James Cossar Ewart

“ On the other hand, it has been proved that it is a comparatively simple matter to cross various breeds of mares with a Burchell Zebra, and if experts are to be trusted the hybrids (Zebra-mules as some call them) promise to be as useful and hardy as they are shapely and attractive. The preliminary difficulties having been overcome, it remains for those in authority to take such steps as may be necessary to ascertain of what special use, if any, Zebra hybrids may be in the various parts of the Empire, but more especially in Africa and India. ”

“ Though Heckla has always carried a heavy coat, and is dark in colour with white tips to her ears, she generally agrees with Romulus in her build and markings; but her action is freer, and more like that of a hackney than a Zebra. She promises to be quite as large and as active as Romulus, and more able than Romulus to withstand cold and to flourish under adverse circumstances.
The length of the head and the shortness of the neck suggest that the Iceland ponies belong to a different race than the black Oriental-looking West Highland ponies. ”

“ It is too soon to offer any opinion as to whether Romulus or any of the Zebra-mare hybrids will prove fertile or specially useful either at home or abroad, and it is equally impossible to say whether they will withstand the African Tsetse fly, or have better constitutions than either ordinary mules or Asses, but this much may be said, they all seem very hardy. Romulus has been in perfect health from the first, as indeed has been his Zebra sire, while nearly all my mares and Horses have had colds and other ailments. ”

“ These leg bars were at birth more distinct than in the Zebra sire. Continuous with the mane is a well-defined dorsal band (with a narrow yellow band at each side) which extends some distance into the tail. The tail in the hybrid had, at birth, long hairs right up to the root, but, notwithstanding this, there were three distinct bars visible at each side; similar tail bars I have once seen in a Horse.
Though the ears look long in some of the photographs, they are now relatively very little longer (though rounder at the apex) than in the majority of Horses. ”

“ As is the case with Romulus, there is nothing about Norna that suggests either an ordinary mule or a hinny. She has excellent well-formed feet, only a few short hairs at the fetlock, and not a rudiment of warts on the hind legs.
The Hybrid "Heckla."
Heckla's dam is a 12-hands skewbald Iceland pony. There is so much white in this pony (Tundra) and the yellow is so pale that I thought her hybrid foal would be nearly as light as a pure-bred Zebra. As it happens, Heckla is the darkest of all the hybrids, and the stripes are nearly as obscure as in the "Clydesdale" hybrid Brenda. ”

“ At any moment they may be seized by panic,—when they imagine there is a Lion in the path,—and, regardless of consequences, rush, it may be, against a wall or a hedge, or into a ditch, reins and bits counting for little or nothing. ”

“ Lady Douglas is 15 hands high, the circumference at the knee is 131⁄2 in., and below the knee 9 in. The face is longer than in Biddy by nearly an inch, and the ears by three-quarters of an inch. I expected Brenda (the Clydesdale's first foal) to closely resemble Remus in colour and markings, but in breeding, more especially in cross-breeding, the unexpected often happens. We are too apt to forget that, even when the sire belongs to a different and very distinct species, the progeny may take after the cross-bred dam. ”

“ If this hybrid continues to thrive, she ought to grow into a powerful, active, shapely cob, about fourteen hands in height, hardier and with more staying power than an ordinary mule.
The Hybrid "Norna."
The most attractive of last summer's crop of hybrids has for its dam a good-looking 11-hands Shetland pony ("Nora") . This pony, which will be six years old in the spring, had a foal in 1895 to a small black prize Shetland pony ("Wallace") . Nora is in many ways a small edition of Mulatto, and her foal Norna may be said to be a small edition of Romulus. ”

“ The mane, at first nearly upright, short and Zebra-like, is now made up of hairs from eight to ten inches in length (nearly as long as in an ordinary foal of the same age) . Except near the withers and between the ears the mane arches freely to the right side, some of the hairs almost touching the neck. The hair between the ears already projects forwards to form a forelock. In Remus, as already mentioned, the mane is still upright, and shorter than in his sire. The tail in Brenda has also from the first been heavier than in any other of the hybrids, and fewer hairs have been shed from its base ”

“ The principal enemy of the Zebra seems to be the Lion. To escape from the Lion, great and sustained speed is not so requisite as a decided and rapid bound when the Lion makes his spring, or when he is accidentally met with in the veld. This rapidity of getting out of the way has been strongly inherited by all the hybrids. ”

“ As might have been expected, Biddy's foal is much lighter in colour than Mulatto's. With the exception of the muzzle and the lower part of the legs, the body colour is a rich light bay; the muzzle and legs were, at birth, more of a mealy colour, but are now of a bay colour. The bands are much lighter, and consequently less distinct than in Romulus. As a rule they are of a dark reddish brown hue, being especially evident on the brow, the forearms, and above and below the hocks. The plan of the striping is the same as in Romulus ”

“ The dams of the respective hybrids are (1) an Island of Rum pony, (2) a Shetland pony, (3) an Iceland pony, (4) an Irish mare, (5) a cross-bred Clydesdale mare.
The sire ("Matopo") of all the hybrids is a handsome 12.3 hands Burchell's Zebra, probably from the Transvaal. As fig. 1 (PI. I.) shows, Matopo is well formed, with powerful legs and, for a Zebra, a fine neck and fairly good shoulders. In his movements he is almost perfect. When trotting, the fore legs move gracefully, without suggesting the hammering action of the hackney ”

“ In some cases this V-shaped space contains portions of seven arches, and the legs may be striped to the hoofs. Below the stifle-stripe there are first oblique and then nearly transverse stripes across the hind leg, with sometimes shadow-stripes between. In Matopo the stripes are indistinct on the lower part of the hind leg, but in many Zebras they become more distinct and relatively broader as the hoof is reached. It will be further observed from the figures (a) that the upper part of the tail is distinctly striped, and that, as in an Ox, only the lower part of the tail carries long hairs ”

“ The height at the withers was 43 in., one inch more than in Remus, and four inches more than in the Iceland hybrid. At birth Brenda, apart from her ears, looked not unlike an ordinary bay foal, but soon faint stripes began to show themselves, and in a day or two the stripes, though indistinct, were seen to closely agree in their arrangement with those of the other hybrids. Now that the "Clydesdale" hybrid is nearly seven months old, she at a little distance might easily be mistaken for an ordinary foal. ”

“ I have refrained from handling Matopo for obvious reasons, yet there is never any difficulty in managing him, unless when he is herding mares, or unusually excited. When in a field with mares he is unapproachable, for, regardless of consequences, he attacks all who venture into his vicinity. ”

“ Further, owing to the destruction of cattle by the rinderpest, the transport difficulties have been increased in Africa, while the Frontier wars have enormously increased the demand for mules in India. ”

“ There is usually a distinct shoulder-stripe in Zebras, passing downwards from the withers to bifurcate about the level of the shoulder-joint. In fig. 2 (Pl. I.) the shoulder-stripe is double, while in fig. ”