Are Horses Related To Zebras? (Revealed!)

On a recent trip to the zoo I was struck by how many of the exotic mammals seem to closely resemble my favorite animal, the horse.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before, since it certainly wasn’t the first time I’d seen most of these four-legged animals.

Nevertheless, here I was, finally wondering, are horses related to zebras?

The answer is yes, horses are related to zebras. Let’s be clear, horses and zebras are completely different animals. But when you look at their ancestry, and not to mention their shared traits, horses and zebras have much in common and many shared genetics.

We will take a closer look at how closely related horses and zebras are, as well as how they differ.

How are horses and zebras related?

Horses and zebras are both members of the Equidae family and Equus genus of animals.

Zebras are most closely related to horses or donkeys.

In fact, there are only seven living species in the Equus genus, including three types of zebras.

They all have a common ancestor, Eohippus, which lived over 50 million years ago.

Can you cross a horse and zebra?

Yes, a zebra and a horse can mate!

The offspring will be sterile and cannot produce any more offspring, but it is possible to cross a horse and zebra.

The name for the resulting animal depends on the parents; a female horse and male zebra results in a baby zorse.

A male horse and a female zebra creates a baby hebra. (How cute is that!)

What traits do horses and zebras share?

You can see many of the things horses and zebras have in common just by looking at them.

Horses, of course, don’t have stripes, but both species are four-legged with hard hooves, strong necks, and eyes set to the sides of their heads.

Horses and zebras also both have flat teeth, perfect for their herbivore diets.

Both species are known as grazers, slowly eating grass or other plants as they go through the day.

Zebras living in a zoo often get hay or alfalfa to supplement the grass they can graze on in their habitat.

Their bodies are covered with hair which helps them regulate their body temperature, as they are warm-blooded mammals.

Their coats even help camouflage them, each in their own way for their home environments.

They are also both social animals, living in herds. Horses and zebras form strong bonds and will groom each other.

Hierarchy is important within the herds. Each species is likely to have a dominant mare (female horse or zebra) in the group.

This dominant mare leads the group, literally and figuratively, with the rest of the herd following behind when they travel.

How are horses and zebras different?

The most obvious difference between horses and zebras is their coloring!

Horses can be a range of colors from white or gray to brown, black, or a mix of colors.

Zebras sport their distinctive black and white stripes.

While the amount and thickness of the stripes may vary, zebras are known by their stripes most of all.

If you had the opportunity to compare a horse and zebra directly you would also notice that zebras are generally smaller than horses.

Of course, this depends on the horse, since horse sizes vary widely.

Overall, if you are familiar with donkeys you can expect a zebra to be of a similar size.

Zebras have shorter legs to match their smaller size.

They are also slower than horses, with their top speeds around 40 miles per hour while a fast horse can reach over 50 miles per hour, if only for a short time.

Horses are also known for quick movements driven by their instincts to flee danger, but zebras might outmaneuver the horse!

To make up for their slower pace, they’re known to get away from predators by running in a zigzag pattern.

Another of the physical differences between horses and zebras is in their manes, the hair along the back of their necks.

Different breeds of horses will have manes that are naturally thicker or thinner, longer or shorter, but horses generally have long, coarse hair that drapes against the sides of their necks.

Zebras, in contrast, have a mane that is short with hairs that stand straight up.

Similarly, while horses mostly have long, flowing tails, zebras have short, tufted tails.

Do horses and zebras live in the same places?

Horses can live everywhere! (Except Antarctica, of course. They leave that territory to the penguins.)

Horses generally thrive in open spaces with plenty of grass to graze on.

Zebras, by contrast, are only native to Africa.

The three species of zebra all have their own native regions within Africa with a variety of habitats ranging from the plains to the mountains.

Can you ride a zebra like a horse?

Although it might be tempting, zebras should not be ridden like horses.

For one, they are smaller and have not been bred over hundreds of years to carry heavy loads on their backs.

Additionally, although there have been many attempts throughout history to domesticate zebras, there has been very little success in taming a wild zebra.

Zebras, due in part to their being prey animals and surviving among ferocious predators, are aggressive animals with strong defense instincts.

This makes it difficult not only to tame them, but to predict their behaviour around other animals.

Horses are known to kick or bite to defend themselves or when they are startled.

Zebras, however, take those defense mechanisms to the next level.

A zebra’s strategic, powerful kick is strong enough to break the jaw of a lion.

They also have a strong bite and are known for biting down and only letting go when their predator is dead!

As enticing as it is to imagine riding a zebra, or even seeing a carriage pulled by a team of zebras, this is work better left to the more tolerant professionals – the horses.