The fluid action of this beautiful Mangalarga Marchador stallion is unmistakable. Linda Holst
Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America
P.O. Box 770955
Ocala, Florida 34477
www.mmhaa.com
The Mangalarga Marchador is one of the unique breeds of horses in the world. Established for over 180 years in Brazil, Mangalarga Marchador horses are the largest population of horses descending directly from Iberian stock and are considered their national horse breed. Equine professionals have taken note of the Marchador, who fills a need for Americans desiring a larger, naturally gaited horse with a calm temperament. Linda Tellington-Jones, an internationally renowned trainer and clinician known for her “T-touch” methods, enthusiastically states, “One of the great gifts to the horse world is to have the Mangalarga Marchador horse breed introduced at this time for pleasure riders who want an athletic, exotic, magical, yet sensibly personable equine companion. They ride as smooth as a Porsche. With their romantic Iberian heritage, there is no comparison among gaited breeds. This breed is very intelligent and truly a pleasure and joy for all to take part in.”
Sturdy and well suited for any terrain, the Mangalarga Marchador flourishes in any climate, whether tropical or cold. They are easy keepers, resistant to disease, and can travel long distances without fatigue. These qualities contributed to an amazing and legendary feat accomplished from May 1991 to June 1993, when three sixty-plus-year-old Brazilian horsemen rode their Mangalarga Marchadors almost 9,000 miles through varied terrains and altitudes from sea level to 15,000 feet in temperatures ranging from 0 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit to prove the breed’s stamina. It was the longest horseback endurance ride on record. Their accomplishment was recorded in the 1994 Guinness Book of World Records and memorialized by a bronze and marble statue in Brazil.
Mangalarga Marchador horses are bigger than most Peruvians and Paso Finos. Their hind-driven movement is closest to the Peruvian Paso without the termino. Built like a Paso in front and a Quarter Horse in the rear, Mangalarga Marchador horses are solid and sturdy with classic Iberian features. They are surefooted, graceful, intelligent, comfortable to ride, easy to train and have excellent cow sense. Their versatility extends to dressage, cutting, jumping, polo and pleasure riding. They are playful, love people, have docile temperaments and the stallions are unusually easy to handle.
History
In 1751, King D. Joao of Portugal, dedicated to improving the Portuguese national horse breeds, founded the Alter Royal breeding farm, or Coudelaria Alter do Chao, in Portugal. These horses were known as the Alter Royal breed, which was formed from crossing bloodlines of Lusitanos and Spanish Andalusians with selected breeding horses native to the Iberian Peninsula, Madiera, and the Canary Islands. The Alter Royal breed was known for its elegant stature, calm stance, and kind, docile temperament.
In 1808, King Joao and the Royal Family fled with his court to Brazil when Napoleonic armies threatened their homeland. He brought with him his finest Alter Royal stallions and began breeding with Barb mares from Africa and Jennet stallions from Spain that had come with European explorers to Brazil. The Mangalarga Marchador breed as it is known today, was the result of a horse named Sublime being presented as a gift to Gabriel Francisco Junqueira, who was the Baron of Aldenas in 1812, and given by Prince Pedro I, who was later named Emperor of Brazil. The Baron was a famous horse breeder and owner of the established breeding farm Hacienda Campo Alegre, located in the south of the state of Minas Gerais. With the exceptional stallion Sublime, Junqueira began a breeding program utilizing native Barb mares with a blend of Spanish Jennets. The first animals produced were known as the Sublime Horses, a type of horse known for its rhythmic smooth gaits, gentle character, amazing stamina, and characteristic regal bearing.
Gabriel Junqueria had a nephew, Jose Frausino Junqueria, a deer hunter and sportsman who appreciated the new breed’s hardiness and agility on long journeys and became an enthusiastic champion for it. His enthusiasm carried over to a friend and owner of the Mangalarga Farm near Pati do Alferes, Rio de Janeiro. It was not long before the farm bred so many of these horses that the farm name was associated with the breed itself. The horses became known as Mangalarga with the name “Marchador” added to identify the pure, naturally gaited horse. The Mangalarga Marchador horse was classified as a pure breed and later would be easily distinguished from the Mangalarga Paulista breed. (The Mangalarga Paulista is a Brazilian breed created in the 1930s by a group of breeders in the state of Sao Paulo. It was established by crossing the Mangalarga Marchador with an Arabian, Standardbred, or Thoroughbred. A separate registry of Mangalarga Paulista horses was formed in 1934 in Brazil.)
