# Zelda the Zorse



## DimSum

I had the pleasure of seeing her at a recent expo, quite an impressive and unusual sight so I thought I'd post her info here. Not everyday you get to see a zebra/Belgian cross :shock:











Zelda the Zorse - Home Page


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## sxybeemr

What a lovely Zorse!!!!!!!! lol!!!!! :wink: It is so cute and different!! I love it!


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## WesternRider88

She is very beautiful!!!!! I want one now!


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## Roperchick

Whuuuuuut?! She's a beaut! I want one lol


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## Houston

Sooooo gorgeous! I'd like to wake up and see that everyday!


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## DimSum

Pretty interesting story as to how he got her too, it's on the webpage.


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## Cacowgirl

That's certainly unique!


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## Saddlebag

I wonder how it was to train as I've read that zebras can be very difficult to impossible to train.


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## ilovepets

WOW :shock: the best of both worlds! draft and zebra!!


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## DimSum

Saddlebag said:


> I wonder how it was to train as I've read that zebras can be very difficult to impossible to train.


The website gives some idea of just how hard she was to train...flighty and prone to jumping out of paddocks :shock:


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## Iseul

I thought I read that she surprisingly DIDN'T jump out of paddocks? 

But, she's just too adorable, I want her, lol.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## nickers103

This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing


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## MAG1723

Imagine the comments if you were to bring THAT to a show! I would be so proud. She looks wonderful. Can i have her? LOL


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## MangoRoX87

Bad ***!! No pun intended! Or.....wait...bad...half..***...kinda...


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## AngieLee

thats fantastic! most interesting cross i have ever seen lol


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## jcmr8

That is awesome!! She's so cute
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## RiskyFilly

How cool is that! Her facial marking are amazing! Although I think it looks similar to the grains in a piece of wood. 

Very beautiful thanks for sharing!


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## horsecrazygirl

beautiful! I want one.


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## rexing93

*drools* Oh, she's lovely!


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## Celeste

She's really cute! I watched the videos. She has a lot of get up and go for such a big fat girl.


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## mc90

She is beautiful! I had a Zorse about 10 years ago. I got her as a 2 year old that hadn't been handled much. She came around quickly but after about 3 years while I was working on saddling her, something spooked her, she got loose, and ran through a fence. After that day her wild side came out. All it took was that one spook. She was always kept in normal wire fencing and was a perfect angel for everything. They do always have that wild instinct. I would still love to own another one some day.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mc90

I found a not so great picture of Tigger, the girl I used to own. She is half QH.


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## BlueSpark

not sure why exactly people do this, other than the zebra stripes. Not my thing. easily trainable horse, or hard to train striped cross breed? hmmm, not such a hard choice...


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## WhiteHorse

She is beautiful! I love her markings!


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## Relentless

She is awesome! But, I definitely would not want to train anything with zebra blood. I'd imagine she is every bit as flighty as they say she is. *runs off to read her page*


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## TheAQHAGirl

Out of curiosity, where did you find her mc90? She's beautiful!

I love a good zorse here and there.


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## equiniphile

Now THAT would be an interesting training competition. We have OTTB and mustang training contests, but none for zorses. It would definitely be interesting!


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## Foxesdontwearbowties

If I could get a nice Sport Zorse cross.. haha, That would be a dream. Would make for a fantastic jumper, I think.


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## mc90

I got Tigger from a breeding farm in Colorado. I bought her sight unseen and had her shipped to FL when she was going on 2 years old. She hadn't had much handling at that point and was quite skittish. Zorses are definitely quite different and much more stubborn in the training/ trusting department. It took about another year after her incident to calm back down and begin trusting again. I ended up selling her to a lady who just wanted a nice lawn ornament and pet. Owning her was a great experience. She definitely taught me a lot of patience. 

My reasoning as to why I wanted a zorse is that it was always a dream of mine to own a zebra. I just wanted the challenge and something different. I figured that a zorse may be a bit easier to work with. I can't speak for everyone who has a zorse/ zebra or has had one though. I do know that a lot of patience and understanding is a must and they are not for everyone. If i could do it over again, I would get a younger or handled zorse.

I just realized that in the picture I am not wearing shoes :/ This explains my stubborn side as well lol.


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## BlooBabe

Through selective breeding and strict guidelines wild horses were domesticated. It's only a matter of time before zebras and zorses/zonkeys are seen as reliable riding/driving companions too. It's already started so with a bit more tweeking and weeding out the unwanted traits it could happen soon rather than later. And I'm totally putting my name on the waiting list. Even for one of the 'undesirable' ones. I love a challenge.


