Origin
The Yonaguni horse is a small pony from the islands of southwestern Japan. In 1996, there were about 75 ponies on farms in the East and north of Yonaguni, located in the west of the Yaeyama Islands.
Little is known about the origin of ponies. Horses in Japan can generally be divided into two groups: large horses, from Hokkaido, and smaller ones, especially from Yonaguni.
Many people these little horses, ponies, were brought from the islands further south in the Jyomon period, about two thousand years ago.
Professor Ken Nozawa of Kyoto University claimed in 1983 that the breed's characteristic genes indicated a kinship with the Korean Cheju.
Yonaguni Appearance
Ponies of the breed are often Chestnut in color.
The head is larger with well-positioned eyes and relatively small ears; the neck is short and thick; the shoulders tend to be straight; the back is long;.
The rump is often straight with a tail caught high; the legs are well caught and positioned; the hooves are thick and hard.
These ponies are very fine, but they are very strong and Hardy.
Yonaguni Behavior
In the old days, every homeowner had at least one horse or more for transportation and agricultural work.
In 1939, when local breeds began to be improved to produce larger war horses, ponies were excluded from this plan due to the island's isolation, thus managing to preserve this breed of pony for future generations.
As technology took hold, horses became less and less important and the population of all horses in Japan was dramatically reduced.
Once of vital importance to the life of the island's inhabitants, these ponies can still be seen on several farms in this area, and it has become a protected animal by law and a reason for local pride.
