page_title: Namib Desert Horse
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Namib Desert Horse / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Resting next to the decrepit German colonial train station Garub between Aus and Lüderitz. They are thought to be descendants of horses abandoned by German soldiers during WW1.Deutsch: Die verlassene Bahnhaltestelle Garub zwischen Aus und Lüderitz mit verwilderten Pferden.
context_page_description: The Namib Desert Horse is a rare feral horse found in the Namib Desert of Namibia, Africa. It is probably the only feral herd of horses residing in Africa, with a population ranging between 90 and 150. The Namib Desert Horse is athletic in appearance, resembling the European light riding horses from which it probably descends, and usually dark in color. Despite the harsh environment in which they live, the horses are generally in good condition, except during times of extreme drought. The horses have been the subject of several population studies, which have given significant insight into their population dynamics and ability to survive in desert conditions.
  The origin of the Namib Desert Horse is unclear, though several theories have been put forward. Genetic tests have been performed, although none to date have completely verified their origin. The most likely ancestors of the horses are a mix of riding horses and cavalry horses, many from German breeding programs, released from various farms and camps in the early 20th century, especially during World War I.
context_section_description: Southern Africa has no native horse populations, so the origins of the Namib Desert Horse trace to imported herds of horses. There are several theories on the ancestors of the Namib Desert Horse, and the true story may never be known. One theory says that a cargo ship carrying Thoroughbreds to Australia wrecked near the Orange River, and the strongest horses swam ashore and traveled to the Garub Plains, the home of the Namib Desert Horse, near Aus, Namibia. Another theory states that they descend from Cape horse/Basuto pony crosses ridden by Khoikhoi raiders traveling from southern Africa to north of the Orange River. The most likely theory has the Namib Desert Horse descending from a combination of escaped South African military horses and Namibian-bred German horses. During World War I, horses were used in campaigns in Namibia between the German Schutztruppe and South African troops, and some escaped or were released into the desert. Prior to this time, a German Baron von Wolf built Duwisib Castle on the edge of the Namib Desert, where he held a herd of approximately 300 horses. Von Wolf was killed in action in Europe during World War I, and his farm was abandoned, leaving his horses on unfenced land relatively close to the area where the Namib Desert Horses now roam. The Namib Desert Horse phenotypically more closely resembles the horses bred by von Wolf and ridden by the World War I-era troops than the horses ridden by Khoikhoi tribesmen, making the former story the more likely. The genetic evidence of the 2001 study gave less credence to the descent from von Wolf's horses. He used Thoroughbreds, Hackneys and Trakehners in his breeding program, rather than the Arabian horse to which the Namib Desert Horses are the most genetically similar.
  Research in the archives of pre-1914 horse breeding operations found at Windhoek, combined with blood typing studies, suggests that the animals descended from a gene pool of high-quality riding animals, as opposed to work horses. A study released in 2005 reinforces the theory of the Namib Desert Horse descending from a combination of European-descended breeding stock and escaped military horses. One possible source of breeding stock was a stud farm near Kubub, leased by Emil Kreplin (previously mayor of Lüderitz) from 1911 to 1919. Photo albums from the stud show animals with conformation and markings similar to those seen in the modern Namib Desert Horse. In addition, in early 1915, during the fighting of World War I, bombs were dropped by a German aircraft onto the South African camp near Garub. Some ordnance seems to have been specifically targeted to land among a herd of 1,700 grazing horses, for the purposes of scattering them. These escaped army animals may have joined stock animals lost from Kreplin's stud farm during the turmoil of the war. Horses in the area would likely have congregated at the few existing watering places in the Aus Mountains and Garub.
caption: Resting in the shade next to an abandoned German train station
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