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## Becca93

I don't think I could personally handle a worse, but they are beautiful with their marking! I agree with ^ with some breeding tweaking and proper handling zorse will probably become more common and trainable. It will be very interesting to see.


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## my2geldings

Becca93 said:


> I don't think I could personally handle a worse, but they are beautiful with their marking! I agree with ^ with some breeding tweaking and proper handling zorse will probably become more common and trainable. It will be very interesting to see.


I agree. If they become more popular, you will start seeing people handling generics differently to try to get certain traits over others and get an easier to handle or more athletic or even more colourful animal. Definitely intriguing to sit back and watch.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## JulieG

Adorable but I'm sure she can be a nightmare if she wants to be!

Does seem like it would be an interesting challenge.


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## CandyCanes

Over in the U.S.A, there's a zorse used for eventing. 
Core!


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## FeatheredFeet

All so interesting. 

So I'm wondering....what would happen genetically, if a Gypsy Horse, homozygous for tobiano, were bred to a Zebra? It would obviously be a spotted horse, but would the dark colour, be striped? I'm thinking, maybe so. 

Again wondering. In most animals, responsible breeders, breed for good temperament and weed out those who do not have good temperaments. Since hybrids can very seldom reproduce, it would be very difficult to form a line of these striped crosses, with solid temperament in mind. Each would be a new hyrbrid. So I suppose, to get these hydbrids which are more reasonable to handle, the horse used, would have to have an absolutely solid temperament and be known to have already reproduced it reliably. This would likely, produce a more easily handled, Zorse or other Zebra type hybrid. 

Certainly, I'm thinking that some breeds of draft horses, with their usually solid temperaments, would be a good cross. I have noticed (I think) that most of these Zorses etc., seem to often take on the body type, of the horse used. So now I'm thinking of how fab a Zorze etc. might be, if half Zebra and half American Saddlebred. 

Lizzie


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## mc90

FeatheredFeet said:


> All so interesting.
> 
> So I'm wondering....what would happen genetically, if a Gypsy Horse, homozygous for tobiano, were bred to a Zebra? It would obviously be a spotted horse, but would the dark colour, be striped? I'm thinking, maybe so.
> 
> Again wondering. In most animals, responsible breeders, breed for good temperament and weed out those who do not have good temperaments. Since hybrids can very seldom reproduce, it would be very difficult to form a line of these striped crosses, with solid temperament in mind. Each would be a new hyrbrid. So I suppose, to get these hydbrids which are more reasonable to handle, the horse used, would have to have an absolutely solid temperament and be known to have already reproduced it reliably. This would likely, produce a more easily handled, Zorse or other Zebra type hybrid.
> 
> Certainly, I'm thinking that some breeds of draft horses, with their usually solid temperaments, would be a good cross. I have noticed (I think) that most of these Zorses etc., seem to often take on the body type, of the horse used. So now I'm thinking of how fab a Zorze etc. might be, if half Zebra and half American Saddlebred.
> 
> Lizzie


I believe that you are correct and the dark parts of the paint would be striped. I have seen photos of a few and that seems to be the case. I know that, with age, some zorses will turn grey. Very similar to a grey horse although they lose all of their stripes in the process. Tigger, the Zorse I owned, has a good chance of greying out. Her mother is grey and you can see where she is starting to grey on her underside and inner legs in the photo I previously posted. I am attaching a photo of her full brother who has very impressive markings. I was told that he passed away at a fairly young age so it is not known if he would have greyed out or not. Another photo is of a paint Zorse (some call it a Zony because it is part pony). Very interesting.


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## Kotori

I remember reading that zebras and zebra hybrids were used in Britain to pull carriages, but I don't think I saved the link. Now that I'm thinking about it, it might have been the Quagga that was used... To teh Googles!

Okay, so all I could find was Wikipedia, and we know how that is... It claims an intact stallion was broke to ride in two days, and one guy was famous for his zebra carriage. I was right- Quagga was preferred, but it is now extinct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra#Domestication

Second back-up to the carriage with an interesting view on domestication: http://www.livescience.com/33870-domesticated-animals-criteria.html


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## Foxesdontwearbowties

I'm wondering if when bred to a roan, what the outcome of that would be? *drools* Now THAT would be a pretty pony.


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## rideverystride

She's gorgeous!!! I'm in loooove .


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## GottaQH

Sigh....


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