Are zebras basically horses with stripes?

No. Zebras, horses, and donkeys have differing numbers of chromosomes, in fact the species of zebras also differ in chromosome count from each other. There are many crossbreds among the equine species, but these are sterile. But the differences go deeper than that. read more

No. Zebras are not "horses with stripes". Horses are Equus ferus caballus; zebras are genus Equus two subgenera: Hippotigris and Dolichohippus. Two species of zebra make up Hippotigris: Equus quagga, the Plains zebra, and Equus zebra, the Mountain zebra; Dolichohippus has only one species, Equus grevyi, Grevy's zebra. read more

It was previously believed that zebras were white animals with black stripes, since some zebras have white underbellies. Embryological evidence, however, shows that the animal's background color is black and the white stripes and bellies are additions. It is likely that the stripes are caused by a combination of factors. read more