The Zorse is a cross between a zebra stallion and a horse mare. Zorses and other crosses are also known as zebroids. A zebra and donkey cross though rare is known as a zonkey, zeedonk, or zenkey. A cross between a zebra and a pony is called a zony.

They were first bred in the 19th Century by South African government. They planned to use the resulting zorses as beasts of burden like horses were being used in other parts of the world. The International Zebra-Zorse-Zonkey Association (IZZZA) was created to establish a registry for zebras and their crosses kept as pets, trained, show animals, research, zoo and wildlife park animals or endangered species needing protection.

The Zorse’s body is built like a horse. They can come in any horse color with zebra stripe markings on the legs and usually one the neck and body. They are usually between 13 and 16 hands in height.

Zorses differ genetically from there horse and zebra parents as well. Horses have 64 chromosomes and zebras have 44 or 62 depending on the species. Most zorses tend to have 63 chromosomes. Also like many other hybrid animals zorses are infertile meaning that they cannot breed.

Zorses are preferred over purebred zebras for riding and draft work. They are better natured than zebras and harder to handle than horses. However Zorses are approximately 2 to 3 times stronger than horses. Zorses are also able to withstand hot temperatures and have more stamina than most horses. They are primarily used for trail riding, jumping and driving disciplines.

Another Horse and Zebra cross is known as a hebra, or a cross between a zebra mare and a horse stallion. They are even rarer than Zorses as horse stallions are hard to breed to Zebra mares. Even Zebra stallions have to be raised in special environments to breed to horse mares.

Zonkeys are also even rarer than Zorses. They occur most often in South Africa where zebras and donkeys live closely together. Like Zorses they are infertile and cannot breed. The Zonkey resembles its donkey parent in build. They even have the big ears just like donkeys. They tend to be brownish in color with the black zebra stripes. They can be used for pulling and riding. Zonkey breeding has been mildly successful in captivity. The first zonkey was claimed to have been bred by Colchester Zoo in England in 1971. The zoo then began a breeding program for Zonkeys with the intent of producing disease-resistant work horses for Africa.

Zebras have also been bred with ponies to produce Zonies. While medium sized pony mares are preferred for producing riding zonies, Zebras have also been bred with Shetlands to produce the Zetland. In Edinburgh a professor of natural history crossed zebra stallions with pony mares to investigate the theory of telegony, or the affect of the father on the foal.