Just Another Zebra Post

:love :YMDAYDREAM:

I think those minimally marked zorse mares were those zebra x przewalski crosses that happened at a zoo where they didn't think the two species would interbreed if housed together. I've honestly been looking for those images again for awhile, so that's awesome. I also think that may be why their dams aren't listed. ymwhisle

And I really want your zorse breedings to happen for the sake of science. Your genetic choices are spot on and if anyone was going to attempt it I'm glad you would. :) Especially with consideration of the resulting foals having a future. I like the idea of using gaited horses for their temperament, plus they do posses the color genetics you are after.

I am not really one to encourage breeding in the majority of situations. But I think this would be an endeavor that should result in a case study and better knowledge of equid genetics. ^_^

Well it could be as soon as 2 years that I might try to acquire a mare if i can find, preferably, a weanling for sale around here. I know that there is a big exotic auction every year in Tenn. and young zebras are actually pretty cheap for an exotic animal, around 1-5k. There is still a lot of work to be done with the existing animals and fencing on my parents farm that takes priority first and foremost. On another note, I still plan on applying to grads school at UK for animal sciences, specializing in equine genetics, but I still have another year to go.

I don't think those minimally marked are Przewalski crosses at all- Zebras are not the most aesthetically pleasing by our standards and neither are Przewalski horses- they have heads like tin buckets! Pretty sure they are Fjord crosses and also pretty darn sure they were artificially seduced (as it were) Even hand raised Zebras have to be kept with only horses if you want them to breed- same with donkeys, they are notorious for it, in fact. I never could get my Mokes to allow a stallion near them, and a friend kept her Moke mare with two stallions all their lives and they never even curled their lips over her when she was in season, nor did she "show" to them.
I am not a lover of this kind of thing, it is harmless, I suppose, as it cannot "go" anywhere, and I suppose that there must be a certain market for it, but what happens when the stripes do not appear? You have a mule with a less than perfect temperament (well, I suppose that could happen anyway) I suppose, if you know your market and you are careful, as I said, it's harmless......

I am pretty sure they are not Fjord crosses,as the one Fjord cross that I know of, is very pale, very much the Fjord color. I have even considered even if I can't sell any of the crosses, or turn out I don't want to sell them, there would be so few of them it would not be hard to keep them myself, but hoping with the color crosses, which is exotic even for mules as you rarely even see dilute mules of any type other than dun, and the possibility of being gaited, they probably have some sort of market. Also, I would not be able to hand breed at all, or even considered it, everything would be done AI so I could pick the best stallions. It does seem like the striping level is pretty random, with all 3 "base" colors having some animals that are heavily striped and some that are very minimal, but it seemed like the crosses on dun mares yielded the least amount of striping in general.

I have seen the fjord cross too and agree those aren't that kind of cross. I had come across those images of the zorses before with the full explanation of the Przewalski cross back story. This was years ago when I had just begun an interest in horse genetics and never thought to save the images and text.

I really hope you will be able to pull this off. I am very interested in what could be learned from this. And best of luck with grad school.

The add for the minimal zorse mares was from the IZZZA website, so that still does not give us too much info, other than they are friendly and lead and load well, which I would not really expect from a Przwalski cross.
http://www.izzza.com/IZZZAZorsesForSale…

I just took a look through the classifieds for exotic animals and people are selling some odd things :rofl , but someone had chapmans and grevys zebras and I need to find the regulations for Ky exotics, I know plains zebras are fine without a permit but I'm not sure about Grevys considering they are endangered. It seems like a lot of farms that breed exotics either are all out with tons of different types or are like a pretty standard animal breeder and then you read that they also have like gators or something.

I would go for the easiest to handle, myself. Temperament is paramount....which is the type that is used the most?
I don't doubt you will fi8nd a market for, at the very eats, the well marked ones, as their rarity value will always sell them. Are there places already that breed specifically for them?

On the subject of the minimal dun Zorses- Przewalski X's just would not have the temperament, you are breeding two truly wild types of equines together- I know when they had a captive breeding programme here at Whipsnade and were not....how shall we put this- too selctive?....the colts bred with the Cream Park ponies and the results, in spite of the Park Ponies being based on Welsh and very level headed, were pretty well unmanageable. At the same time they were attempting to handle and halter train the full breds as there were no plans to release them and it makes sense to be able to handle animals- they were never trustworthy- one keeper likened the herd stallion to a Dairy Bull!!
And, of course, I have yet to see one with a good head, or even a head that was bearable!

I thought it interesting on the pinto patterns that they all seem to have the white in the same area on the neck.