In 1807, when Pedro IV of Portugal migrated to Brazil due to Napoleon’s invasion and became Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, he brought with him the best of the royal cavalry. These horses were the Alter Real—an Iberian breed closely related to Lusitanos and Andalusians that were reserved for royalty.

Alter Real stallions were crossed with local Brazilian mares to create the Mangalarga Marchador. Known for being docile, intelligent, and extremely comfortable to ride, the breed grew quickly in popularity.

There are over 700,000 Mangalarga Marchadors in Brazil today. In 1992, a Brazilian family moved to Florida and brought their beloved Mangalarga Marchador with them. Today, the U.S. Mangalarga Marchador Association works to preserve the breed in the United States and currently has 425 registered horses.

Special Gaits

The marcha gait is when the feet move alternately laterally and diagonally. The marcha picada gait has more lateral movements in a step, and is generally considered the smoothest of the gaits. The marcha batida has more diagonal movements in a step and is described as a broken trot.

Another, not-yet-recognized gait may occur, called the marcha de centro, where lateral and diagonal movement happens equally. In all these gaits, one foot is always touching the ground, so the horse is never suspended off the ground like in the trot or pace, creating a more comfortable and secure feeling for the rider.

A Noble Steed

“I had been told that Mangalarga Marchadors were very smart, but I didn’t believe it until I owned one for myself,” says Randy Gassett of Phoenix, Ariz.

Gassett had a business deal with a friend that breeds Mangalarga Marchadors, making her part owner of an unborn foal. When that foal ended up being a colt, not a filly, the plan was to sell him. But Gassett knew the colt wasn’t going anywhere once he got to her ranch.

“I fell in love with the colt and knew he was going to be as nice or nicer than my Fox Trotter,” Gassett shares. “So, I bought out my friend’s share, and Nobre do Summerwind [nobre is Portuguese for ‘noble’] was mine. He is the only Mangalarga Marchador that I have owned and is an exceptional horse!”

Now 5, Nobre is 15.2 hands and performs the marcha batida as well as the walk and canter. Gassett trained Nobre herself, competing him in in-hand trail competitions as a yearling.

“He has such a wonderful temperament, loves people, is curious and full of play, and has never tried to buck or rear while under saddle,” she says.

Now that he is older, Nobre competes in dressage and working equitation. They have qualified for the Working Equitation Zone Championship in Missoula in 2023, finishing 5th in level two.

He has many champion and reserve champion titles at both schooling and rated shows, and is now competing at level three. Gassett says Nobre has the smoothest canter she has ever ridden.

Plenty of Charisma

Carolina Peterson, who lives in Friday Harbor, Wash., has known the Marchador breed since childhood, having grown up in Brazil. She owns two geldings, Tigre do Summerwind and Kharisma do Summerwind. Tigre performs the marcha picada and is a fantastic trail horse that also does working equitation. Kharisma performs the marcha batida, and aside from trail, excels in eventing.

“Kharisma came to San Juan Island, Wash., and started his development with eventing trainer Servando Garcia, who soon introduced Kharisma to jumping,” says Peterson. “It’s easy to say it was ‘love at first sight.’ Kharisma loves to jump, loves the challenge, and trusts his rider. He is still young, but should have a great career in eventing or whatever job he chooses to do.”

While a gaited horse in eventing could normally be a challenge, Peterson says Kharisma shines.

“He has successfully competed at Novice level, quite a challenge for a gaited horse, but with Servando’s endless efforts and Kharisma’s willingness to work, he is moving toward being successful at a higher level,” she says. “Kharisma is the only Marchador participating in eventing competitions in the U.S.”

Peterson explains that dressage is difficult for gaited horses, but Kharisma is taking that on too.

“We believe quality, ambitious and well-trained Mangalarga Marchadors will perform well in any job,” she says. “Tigre and Kharisma are kind, docile, coachable and intelligent horses with big personalities.”

This article about the Mangalarga Marchador breed appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Breed Portrait: Mangalarga Marchador appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

That now-extinct horse from Spain, called the Jennet, was known to be compact in size and “easily gaited,” meaning it had special smooth gaits instead of just the usual walk, trot and canter. The Spaniards favored this breed and used it as their preferred light cavalry horse.

Historians believe the Jennet was the mount the Spaniards brought with them when they began colonizing Venezuela. The breed eventually spread throughout South America and became the ancestor of four of the continent’s most well-known breeds.

Paso Fino

The Paso Fino has its roots in the country of Colombia, where it was developed in the 1500s from horses brought to the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Jamaica by the Spanish conquerors. Christopher Columbus helped establish a breeding program on these islands with the goal of supplying the Spanish soldiers with horses. These carefully bred horses were then brought to both Puerto Rico and Colombia.

