A Brief History of Ngựa, a Non-Native Animal Vietnam Has Made Its Own

Are horses a Vietnamese animal?

In terms of whether horses are part of Vietnamese culture, just look around. While examples might not tumble to the forefront of your mind, once you start looking for them, you’ll notice horses everywhere.

Thánh Gióng Statue at Ngã Sáu Sài Gòn. Photo by Shing Chan.

Trần Nguyên Hãn Statue. Photo via SGCP.

Thánh Gióng, the legendary boy who vanquished invading Chinese troops, did so atop a metal horse. He is honored along with his majestic steed by a statue at Phù Đổng Roundabout. Similarly, 15^th-century General Trần Nguyên Hãn, was depicted on horseback in Quách Thị Trang Square. The statue was removed when the public space was dismantled for the metro construction, though there have been plans to reinstall a new version, which will again place a horse front and center in the city.

‘Ethereal Horse,’ lithograph, Lebedang. Image via Mutual Art.

Horses are not just for public display, as many people, or their grandparents at least, have paintings of a herd of horses triumphantly running across a river hanging above their living room couches. Meanwhile, a trip to any gallery or museum reveals that horses provide inspiration to visual artists across styles and time periods, as underscored by “The Horse in Visual Art,” an exhibition with more than 60 pieces that opened this year at the Hanoi Fine Arts Museum. Artists like Lebedang are said to be drawn to them because of the animals' innate desire for freedom as well as their ability to endure arduous labor alongside humans. The most circulated artwork to feature them in Vietnam was surely on the back of now-defunct currency.

Image via Smithwick Numismatics.

You’ll also discover horses in humble domestic spaces. If you snoop around bathroom medicine cabinets, you might notice them on a variety of men’s health and virility products owing to horses’ perceived strength and stamina. And, while no major Vietnamese fashion brand or corporation uses them as a logo, the Year of the Horse has ushered in a plethora of brands to use them in advertisements, promotions, packagings and promotions.

Products for energy and virility utilizing horse imagery. Photos via Central Pharmacy and Lazada.

Horses have made their linguistic mark here as well, particularly in idioms such as “cưỡi ngựa xem hoa,” (riding a horse to admire flowers); “một con ngựa đau, cả tàu bỏ cỏ” (one sick horse, the whole stable refuses grass), and "đường dài mới biết ngựa hay” (only a long journey reveals how strong the horse really is). Horses are also popular in songs, be they nostalgic movie soundtrack hits or ballads like ‘Lý Ngựa Ô,’ that a miền Tây uncle might pick out for karaoke.

A horse employed in the 1960s. Photo by Thomas W. Johnson.

A horse-drawn carriage outside Bến Thành Market in 1938. Photo by Eli Lotar.

Even though you can easily spot depictions of and references to horses in your daily life, it's rare to encounter the living animal here. This wasn’t always the case. Not too long ago, horses were an important part of the economy. In colonial times they were used as pack animals and for transportation. Even after the advent of motorized vehicles, they were a practical and more affordable means of delivering materials and people.

A horse pulling an advertisement for a movie showing. Photo via 2Saigon.

If you spend any time in photo archives, you’ll see horses pulling carts laden with construction goods, city dwellers, and even roaming through the city to advertise products and theatre performances. And while their days of pulling carts in Saigon have long since passed, they continue to do so in parts of the Mekong Delta, especially within Khmer communities. While certainly in their last days as a functional replacement for trucks or motorbikes, there are hopes that horse carriages can serve tourism purposes. The lullaby-esque clop-clop-clop of horses pulling carriages with colorful curtains in the countryside can provide a romantic nostalgia to citydwellers.

Horses used in An Giang in 2020. Photos via Tuổi Trẻ.

In addition to practical cogs in the urban machine, horses have been sources of entertainment in Vietnam as well. Particularly, District 11’s Phú Thọ Horse Racing Ground was a popular place for gambling and high society fraternizing since its construction by the French in 1923. Still recognizable on maps after its 2011 shuttering, the race track was amongst the largest in Southeast Asia. While horse racing may be gone, a niche community of equestrians around the country keeps and rides horses, often in accordance with the international prestige accompanying the expensive hobby.

Phú Thọ Horse Racing Ground between 1964 and 1969. Photos via Flickr user manhhai.

Taking all of that into account, I think we can indeed consider horses to be part of Vietnamese culture. But are they from Vietnam? Short answer: no. All domestic horses are believed to descend from populations in the western Eurasian steppe in modern-day Russia 4,000 years ago. Breeds changed and adapted as they spread across the world, including those used in military campaigns by people from Mongolia and Southern China. Researchers believe that is how horses first entered Vietnam about 800 years ago, resulting in the development of the ngựa Bắc Hà breed found in Northern Vietnam today. This small squat variety is well-adapted to rugged terrain and agrarian labor. Easily recognizable by their diminutive stature, they recently caused a stir online when used by police in parades.

Vietnamese police atop Bắc Hà horses in 2020. Photo via Chào Hanoi.

For hundreds of years, these horses were integrated into Vietnam’s militaries. During the Lê Dynasty, for example, an emperor in southern Hanoi ordered all the children of mandarins and nobelmen be skilled at horse-mounted archery, with cavalry proving critical for battles against Song China, Champa, and Khmer kingdoms. War horses were also relied upon by the later Nguyễn dynasty. You can observe remnants of the culture that surrounded these horses today in the form of statues in Huế and a particular style of hat, nón ngựa, produced in Bình Định that was sturdy enough to wear while riding and also fashionably designed for aristocrats.

Horses were used during the Nguyễn Dynasty, including as royal messengers, as pictured above. Photo via Thanh Niên.

Horses may roam in the memories and relative margins of Kinh society, but within northern mountainous communities, they occupy a far more central position. The regional spring markets that operate for H'Mông, Tày, Nùng, and Dao communities to gather, celebrate the new year, and buy and sell goods, including horses, evolved organically to include horse racing exhibitions. Over time, these smaller races, which, for a while, included rifle shooting elements, became centralized and organized as a tourism product and a means of preserving culture. Authorities have designated the Bắc Hà Horse Racing Festival in Lào Cai as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. These festivals provide visitors with an opportunity to enjoy thắng cố, a H'Mông horsemeat stew that incorporates all parts of the animal along with mountain herbs and aromatics.

The Bắc Hà horse race. Photo by Xuân Phương for Vietnam Coracle.

For H'Mông communities, horses are more than race animals, sources of labor and food. They play a role in spiritual beliefs as well. Death is frequently understood as a white horse that comes to bring a person to the afterlife when it's their time. For this reason, a wooden horse is traditionally buried with a person who has passed. Horse statues are also seen on the tombs of people from H'Mông and other highland communities.

For festivals, ethnic communities adorn their horses with traditional costumes. Photo via Du Lịch Bắc Hà.

So, can we consider horses to be a Vietnamese animal? Wild horses are essentially extinct, with a single very small population of reintroduced horses surviving in Mongolia. If you ever see a herd of horses living freely in nature, it is not really wild, but rather a feral group descended from a domesticated breed. Thus, all horses as we know them exist because of humanity’s collective efforts and activities. Perhaps any society or nation that has developed a unique culture with and in response to them should be able to claim them.