Today, there are hundreds of thousands of registered Mangalarga Marchador horses in Brazil and a number found in several countries outside their Brazilian homeland, including the United States.
Foundation Lines
The traditional breeding of Mangalarga Marchador horses has concentrated on the original pure foundation lines from Hacienda Campo Alegre and famous bloodlines such as Tabatinga, Herdade, Abaiba, Angahy, Favacho, Traituba, and JB. These lines are still in existence today with some of the foundation owner’s families continuing to breed Marchadors on their original colonial plantations.
Primary Brazilian breeders cultivate their selection from traditional breeding farms and blended production to compete in numerous exhibitions and national shows. Likewise, for the United States to establish a brand new breed of horse and provide for the establishment of bloodlines that will support future generations, there must be thorough analysis and research of the bloodlines by the importers and the breed associations, Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America (MMHAA) and the United States Mangalarga Marchador Association (USMMA). A careful selection of imported bloodlines has begun a strong foundation for diversification of the breed in the United States today.
A regal Mangalarga Marchador stallion has the desirable high-set neck. Kay Holloway
Definitive reference information is presented in the book Historias Do Cavalo Mangalarga Marchador by Ricardo Casiuch (Brazil 1997) containing the principle reproduction genealogy and history of the breed. Periodic annuals of the top breeding stock sires and dams with the championship statistics are published by TOP 2000. These books are titled Garanhoes Mangalarga Marchador (primary stallions) and Grandes Femeas Mangalarga Marchador (elite mares), which provide critical breeding references to the bloodline crosses that produced the national champions.
Top desirable primary bloodlines and origins are Tabatinga, Traituba, Abaiba, Herdade, Sama, Santana, Angahy, Bela Cruz, Caxambu, Campo Lindo–JB, and Favacho. They can be found in the U.S. foundation stallions, such as Batuque Do Regal, who is the son of Tiguara Hypus (Herdade Cadillac), one of two original U.S. foundation stallions imported from Brazil in the early 1990s, and Jallaio de Boa Fe (Festa A. J.), who is a full brother to the “Champion of Champions” Camafeu Da Boa Fe in Brazil with both parents among the top ten sires and dams. Jordao Do Passo Fino (Moleque Tabatinga), Ritmo AJ, and Ninja De Sao Joaquim (Abaiba Gim), are also champion stallions and proven sires of champions.
Top producing mares sired by Famous National Champions have been imported to build ancillary bloodlines. Among them are: Gralha M.U.G., sired by syndicated champion stallion Enigma Scala; Brauna Libertas, sired by syndicated champion stallion Dominio Da Joatinga; Luminosa Da Joatinga, whose bloodlines are from Santana Sorriso and Tabatinga Cossaco; Sama Janaina, sired by Grand National Champion Sama Derby; Ibiza Da Boa Fe, sired by Camafeu Da Boa Fe (47 direct and reserve grand championships); Folha da Calciolandia with top picada and Passa Tempo bloodlines; Laponia Trimonte (Tabatinga and Santana); Tapixaba do Vale Vermelho, a top tri-colored pinto; and Mabi do Vale Vermelho with Favacho and Caxambu bloodlines.
Mangalarga Marchador mare and foal. Kay Holloway
Registries
History continues to be written for the Mangalarga Marchador horse breed in the United States. They are regarded as an exotic breed as the first horses were imported from Brazil to Florida in the early 1990s and most people are not familiar with them. The breed had remained in obscurity throughout the decade until it was introduced nationally by the Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America (MMHAA) and additional horses were imported in May of 2001. The MMHAA is the first breed registry to promote and exhibit the Mangalarga Marchador across the nation since its organization in the year 2000. Due to only a small number of horses being exported from their native country of Brazil, Mangalarga Marchador horses have only been added to breed books since 2003.
While there are less than a hundred “foundation” Marchador horses in the United States, they are catching the attention of the horse world. Marketing provided by the Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America has included the breed being featured on Horse Talk (an independent TV show) and a feature presentation on RFD TV. The Association has also sponsored nine horses marching in the 2002 New Year’s Pasadena Rose Parade that was viewed internationally. Since 2000, they have been exhibited at California’s Fiesta of the Spanish Horse in Burbank, Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento, Equine Affaire in Pomona and Massachusetts, EqWest and the Del Mar Nationals in Del Mar, California, Southern National Exposition in Perry, Georgia, Equitana in Lexington, Kentucky, and exhibitions in Oregon. Numerous feature articles in horse publications such as The Gaited Horse, Conquistador, Western Horseman, Horse Illustrated, and Horse and Rider have also focused on the Mangalarga Marchador.
