Horses in Art Magazine - Art for the Horse Lover

The Marwari Horse Star of India

by Ivan Lloyd

"Marwari - Warrior Horse of Rajasthan" Oil, 48 x 44, by Ivan Lloyd
The Marwari horse of India, a fearless warrior on the battlefield, was bred for his loyalty and courage by the princely rulers of Rajasthan known as the Rajput.

Eight hundred years ago these flamboyant, passionate and quick tempered rulers built isolated forts, formidable palaces and walled mansions in the desolate regions of North Western India.

Here, in an area beset with hostile desert terrain, the Rajput founded the kingdom of Marwar or Maru Pradesh, which translates into Region of Death.

According to Shri Mahout, the head priest of the Monastery of Kalabar, "The Marwari has survived a long journey and can be traced back to a time when the ocean was churned to extract nectar for the Gods, a period when horses had wings." To know and love the Marwari is to enter a magical realm of chivalry, lost in the sands of time, where valiant deeds of intrigue and passion were fought by heroes on mythical horses.

To this day, teary-eyed inhabitants of Rajasthan recall the legend of Chetak, a pure white Marwari stallion, that charged into the advancing Mogul army, reared his front legs and drummed his hooves on a war elephant's head during the battle of Haldi Ghati in 1576. The elephant panicked thereby enabling Chetak's master, Maharaj Prata of Akbar, to kill the Imperial commander of the invading Mogul army. The battle was not over, however, and during the second Mogul advance the Rajput were overwhelmed and Chetak's hind leg was hacked off above the hoof. The severely wounded horse gallantly leaped a mountain stream and carried Maharaj Prata to safety, before dying in his master's arms.

This and other heroic feats have immortalized Chetak forever in the annals of Indian history and his name lives on in numerous racehorses and children's games.

In the 1950s, a few years after the departure of the British Raj, the newly formed independent Indian Socialist Government abolished the deep rooted and oppressive feudal system which, along with its rigorous caste system, had created the basic fabric of Indian society. Such an upheaval was not without its casualties.

One of the most grievous was the fate of the Marwari horse. Rajput noblemen were stripped of their titles, property and beloved horses, once their most prized possessions. The Marwari became symbols of hatred for the liberated peasants, and in the process thousands of magnificent horses were slaughtered, castrated and given to the peasants to be used as beasts of burden.

During the decades that followed, the plight of the Marwari horse was deplorable. They were tied up and shackled, mistreated, housed in squalid conditions, neglected, enslaved and driven to the point of extinction.

In a desperate effort to preserve the integrity of the remaining 500 documented horses, untainted by cross breeding, the Indian Government set up a ban on exporting indigenous horses.

The late Maharana Bhagwat Singh of Mewar founded the Chetak Trust followed by other elite breeders of the area who founded The Chetak Horse Society of India, whose main objective is the conservation of the breed and increased awareness of the Marwari around the world.

In 1995 Francesca Kelly, a British horse woman, visited India for the first time. When she was introduced to the breed her life was transformed.

"The Marwari has an incredible, otherworldly presence," she recalls, "which says 'I'm here by God's will and I belong to no one.' There are few horses in the world that have that combination of beauty and wildness of spirit."

Francesca Kelly was instrumental in founding the Indigenous Horse Society of India to rehabilitate and raise awareness of the Marwari breed. Francesca became a champion of the cause to restore the noble Marwari breed and is affectionately known as ghorawalli - she who rides horses.

The average Marwari horse stands at just over 14 hands, with an arched neck and flaring nostrils. The head is refined and relatively long and wide between the eyes with long eyelashes.

This extremely sturdy breed has a proven ability to adapt in extreme and hostile environments. Their long legs keep their underside away from the scorching desert heat. Their small feet, which are rarely shod, are especially adapted for the desert terrain. The Marwaris are consistently praised for their ability to bring back riders lost in the desert.

Thanks to the Indigenous Horse Society the ban on exporting Marwari horses was lifted by the Indian Government. In her efforts to protect the breed, Kelly has successfully imported a dozen Marwari horses to her stables in the US.

There is no doubt we'll be hearing much more from the legendary Marwari as their thunderous hoofs echo through the mists of time into this new millennium.

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