Mangalarga Horse

Mangalarga Horse

The Mangalarga Horse has been bred to be a working horse. These horses are smart and quick. At the same time, they also focus perfectly on the job at hand and are sensible. The Mangalarga Horse is also known as the Marchador and Mangalarga Marchador. This horse breed possesses two special gaits. These gaits are-marcha picada and marcha batida. Both of them are four-beat gaits and present moments of triple hoof support.

History of Mangalarga Horse

Portugal was invaded by Napoleon in the 7th year of the 19th century. He forced the Portuguese Royal Family to run away to the Portuguese colony of Brazil. The best horses from the Royal Alter Stud Farm were taken with them. Napoleon wanted horses for his army. Somehow, a stallion went to the Baron of Alfenas who was the owner of the breeding farm in Brazil. This stallion was made to breed with local gaited mares of Spanish Jennet and Barb blood. The result was an offspring with a gait of smooth rhythm.

For more than 200 years, every descendant of Iberian imported stock was bred selectively in Brazil. The first breed association was formed in Brazil in 1949. The association aimed the promotion the breed. When Brazilian families moved to Florida in the early part of the ninth decade of the past century, the Mangalarga Horses entered the US. During 2001-2006 more horses were imported. US Mangalarga Marchador Association (USMMA) was established in 2005 to provide a registry and to guarantee the quality of the breed.

Physique of Mangalarga Horse

The head of the Mangalarga Horse is rather long and alert with intelligent eyes. Its nostrils are quite open, big, and flexible. It has strong and sloping shoulders and prominent withers, short back with strong loins. It has powerful and rounded hindquarters with a tail low set on. The legs of this horse are long with good bones. Overall, this is a lighter-framed horse than the Criollo as it is less stocky in the body and longer in the cannon bones and pasterns

Height of Mangalarga Horse

The height of the Mangalarga Horse is between 14.2 and 16 hands high with most horses at an average of 15 hands high.

Body Color of Mangalarga Horse

The Mangalarga Horse is bay, chestnut, gray, black, palominos, duns, pintos, or roan in color. Among them, gray is the most prominent.

The temperament of Mangalarga Horse

The Mangalarga Horse is calm and energetic.

Uses of Mangalarga Horse

The Mangalarga Horse is excellent under saddle. It is widely used for riding and stockwork. In North America, the Mangalarga Horse is widely in use as a ranch ‘cow’ horse and also as a track horse. It is competing or training in stamina and is suitable for long-distance riding, reining, dressage, extreme trail classes, team penning, eventing, mounted shooting, and mounted archery.

The Mangalarga Horse breed is hundreds of years old and is the product of Andalusian and Portuguese Alter stallions used on Criollo mares. The result is a riding horse of some elegance. In some instances, it has an unusual gait which is a comfortable rocking movement between a trot and a canter. Mangalarga Horse of Albino, crenelles, or purlins color is not permissible to be registered.

See more: Libyan Barb Horse