The history of horses in Cameroon is linked above all to the traditional presence of this animal in the northern regions of the country, around Lake Chad from the 16th century, then in Adamawa, as well as in the Garoua and Maroua regions. Traditional equestrian practices in Cameroon, such as horse parades and horse dances (linked to customary ceremonies in the north), have more recently been joined by equestrian activities, under the influence of Western expatriates and investors (supported by the creation of urban riding halls), notably in Yaoundé since the 1990s. The main use of horses in Cameroon is in agriculture and transport fields. Cameroon bred around 16,000 to 18,000 horses at the beginning of the 21st century, belonging to the Logone, Dongola, Barb, Arabian and Thoroughbred breeds, or more frequently to out-crosses between them. Lack of grazing land is the main obstacle to this type of breeding. Northern Cameroonian culture (particularly that of the Fulani and Kotoko people) gives great importance to horses, a prestigious animal with a reputation for protection. However, customary ceremonies such as the fantasia are threatened with extinction.
History
Pre-colonial period
As in other regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the presence of horses in present-day Cameroon probably originated in the North, via trans-Saharan migrations aimed at settling or militarily conquering regions with more favorable biotopes. Horses were present in the Lake Chad region around the year 800, as attested by the settlement of the Sayfawa Saharan nomads in Kanem. In the 16th century, Muslim nomads and horse riders also settled in the region. Nonetheless, horse-breeding probably remained rare, due to the presence of the tsetse fly, which led to high horse mortality. However, a few breeds, such as the Logone pony, were able to withstand it thanks to progressive natural selection. The empire of Kanem-Bornu, which extends partly into northern Cameroon, probably made extensive use of horses for military purposes. According to ethnologist Christian Seignobos, the use of a pony resistant to African trypanosomiasis may have declined as early as the 15th century, in favor of the larger Barb and Dongola breeds, in parallel with the Islamization of these royal dynasties. According to Christian Seignobos, the Logone pony became indigenous to northwest Cameroon, thanks in particular to its trypano resistance. By the 18th century, it was present from the Logone River to Adamawa. Their breeding traditions, based on a hunting and raiding economy, remained intact until the 1980s, although the rituals surrounding the birth and socialization of a pony gradually disintegrated from the late 19th century onwards. The Batas are reputed to have possessed a large cavalry of these ponies, before abandoning the land to concentrate on the river. The Cambas, also horse riders, took the Tikar plain, Bamum country and the Grassfields at the end of the 18th century, before giving way to the Fulani conquest, which stopped further north. Horse-riding tribes (of various ethnicities, including the Mandaras) settled in the Mandara Mountains, and in the 18th and 19th centuries became small predatory chiefdoms, thanks in part to the use of the pony. The Logone pony disappeared from the open plains in the 19th century. The Yillaga Fulani probably adopted riding on local ponies in North Cameroon in the 18th century to guard their cattle herds, before creating full-fledged military cavalries. The establishment of Muslim Fulani lamidats was accompanied by the purchase of Barb and Dongola stallions from outside the region, and the creation of small stud farms. At the beginning of the 19th century, the chiefs of Bornou and Mandara, aware of the superiority of the horse over Fulani people, attempted to prohibit their sale and possession shortly after the launch of the jihad, under capital punishment. Fulani people changed suppliers, trading horses and slaves with the Hausa people. Owning horses gave them great mobility, and therefore a clear advantage over other populations in the region.
The colonial period
German and French colonizers were quick to show their interest in Cameroon's local horses. The Germans set up a military mare farm in Pitoa; the French also integrated Cameroonian horses into their military columns. In 1918, Captain J. Lemoigne described the horses of the Choas and Fulani people in northern Cameroon as Dongola crossed with Arabian. In 1926, the French colonial administration in Douala described "a few dozen horses brought by Hausa peddlers or bought in the North for the military administration". About a hundred horses are counted in the Dschang district, owned by the Sultan of Foulbam and customary chiefs. Around 500 horses are counted in the Ngaoundéré region; the report also notes that horse breeding in Cameroon is mainly confined to the Garoua and Maroua regions. In the 1930s, Captain Charles Vallin proposed distributing mounts to mountain Kirdis to encourage traditional chiefs to meet him. In 1952, shortly before Cameroon's independence, interest in the horse remained strong among the Muslim populations of the north.
Since independence
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