The Origins and
Evolution of the Lusitano
The attached is a résumé of a long history that unfolds
itself over a period of more than four thousand years. Knowing it
will avoid the repetition of many past mistakes. There is nothing
to innovate on a several thousand-year-old race, but a lot to
preserve. The race alone by itself, if properly bred will take
care of its own evolution.
Cavalry's introduction as a war weapon in the Iberic Peninsula
- which is modern-day Spain and Portugal or Iberia - dates back to
the second millennium BC - much older than all that was recorded
by historians of the rest of the Ancient World on this subject.
There is no evidence of the use of mounted horses in Antiquity,
the iconography of Egypt and Babylon showing only chariots and
carts.
The domesticated horse existed in Iberia even before the
Neolithic period. Archeological findings, such as the tomb of
ancient warriors in the South of the Peninsula, prove that cavalry
battles happened during the Bronze Age and that infantrymen
carried halberds - a weapon used to dismount the enemy in open
combat.
Homer in the Iliad, Chap XVI, refers to the Iberian horses,
fast as the wind and sons of Podargo, the harpy that was
impregnated by the wind Zephyr while grazing at the borders of the
River Oceanus - in modern terms, the Atlantic.
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"The description of the Punic Wars by Strabo is full of
references to the eximious Lusitanian riders who could
easily climb escarpments where no other mounted armies would
dare to try." |
Iron pieces such as bits, horseshoes and weapons, dating back
to the Celtic invasion in X and V Centuries BC indicate the
continuous use of cavalry in the Iberic Peninsula. Thucydides and
Xenophon wrote about the Iberian Horsemen sent by Dyonisius of
Syracuse to help the Spartans during the Peloponnesean Wars in IV
BC.
In the invasion of Spain during II BC the Carthaginians
suffered heavy losses inflicted by the Iberian Cavalry. Hannibal's
father, Hamilcar, died in this campaign. When the former departed
from Spain to invade Italy he took with him some 12,000 horses.
The description of the Punic Wars by Strabo is full of references
to the eximious Lusitanian riders, who could easily climb
escarpments where no other mounted armies would dare to try.
Hasdrubal, Hannibal's brother, took Iberian horses with him from
Spain to Carthage.
The horse that first appeared in America and later became
extinct made his return with Columbus, in his second voyage to the
New World in 1493. From Hispaniola (Sto. Domingo) the equines
gained the neighboring islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica
and from there reached the continent in Central America.
Originating in Central America, two independent migration waves
took place: one southwards to Columbia and then Peru, Chile and
Bolivia; the other northwards, enlarged by late comers that
arrived in Mexico with Cortez, entered the west of the USA.
In South America, a group of horses arrived in Buenos Aires in
1535 with Pedro Mendoza. Following the destruction of the
Argentine capital by the Indians, a large group of horses escaped
to become the future feral basis of many herds of Cimarrones or
Baguales, which later formed the ancestral herds of the Crioulos.
In 1541, Cabeza de Vaca landed with several horses on the
Brazilian coast at Sta. Catarina on his way to Paraguay. All the
horse breeds formed on the North and South American Continents -
such as the Mustangs, Quarter Horses, Appaloosas, Seminolas,
Cayuses, Crioulos, Mangalargas, Campolinas etc. - are direct or
indirect descendants of the Iberians.
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"All the horse breeds formed on the North and South American
Continents, such as the Mustangs, Quarter Horses, Appaloosas,
Seminolas, Cayuses, Crioulos, Mangalargas, Campolinas etc.
are direct of indirect descendants of the Iberians." |
Polybius and Livy, both tell us how the Iberian Horses were
terrible opponents for the Roman Legions during the wars that
lasted for more than 200 years. "…the Romans never excelled in the
use of their cavalry always surpassed by the Iberians," explains
Dr Jose Monteiro in his book O Cavalo Lusitano: "The combat
tactics and riding style of the Peninsula (gineta) were learned
and adopted by the Romans and a Lusitanian named Caius Apuleius
Diocles became very famous as a horseman in the III century AD
being honored with a statue in the Fields of Mars in Rome."
