The Morawari

----- Behaviour

The Morawari as a breed are rather vain, and very invested in their appearances. Both male and female Morawari will preen endlessly to keep themselves in tip-top shape so as to turn heads. Failure to attend to their appearances or show off is a serious sign of depression in an adult Morawari, and it should be investigated immediately.

Males are generally rather hot-headed and quarrelsome, notorious for getting into countless squabbles with their counterparts. They get into little tiffs every few minutes, however their testiness never lasts very long, and they forgive and forget easily. Unlike most stallions, they are surprisingly un-territorial, allowing both mares and stallions to infiltrate their territory freely without anything more than an irritated huff or two.

Females are very appearance-orientated, and will shamelessly judge a stallion based on his appearance before accepting his courtship. Males do a courtship dance for the female of their choice, to entice the mares to return their interest. These dances include the fanning of their crests, physical displays such as prancing and bucking or rearing, and a periodic quivering of the tail that results in a soft rustling sound known as the 'Manthana' or 'Shake'. Each mare will have her own specifications for what she looks for in a partner, however usually the more athleticism and preen displayed by a stallion, the more desirable he is considered as a mate.

Morawari horses are generally thought to be rather fickle, due to their pre-occupation with appearances, and their polygamous habits when it comes to breeding partners. However they have been known to grow deep attachments to their human handlers - a trait that probably leads back to their ancestors that served as large, glorified pets in a palace. If a human spends enough time with a Morawari, helping to groom them and all over spoiling them silly, the Morawari will soon become rather co-dependent towards their handler.

Remember; the way to a Morawari's heart is through it's vanity.

----- Appearance

Morawari horses are indigenous to India, much like their Marwari cousins. The Morawari is very similar in appearance to the Marwari, however they have the added 'Mora' markings akin to the peacocks native to their homeland.

Coat colours can come in any conceivable natural shade or marking set - from solids to dilutes and from tobianos to appaloosas.

The Mora marking is distinctive to every Morawari, both in shape and in colour. The markings are inherited from the parents, and the shapes and colours of each parent will play a part in determining the foal's Mora marking.

The Mora marking is the only unnatural marking allowed on the Morawari, and it covers all natural markings - even the white paint and appaloosa markings that usually hide such colourations.

The placement of the markings can be anything from very minimal (ie: a single marking somewhere on the body), to extensive (spread out over the coat and/or mane and tail). There is no real restriction to where the Mora markings can appear, however they are most often found along the topline.

The gene that causes the Mora markings is denoted as _Mo_Mo
All pure Morawari carry a homozygous copy of the Mora gene, and as such will always throw Mora!patterned foals.

Crossbreeds will carry the heterozygous n_Mo, and will be unable to have Mora!patterned foals unless bred back to a Morawari, or bred to another heterozygous crossbreed.

----- Disciplines

The Morawari dates back to ancient times, where they were primarily Palace horses - either set loose to roam around the Palace gardens as living ornaments, or to provide companionship and amusement to the royals. Though they can of course be ridden, their tendency towards delicate, planned steps and their long tails can hinder their movement.

As such, they are usually only used in halter events, with the occasional persevering Morawari taking up more athletic sports like show-jumping and dressage.

----- Breeding

Morawaris are encouraged to be bred to either other Morawari or to their Marwari cousins, to keep the lines purest. However crossbreeding IS allowed.

To breed your Morawari, you will need to send a NOTE in to the Registry, with links to both the stallion and the mare being bred. You will then receive a reply with 2 basic coat genotypes you can choose from to create your foal, along with at least 4 ready-made Mora markings. You will then be able to create your foal by designing the coat (based on the provided genotypes), and by using your favourite of the provided markings on the foal.