RAS question
Which of the following correctly pairs the horse breed with its distinguishing physical characteristic? 1. Marwari horse — Inward-curving ears meeting at the tips; 2. Kathiawari horse — Same inward-curving ear feature as Marwari; 3. Marwari horse is from Rajasthan; Kathiawari is from Saurashtra (Gujarat).
Correct answer: (C) All three statements are correct.
Marwari and Kathiawari horses both have the distinctive inward-curving ear feature, while Marwari is associated with Rajasthan and Kathiawari with Saurashtra in Gujarat.
Explanation
All three statements are correct because the question asks for both the physical marker and the regional association of the two breeds. The Indian Journal of Animal Sciences studies Marwari and Kathiawari as important indigenous horse breeds and places the native tract of Marwari horses in the Mewar, Marwar and Rajputaria areas of Rajasthan, while locating Kathiawari horses in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The breeds also show resemblance and overlap in some characteristics, including twisting of ears. This supports the familiar exam fact that both breeds share inward-curving ears that meet at the tips. Statement 3 is also accurate, so the complete set of statements, not a partial selection, is correct.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) A wrongly limits the answer to statement 1, although Kathiawari also has a similar ear feature and the Rajasthan-Saurashtra regional pairing is correct.
- (B) B wrongly excludes statement 2, because Kathiawari horses share the inward-curving ear trait identified for Marwari horses.
- (D) D treats the geography as wrong, but the ICAR article places Marwari horses in Rajasthan and Kathiawari horses in Gujarat's Saurashtra region.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's livestock geography through the link between an indigenous breed, its physical identifier and its native tract. RAS often frames such facts as matched pairs because breed-region associations are compact, source-backed and easy to test.