PHILIPPINE HORSES 
First Brought to the Islands from Malaysia—Later by the Spaniards from China 
and Japan—Direct Spanish Importations Very Late—American 
Efforts to Improve the Breed 
Davip B. MAcKIE 
Bureau of Agriculture, Manila, P. I. 
has had an opportunity to ob- 
serve the many good qualities 
possessed by the native horse, 
or pony as it is more often called. 
Despite its diminutive size, it is often 
seen hitched to a native carretela (two- 
wheeled vehicle) and drawing a load of 
half a dozen persons, at a gait of six 
miles an hour, without regard for the 
tropical heat. 
During a sojourn of seven years in 
the Archipelago, and experience of 
every province, I have been much 
interested in learning the origin of 
these native horses. Extensive ques- 
tioning of both Spaniards and Filipinos 
has brought in every case the same 
answer, a perfectly natural one, that 
the horse was first brought to the 
islands by the Spanish conquerors. 
Some Spaniards, however, asserted that 
the native races contained a consider- 
able infusion of Arab or Barb blood, 
but this was probably little more than 
a guess, based on the fact that the 
renowned Andalusian breed contains 
much of that blood, and might well be 
supposed to have been brought to the 
islands from Spain. 
Study of evidence from many sources 
has convinced me that the common 
opinions are largely erroneous, and the 
object of the present paper is to cite in 
chronological order the data which I 
have been able to collect, to show 
exactly what the Filipino horses are, 
from a genetic point of view. 
With reference to the introduction 
of horses, Philippine history may be 
divided in four periods: 
1. The period when horses were 
altogether unknown to the inhabitants 
of the archipelago. 
2. The period of first introduction 
has | visitor to the Philippines 
of the horse, with the Malay migra- 
tions from the Malay Peninsula and 
Sumatra to Sulu and Mindanao. 
3. The period of Spanish occupation. 
4. The period of American occupation. 
Evidence that the horse was un- 
known to the aborigines prior to the 
Malayan invasion depends on the fact. 
that every wild tribe in the islands. 
(except the Muhammadan tribes) knows. 
the horse only under the name of 
kabaya, a corruption of the Spanish. 
caballo. Had the horse been known to 
them before the Spanish conquest, they 
would certainly have had a native 
name for it. . 
The evidence that horses were brought. 
to some of the southern islands, at least, 
by the Malay invasion, is pieced to- 
gether from a number of different. 
sources, the Moro chronicles being too. 
brief to afford much information. I 
shall present the data and allow the 
reader to decide whether or not it is. 
adequate to support my position. 
NATIVE NAMES FOR THE HORSE 
In the first place, we know that the 
Moros—the Muhammadan peoples of 
the south islands—were familiar with 
the horse, because they have names of 
their own for it: kuda (Sulu) and kura 
(Magindanao). 
Turning now to the history of Sulu, 
we read of the period of Malayan 
invasion: ““Two prominent characters 
which mark the era are Makdum and 
the Rajah Baginda. Makdum was a 
prominent Arab judge and scholar who 
arrived at Malacca about the middle of 
the fourteenth century and converted 
the ruler, Muhammad Shah, to Islam. 
. . . Continuing farther east he reached 
Sulu and Mindanao about 1380.” 
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