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Criollo (Horse)Argentina's native horse may have the best endurance of any horse breed in the world. The breed is most popular in its home country, and is known for its hardiness and stamina. The word criollo means Spanish horse. Breed Characteristics The Criollo is a hardy horse with a brawny and strong body. They have short, strong legs with good bone, resistant joints, short hocks, and sound, hard feet. The long head is small to medium-sized and has a straight or convex profile and wide-set eyes. The croup is sloping and the hauches well-muscled, the back short and compact. They have sloping, strong shoulders with long, muscular necks. The body is deep wih a broad chest and well-sprung ribs. The Criollo is tractable, intelligent, willing, and sensible. The horses usually stand between 14 and 15 hh. Maximum height is 15.25 hands high, with a minimum of 13.75 hh for mares an 14 hh for male horses. They are usually dun in color with a dorsal stripe, but also come in bay, brown, black, and blue or red roan. The breed is famous for their endurance capabilities and ability to live in harsh conditions, as their homeland has both extreme heat and cold weather. They are frugal eaters, thriving on little grass.They have good resistance to disease and are long-lived. Breed History The breed dates back from a shipment of 100 Andalusian stallions and mares to Rio de la Plata imported by Buenos Aires founder, Pedro de Mendoza. The breed was also influenced by the Sorraia and Garrano breeds, and possibly by the Arabian and Barb. In 1540, Indians sacked Buenos Aires and many Spanish horses either escaped or were set loose. Breeding began in the wild, and thus the Criollo developed into an extremely hardy horse able to survive the extreme heat and cold, lack of water, and dry grasses of the area. Settlers later came and captured the horses for riding and for use as pack animals. In the late 19th century, the horses were crossed with European and American stallions to produce a larger, faster, and more refined horse. However, the crossings nearly ruined the breed. The cross-bred animals did not survive the harsh conditions, and in the early 1900s, the Argentine breeders decided to re-establish the original breed by breeding only pure-bred Criollos. The breed society was formed in 1918, and has rigorous endurance tests to select the horses for breeding. The rides over a 465 mile course to be completed in a 75-hour split in 14 days. No extra food rations are allowed: the horses may only eat the grass at the side of the road. At the end of the day, a veterinarian checks the horses. The horses are heavily loaded with up to 245 lbs on its back. Today, the horse is used mainly as a working cow horse, but is also a pleasure horse and has contributed a great deal to the Argentine polo pony (Criollo/Thoroughbred crosses make excellent polo ponies). They are also excellent rodeo and endurance horses. One example of the breed's fantastic endurance was the ride made by the Swedish rider Professor Aime Tschiffely (1894-1954) in 1925. Tschiffely took two Criollos, 16-year-old Mancha and 15-year-old Gato, on a 13,350 mile trek from Buenos Aires to New York, crossing mountains, deserts, and riding in all types of weather. Alternating the riding and packing between the two horses, the trio took three years to finish the trip, but the horses did wonderfully. Gato libed to be 36, Mancha lived to be 40.
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