Horse crossing – the hybrids

Does it surprise you that horses can be bred with other equines to produce hybrids? It really shouldn’t since the mule is a hybrid cross between a horse and a donkey. The type of mule depends on the breed of horse and the breed of donkey used in the mating. The larger/smaller the parents the larger/smaller the off spring will be.

So what other kinds of crosses are there?

All off spring that resulted from crossings of horse and closely related equines (donkey, ass, zebra) are called hybrids. The great majority of hybrids are sterile, meaning that they themselves cannot reproduce. That is due to the fact that each of the equine species has different number of chromosomes.

There is a debate over what each resulting hybrid is called. Among mule owners most mules are called mules but some insist on calling theirs a hinny (the result of a mating between a stallion (horse) to a jenny (donkey).

The zorse is the result of a horse and zebra mating. If you wander the internet you will find variations of the name and even arguments over which one is the father, horse or zebra to have the name of zorse.

A good chart of the various hybrids can be found at Hybrid Equines

The photo above is of the zorse, Eclipse. You can find out more about her at this article at All the Creatures

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