I’m sure you all would have seen the craze around the Dressage Mule Wallace and his bid to be allowed to compete in British Dressage competitions. Up until now horse hybrids were not allowed to compete in affiliate competitions. This was one of those topical issues where you could completely understand both sides of the argument. On one side you had a well behaved mule who could do some lovely dressage tests. Yes some horses may look at this slightly funny horse with big ears, but then some horses (Scottie included) can not get their head round Shetland ponies! Scottie is terrified of them but you wouldn’t expect them to be band from a show ground.
However, on the other hand, you have British Dressage who have to draw a line someone on what qualifies as enough of a horse to be allowed to compete. Now since this case arose last week, my understanding is that instead of only horses being allowed, it is now any animal out of a mare. So with this new knowledge, I thought it would be fun to look at some of the horse hybrids we could in theory see at competitions under these new guidelines!
Mule
A mule is a cross between a male donkey and a female horse. As with the majority of hybrid cases, mules are nearly always sterile. But there have been some rare cases of mules being able to give birth to live offspring.
Zorse
When a zebra stallion breeds with a mare you get a Zorse. These hybrids tend to have a native look about them and often display stripes of some type and are certainly eye catching!
Zony/Zetland
Similar to the Zorse, Zony’s and Zetland’s are the offspring of a male zebra and a pony mare.
While there are other equine hybrids out there, such as the Zeedonk, these three are the only ones which come out of a female horse/pony. Which means these are the only ones who are currently allowed to compete under British Dressage rules.
Do you think hybrids should be allowed to compete in competitions?
Last Updated on 22/12/2021
