Tokara for sale

It is widely believed that horses never existed in Japan in the Paleolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic periods. The arrival of the first Japanese horse was from the mainland of Asian continent of which very little is known. Later there were several breeds of horses after having undergone breeding and cross breeding over time with not so little influence of other varieties brought from Asia. This process was slow and it is seen that horses slowly had adapted to Japanese climates and were being extensively used by its people.

The Tokaro Horses are a distinctive breed and are the descendants of two dozen native breeds of horses brought to Kyushu from Kikai Shima about 1890. The breed then spread all over Tokaro Island, but their numbers fell sharply during the World War II. Presently, efforts are on to save them from extinction and those few surviving specie are being carefully looked after and bred in the Kagoshima Prefectures.

The Tokaro Horses are light weight horse and is used for riding and light Draught. However, it is seen that this breed has also been utilized in battlegrounds and have been used by the royal warriors of Japan called the Samurai. Later, they have been used in transportation and industry. They are of approximately 12hands and are gentle and easy to train animals. They come in various colors like chestnut, flaxen, bay, brown, gray, dun, with minimal white markings.

Since horse in Japan is greatly revered and loved, the Tokaro Horse too undoubtedly got a lot of attention from its owners. But with the Second World War on the whole of Japanese army were mobilsed and these included their horses and in the process very few were left to survive. After the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs, a shocked nation couldn’t muster up enough efforts to save species other than livestock that catered to their immediate needs. With the process of industrialization the Tokaro Horses went into verge of extinction.