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Mangalarga Marchador
The Mangalarga Marchador is a breed of horse highly regarded as the National
horse of Brazil. It is descended from the Andalusian stallions of Portugal
that were crossed with Barb mares.
Francisco Gabriel Junqueira (Baron of Alfenas) started a breeding study
mixing Royal Alter stallions with the common horse stock he had in his farm.
The common stock was a mix of mainly Barb horses and a few other breeds that
came to Brazil at the time of its colonisation. The result of the cross was
a much more beautiful horse with a smooth gait. The Baron called these
horses Sublimes. Francisco Junqueira later sold some of the Sublimes to his
friend, who had a farm in Paty do Alferes in Rio de Janeiro state. The farm
name was Mangalarga, and his owner sarted to use the Sublime horses to go to
the Imperial capital of Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, people took notice of the
smooth good looking Sublimes and started to call them Mangalargas.
Since1910 most of the ranchers involved in the development of the breed,
particularly the members of the Junqueira family followed his
recommendations with the fixation of the marching gait, rusticity,
resistance and good temper.
The Split of the breed;
Mangalarga Paulista - due to the use of different exotic breeds a completely
different type evolved. Many trotting breeds were used; Arabs,
Anglo-Arabian, English Thoroughbred, Morgan, Lusitan, Trakehner, American
Saddlebred, American Trotter and traction horses (Hackney) - with special
attention to the use of the latter as a means of fixing the elevated
movement. Theses mixes were made to adapt the original Mangalarga to the
"paulista" topography and culture.
In 1934 the Mangalarga Breeders Association was created. The founders had
very clear and even obvious motivations, such as to define the directions of
the breeding efforts, the function and the use of the horses, the desired
characteristics and a very clear definition of the intended gait.
The official type became more like Iberian horses.
Approximately 9 years later in 1943 the Mangalarga Breeders Association had
it's Stud Books closed.
In 1948 a group of breeders that disagreed with the objectives of the 1934
Association Mangalarga met to found the Association of the original breed
Mangalarga Marchador that became today's ABCCMM.
In order to unite political force to create a new Stud Book, the breeders
counted on the political prestige and technical expertise of professor
Geraldo Carneiro. Dr. Geraldo, veterinarian and zootechnist, was a friend
and neighbor of the governor of Minas Gerais and future president of Brazil,
Juscelino Kubitschek. With those qualifications and contacts he succeeded in
adding up a formula that permitted the preservation of the Original
Marchador Horse, by means of founding a new association.
There are now over 350,000 horses registered in Brazil and several in other
countries where they are becoming known for their versatility being easily
trainable with grace and agility.
The horse is medium sized about 15.2h.h is well proportionate with good.
Conformation and is often grey in colour. The head is shapely with a wide
flat forehead, large expressive dark eyes, a straight nose and alert shapely ears
with the tips slightly turned to the inside; the neck is well set, elegant but
strong; the shoulder is sloping the chest is broad and deep; the withers are well
defined; the back is short and strong; the quarters are firm and round with a thick well
set tail; the limbs are strong and elegant with hard well shaped feet; the mane and
tail are thick and silky; the coat is fine and silky. This horse has an excellent
temperament it is kind, docile, bright and intelligent. It is a good mover
with balanced paces and natural rhythm.
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