The genes of the Jennet gave the early Paso Finos a smooth gait. Crossings with Barbs and Andalusians added a very distinct look. Two different varieties emerged as a result of the breed’s geographical separation: a Colombian type and a Puerto Rican type. Both were bred in South America and on various islands.

In the early 1950s, members of the U.S. armed forces stationed in the West Indies began to bring Paso Finos home with them. By the 1970’s, importing Paso Finos from Colombia became popular with American horse lovers. As a result, many of the Paso Fino horses living in the U.S. today have Colombian bloodlines.

Today, the breed is treasured as a show and trail horse because of its distinct, four-beat gaits: the classic fino, the paso corto, and the paso largo. Each is progressively faster and is easy to ride.

The Mangalarga Marchador

The Mangalarga Marchador is a South American breed whose history traces back to John VI, a King of Portugal. In 1807, John VI fled his native country to avoid capture by Napoleon, escaping to Brazil. Along with his family, he brought several of his horses with him.

Known as Royal Alter horses, these horses carried the blood of Andalusians and other equines native to the Iberian Peninsula, and the Madiera and Canary Islands. Developed exclusively for the king, Royal Alters were known for their elegant stature and quiet temperament.

Once in Brazil, John VI bred his Royal Alter stallions with Barb mares that had been imported from Africa. One of the results of these crossings was a stallion named Sublime, who was owned by Prince Pedro I, the future emperor of Brazil and owner of the Hacienda Camp Alegre Farm, a respected breeding operation. Pedro I crossed Sublime with Barb and Jennet mares. The resulting horses were dubbed Sublime Horses, and became known for their speed, smooth gaits and incredible stamina.

When Mangalarga Farm, a Brazilian horse breeding facility, purchased Sublime Horses and began producing them in large numbers, the breed underwent a change of name. In the 1930s, “Marchador” was added to distinguish the horse from a related breed known as the Mangalarga Paulista, which was created by crossing the Mangalarga with Thoroughbreds, Arabians and Standardbreds.

The Mangalarga Marchador is the National Horse of Brazil, but it was relatively unknown in the U.S. until the late 1990s. In 2000, the Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America was formed, and horses of this breed were imported in some numbers. A marketing campaign helped bring the breed to the awareness of American horse lovers.

Marchadors are born with the ability to perform the marcha picada and the marcha batida, both four-beat gaits.

The Peruvian Horse

In the 1600s, Spain was still trying to establish complete control of the South American continent, and was fighting battles on many fronts. A shortage of horses resulted at a time when it was difficult to import more horses from the mother country. The horses already in Peru became isolated and bred only with each other over a period of years. These horses ultimately became the foundation stock for today’s Peruvian Horse, which is sometimes called the Peruvian Paso.

South American horseman of the time realized the value of this newly developed Peruvian Horse and began to deliberately breed them to emphasize certain characteristics, including the smoothest possible gaits. Land owners in Peru needed a horse they could comfortably ride for many miles as they surveyed their vast haciendas. The Peruvian Horse became the mount of choice for many of these wealthy land owners.

Today, the Peruvian Horse has grown beyond the borders of its native country and has become well-known in the U.S. The breed was first brought here in the 1960s, and the North American Peruvian Horse Association now has 25,389 registered horses.

Purebred Peruvian Horses are born with a natural ability to gait. The paso llano and sobreandando are two four-beat gaits that give the rider the experience of floating on air. The paso llano is the slower and more comfortable of the two, while the sobreandando has the same the footfalls but is a faster gait.

The Criollo

A Spaniard named Don Pedro Mendoza founded the Argentinian city of Buenos Aires in the 1500s. Mendoza owned Spanish, Barb and Portuguese horses, and when the city was set ablaze during a conflict with indigenous warriors, horses escaped into the Argentine pampas. The descendants of these escaped horses lived wild on the plains for four centuries. Because of their isolation in this rugged country, they became a distinct breed called the Criollo, known for being exceptionally hardy.

In the 19th century, South American cowboys—known as gauchos—tamed the wild Criollo horses and taught them to work with cattle. The breed remained fairly pure until the end of the century, when European and North American stallions were brought to the region.

In the early 1900s, breeders began working to save the Criollo breed from being wiped out through crossbreeding. In 1918, the Criollo was accepted into the Argentine Rural Society studbook.

Criollos are known for their exceptional endurance. The breed is popular in endurance competitions in South America, which sometimes include rides that last up to two weeks and require the horse to carry a certain amount of weight, all the while living only off the grass that grows along the route.

Individual Criollos can be found in North America, although no U.S. association for the breed currently exists. Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Germany and Italy all have registries for the breed.

This article breeds of South America appeared in the January 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Horses of South America appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.