

Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017). Horses of the World. Princeton: Princeton University Press. .