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| Mangalarga Stallion |
In Brazil there are two distinct breeds of Mangalarga, the Mangalarga Marchador and the Mangalarga Paulista. In Equine Ranch, these two are classified as one breed, the Mangalarga.
The Mangalarga is a horse breed that was originally developed in Brazil by Francisco Gabriel Junqueira, the Baron of Alfenas, when he began breeding Alter Real stallions from Portugal with local colonial mares on his lands in Baependi County at Minas Gerais State.
In 1812, when the Junqueira family moved to São Paulo state, the topography, the forest, the local culture and the different species of deer to hunt, forced them to seek for a horse with different characteristics, by the selection or crossing, and so they started to breed the Mangalarga horse with Thoroughbred, Arabian, and American Saddlebred stallions plus a Saddlebred mare and one Lusitano stallion. As the breed's popularity spread, breeders concentrated on developing different gaits within the breed without loss of the comfort and agility .
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| Mangalarga Mare and Newborn Foal |
The horse has a slightly long head but alert eyes and ears. A long muscular neck, prominent withers, a short, strong back, well-muscled hindquarters, and a high set tail gives this breed a fine appearance. It is found in all coat colors with gray being most common. Their common height is between 14.2-15.2 hands high. Another characteristic of the Mangalarga breed is its alert and attentive attitude. Always an active horse, in movement it has a clear-footed stride, with upright ears and a firm look in the eyes equal to any obstacle encountered along the way.
The sturdiness of this breed can easily be noted as one observes its great adaptability to any type of adverse terrain or climate, be it tropical, temperate or cold. Its endurance is demonstrated by its capacity for traveling long distances without fatigue. The Mangalarga is not a demanding feeder, surviving well on a regime of either partial stabling or open field which, for the owner means low cost and freedom from the usual problems caused by diversity of pasture. It is also quite resistant to disease and parasites.
Gaits:
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| "Marcha" |
The gait of the Mangalarga is fast and smooth, with a natural amble, known as a "march". with the feet moving alternately laterally and diagonally. Due to this, there are moments of triple support, or three hooves on the ground. The marcha batida is a movement when the feet are placed diagonally, while the marcha picada is when the feet are moved laterally and separately. The word picada in Portuguese means "light touch", and this gait is usually the smoother of the two, because the broken pace movement creates little vertical momentum. The picada is similar to the paso llano of the Peruvian Paso breed. The word batida means "to hit", and is similar to the trocha gait performed by the Paso Fino.
On level ground, when marching at a normal pace, the horse will overstep slightly; in other words, the tracks of the hind feet will cover or slightly pass the tracks of the front feet. The marcha is said by breed aficionados to be very comfortable to ride. The breed does not trot or pace, but instead moves from the marching gait straight into a canter.
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