An imported Mangalarga Marchador is identified with the letter “M” inside a horseshoe brand on the right shoulder if it is registered with the Associacao Brasileira dos Criadores do Cavalo Mangalarga Marchador (ABCCMM) in Brazil. The ABCCMM in Brazil holds annual inspection tests for morphology and national competitions. Gait classes are rigorous and normally last about an hour. The horse is judged for how it executes its gait. A judge will often ask to ride a horse that he is evaluating. Important are carriage, brio and elegance with consistent timing over a wide range of speeds. Horses also participate in functional performance testing including reining competitions, cross country events and endurance tests that can cover distances from 31 to 62 miles.
Each authorized imported horse is also registered with the Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America and the United States Mangalarga Marchador Association. The MMHAA is recognized by the American Horse Council and the Brazilian ABCCMM Association (Associacao Brasileira dos Criadores do Cavalo Mangalarga Marchador) and was the founding and original U.S. Mangalarga Marchador breed registration and association. All horses registered with the MMHAA must meet high standards for conformation, natural gait, performance, and temperament.
Breed Standard
The Mangalarga Marchador is considered a medium-built horse that stands strong and well muscled, between 14.2 and 16.2 hands and weighs between 850 and 1,100 pounds. Its coat is fine and silky with a full mane and tail. The dominant color is gray ranging from almost black to pure white. Other common colors, such as bay, chestnut, and less common, palomino, buckskin, and spotted, can be found along with an exotic burgundy that is peculiar to the breed.
The head of the Mangalarga Marchador is triangular (not concave), with a large flat forehead tapering to a small fine muzzle. It has a straight profile and large dark eyes, which are set wide apart and are extremely vivacious, typical of the Barb horse. The ears are proportional to the head, mobile, parallel, well set and erect with the tips turned inward. The horse has an alert, attentive attitude and upright ears that echo the firm look in the eyes that profess an aptitude equal to any difficult obstacle encountered along the way. The mouth is of medium width and sensitive to the bit. The nostrils are large, dilated, and flexible.
The neck is of medium length, sufficient for the horse to be well balanced for riding and reining. It is pyramidal in shape, light in its general appearance, proportional, oblique, and of strong musculature. It presents flexibility and balance, being harmoniously inserted into the top third of the chest to allow for a proud, high carriage. It is well arched with a possible slight convexity of the dorsal edge. It carries a thin, fine, silky mane.
The withers are well defined and long, offering good direction to the dorsal profile of the neck. The chest is deep, large, muscular, and not overly protrusive. The thorax is deep and allows for great lung capacity, which is one of the reasons for the legendary stamina of the breed. Ribs are long and well arched. The spine is of medium length, straight, well muscled, proportional, and harmoniously joined to the withers and loins. Loins are short, straight, proportional, harmoniously linked to the spine, rump and/or croup, and covered by a strong muscular mass. If the distance from the back to the loins is of less or equal distance to the length of the croup, it is a sign that the horse possesses excellent conformation.
The croup is long, symmetrical, muscular, proportional, and slightly inclined, with a very slightly outstanding sacral bone. It is of a height not superior to that of the withers. The tail is set at a medium height insertion, well planted, with a short base directed downward, and preferably with the tail point slightly turned upward when the animal is in movement. The dock is lightly raised when the animal moves. Tail hair is fine and silky.
Anterior Extremities
The shoulder blades are long, wide, oblique, and muscled with a well delineated implantation, demonstrating a wide range of movement. Arms and forearms are long, well muscled, and well articulated and oblique. The forearms are also straight and vertical. The elbows are wide, well articulated and vertical, equal in direction to the forearm. The shins are straight, short, lean and vertical with strong and well outlined tendons. Hocks are well defined and well articulated. The cannons are of medium length, strong, oblique, and well articulated. The hooves on both front and back are medium sized, solid, dark, and rounded. In Brazil, unless the horse is worked hard every day, it is kept barefoot with only an occasional hoof trim required as it has very thick and tough feet.
Posterior Extremities
The hindquarters are muscular and well implanted, looking similar to a Quarter Horse. Gaskins are strong, long, well articulated, and well positioned. Cannons are lean, firm, well articulated, and well positioned. Pasterns are straight, short, lean, and vertical with strong tendons and well delineated. Coronets are of medium length, strong, oblique, and well articulated. Positioning of both anterior and posterior extremities is correct. The pasterns and hooves are at the slightly lower angle typical of many Spanish horse breeds. This allows the rear legs of the Marchador to overreach without excessive stress to suspensory ligaments because of the triple hoof support of their natural gait.
