Barzanis set sights on registering namesake horse breed

BARZAN, Kurdistan Region — This thick-necked, brown-coated horse has been bred by Barzanis in the northern Erbil province area for decades now.

Characteristic for their white foreheads and fetlocks, local Abdullah Haji is hoping to get the breed officially registered in the Horse Encyclopedia as the Barzan horse.

“A group of people have been breeding them so they can produce offspring like many other countries,” says the horse breeder. 

“There is an international book in which the horse breeds have been registered. We want to register the Kurdish horse under the name of Barzan,” he adds.

Kurds identify several different horse breeds from across greater Kurdistan, including the Jaf, Afshari, and Sanjabi.

Haji says the Barzan horse, which has been bred through a human-directed process, is taller and faster than other Kurdish breeds. It can carry heavy loads and climb some of the toughest slopes, according to him.

The equine enthusiast claims the breed descends from the horses of Mustafa Barzani, and took part in the Kurdish Aylul revolt. Zin and Shang are the names of the progenitors, he says 

Haji, who has bred the Barzan horse for 30 years now, says the breed knows how to maneouver themselves in the mountains well. 
“They don’t lose their way, they go on the right path. They have strong abilities being from mountainous areas.”

Reporting by Bakhtiyar Qadir
Filming by Saman Mohammed