Sumba Horse, an Endangered Identity

A group of bay, black, and gray horses ran through the savanna in Wunga village in Hahar subdistrict, East Sumba district, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
In the Sumba society, a horse is a symbol of transportation with great cultural value. It also has a historical value. Whenever people hear the word Sumba, they will imagine horses.
Horses have been part of the people of Sumba, one of the southern islands of Indonesia, since the mid 1800s, far before the Netherlands imported Ongole cattle and established Sumba as a cattle breeding center in 1914.


House Member, John Umbu Detta, in Kupang said that Sumba horses are an eastern breed believed to derive from Mongolian horses. Their spread to Asia was believed to occur with the spread of Hindu religion.
Sumba horses are closely related to the culture of the people. In every cultural event, horses are always involved. “In the Pasola festival, tens, even hundreds of horses are involved in the horseback javelin-throw event,” said Tuya Nggaba (46), a farmer from Pahunga Lodu, East Sumba.

Horses are seen as the ride of the ancestors. Whenever a horse in the savanna neighs, it means an ancestor is riding the horse. That is why herders must always wear traditional Sumba outfits whenever herding horses.
Besides being used as a burden animal, livestock, racing horse, or a ride to herd cattle, horses are also used in weddings (for the groom to gift to the bride’s family) and mass mobilization.

The price of a common horse would range between 2 to 8 million rupiahs, while race horses could worth from 10 to 250 million rupiahs, depending on how many times the horse had won regional or national competitions. The more trophies, the higher the price.

Lately, race horses represent high social status in the Sumba society. Even outsiders are involved in the business of buying and selling race horses. Horses are sold to Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Denpasar, and throughout East Nusa Tenggara, with prices reaching up to 250 million rupiahs for one horse.
The population of Sumba horses had declined in the middle of the 20th century because of Anthrax. The population had bounced back through cross-breeding with Australian horses.

Currently, said Umbu Detta, the population of Sumba horses continues to decline and could become extinct because the horses are freely sold to other areas such as Bima, Makassar, Denpasar, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, and Jakarta. Sumba horses are commonly bought to pull carriages/transportation, for racing, slaughter, or as dairy horses such as those in Bima.

The population of Sumba horses is estimated to be just 50,000. Head of the Livestock Service Office of East Sumba District, Robert Gana, ensured that Sumba horses would never become extinct.  (KORNELIS KEWA AMA)