The Zaniskari or Zanskari is a breed of small mountain horse or pony from Ladakh in northern India.
The breed is considered endangered, as there are only a few hundred alive today, and a conservation programme has been started at Padum, Zanskar, in the Kargil district of Ladakh.
[1]: 61 However, it has been endangered by indiscriminate cross-breeding with other horses and it is thought that only a few hundred pure-bred animals now remain, mainly in the valleys of Ladakh, including the Zanskar Gorge from which the breed takes its name.
In 2022 the conservation status of the breed was listed in DAD-IS as "at risk/critical maintained", based on a reported population of 346 animals.
The Zaniskari is particularly adapted to work as a pack animal in the high altitudes and challenging conditions of its native region, which lies between 3000 and 5000 m above sea level, and where temperatures may reach −40 °C.