Evaluation of Movement and Gait
This breed is uniquely different than other four-beat gaited Spanish horses. The Mangalarga Marchador has three of the standard gaits of an non-gaited horse (walk, canter, gallop) and exhibits one or two unique gaits referred to as Picada or Batida that are like the trot. These traits are consistently passed genetically on to offspring.
The walk is a four beat gait with equal integrals between the beats; it is slow, with alternating support between the diagonal and the lateral bipeds always interspersed with triple hoof support. Ideally it must be regular, elastic, and balanced with advance movement tending to the diagonal. There is slight movement of the neck with good flexibility of the joints.
The gallop is a rapid movement of medium speed, asymmetrical, executed in three beats with a sequence of support beginning with the posterior extremity, followed by the collateral diagonal biped (with simultaneous support), and is completed with the opposed anterior extremity. Ideally regular (just with good impulsion and balance), it is executed with crisply neat times of suspension, discreet bascule movement of the neck, and good flexibility of the joints.
The marcha is a marching movement unique to the Mangalarga Marchador that replaces the trot (two diagonal hooves on the ground while two are in the air) of non-gaited breeds. It is symmetrical and performed in a four-beat gait of medium speed with alternating support of lateral and diagonal bipeds with good flexibility of the joints and always is interspersed with solid triple hoof support. Ideally it must be regular, elastic, balanced, with forward movement in a diagonal direction, and with discreet (not exaggerated) movement of the anterior extremities defining a semi-circle when seen from the side.
Support, or the definitive, measurable and consistent presence of triple hoof support between movements, is imperative. Yield, or the ability to cover ground with less movement, is desirable. Attitude, or the position of a semi rigid neck with movement of just the trunk and extremities along with aligned and balanced positioning of the loins, shoulder blades and rump, is desirable. Ideally, a horse in proper attitude should maintain its head at about 90 degrees to the neck, which in turn should be obliquely positioned, forming a 45 degree angle relative to the ground.
The noble Mangalarga Marchador has large eyes, tipped ears, and a refined muzzle. Kay Holloway
Style refers to the appearance of elegance, grace, and nobility the horse should maintain while engaged in the marcha. Balance, obviously is desirable while gaiting and addresses the stability of the horse. Consistency during the marcha is important, providing comfort and developing a definable rhythm or beat.
In addition to the walk, canter, and gallop, there are two long reaching, four-beat gaits. While there are similarities with other gaited breeds, it’s the four-beat extended reach in front with propelling action from behind stabilized by nano-second, triple hoof support that makes this breed so different. This is the only horse breed in the world that can perform on a lateral and diagonal, making it a joy to work with and a pleasure to ride:
Marcha Picada is a four-beat gait characterized by lateral leg movements with the sequence of the hooves being: right rear, right front, left rear, left front—the hind foot touching the ground a fraction of a second before the front foot. The continuous triple hoof support and the overreach of the hind hoof make the gait very smooth. (This differs from the pace, which is an exclusively lateral movement to the limbs where the two legs on the same side [foreleg and hind leg] go up at the same time as the other side goes down, resulting in only half of the horse’s body mass being set on the ground at each time of movement.) At extended picada speed, the head and body lift up like a speedboat in front to create a plane-like sensation that makes the rider feel like he isn’t moving. This gait can be likened to the Paso Fino’s largo gait or the Peruvian Paso’s paso llano without the swinging of the front legs called termino and can be sustained for long periods of time.
Marcha Batida is performed when legs are moving in a diagonal four-beat sequence with moments of triple hoof support. Although in some ways similar, this gait differs from the trot (when there is a brief moment of all the legs suspended in the air) as this horse is always in contact with the ground. The longer and more frequent the moments of triple hoof support, the more comfortable is the gait. The three hooves touching the ground simultaneously is the characteristic picture of these “marching” horses. The horse makes a forward semicircle (not outward as the Peruvian Paso) with the front legs and uses the rear legs as leverage, thus propelling the horse forward. If the horse is marching on level ground at a normal rhythm, the tracks of the two hind feet will cover or pass slightly (overreach) beyond the tracks of the front feet. In movement, the horse executes an alternation of diagonal and lateral supports, which are always softened by an intermediate pause of triple support. It can also be compared to the Columbian Paso Fino’s troche and the Missouri Fox Trotter’s namesake gait.
Credit: Mangalarga Marchador Horse Association of America and Linda Holst, Rancho Linda Marchadores