According to Dr Ruy d'Andrade, a writer and the 'father' of the
Andrade lineage, the equestrian statues of Balbo, Caligula -
mounted on Incitatus - and later Marcus Aurelius - who was born in
Spain - are clear evidence of the widespread use of Iberian horses
by the Romans.
The Barbarians who invaded Iberia in 409 AD did not suppress
the Roman civilization they found in place and horse breeding
continued as before. Isidore wrote in the "Laudes Hispanie" that
the Iberian Horses were the best in the world.
Rome, Carthage and all other invaders came with a variety of
different horse breeds from Italy, Libya, Numidia and Mauritania
among many others. But, as pointed out by Ruy d'Andrade in his
book Alrededor del Caballo Espanol "…the peaceful and restful
atmosphere that prevailed in Iberia since the year 100 BC until
approximately 600 AD, plus the 250 years or so of Gothic
domination (450 to 700 AD) form a time span of more than 800 years,
more than enough for the fixation of a local breed perfectly
adapted to the environment."
Historians discuss the Arab invasion of the VII century in
contradictory terms. Dr Jose Monteiro explains: "…the Moslem
invasion of the Peninsula was carried out with the deployment of a
very small cavalry exclusively formed by Berber horses…some
disagree putting the numbers at 17,000; others up to 30,000."
During the long period of Moorish domination lasting from 711
to 1492 AD, foreign blood was introduced with the horses brought
in from North Africa. However, because the Berber and the Iberian
are very closely related, this wave of foreign blood was easily
absorbed without impact upon the indigenous homogenous racial type
of the Peninsula. We know by the numerous testimonies of that
period that the Iberian horse fascinated the invaders who were a
horse loving people like the Iberians. It is also clear that not
only did the breeding of the Iberian Horse continue to prosper but
more than that, many excellent animals were then exported to
Africa and the Middle East. The Middle Ages was also a period of
prestige for the Iberian Horse and they were used during the
Crusades by many famous warriors such as Richard the Lion Heart
(1119 AD).
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"Europe of the Middle Ages considered the Iberian Horse as
the thoroughly noble blood horse and for that reason it was
exported to all the parts of the continent to produce
lighter fighting horses," writes Ruy d'Andrade. |
In the Renaissance the Iberian Horses were known under the
denomination of Ginnetes or Villani and were probably the result
of crosses with other breeds from Germany, France and Flanders.
This search for a sturdier and taller horse grew during the reigns
of the Spanish monarchs Charles V, Philip II and Philip III and
was responsible for the introduction of the Neapolitan Horse.
During the XVII and XVIII centuries it was necessary to breed a
stronger bigger horse, capable of carrying man in armor. From 1700
onwards with the improvement of the roads in Europe came the rapid
development of carriages and carts as a preferred way of
transportation.
The differentiation between the Lusitano and the Spanish horses
began in the XVII century as explained by Jose Tello Barradas. "Among
the many factors that caused the differences that exist today
between the Lusitanian and the Andalusian races, I believe that
the most important one was the introduction and absolute
preponderance of the bullfighting on foot in Spain at the
beginning of the XVIII century…"
Arsenio Raposo Cordeiro further describes this fact in the
following passage from his book Cavalo Lusitano:
"The end of the bullfight on horseback in Spain forced the
introduction of a new selection process in horse breeding…which
became focused on the selection of a sporting horse with elevated
and exuberant movements. In Portugal however, where bullfighting
on horseback continues to be the only accepted form, a more
cautious selection was practiced to produce a specialized fighting
horse, that combines muscular force with progressive movements,
making possible the sudden sprints and abrupt stops…"
In the XIX century the development of Postal Services, the
improvement of the roads and finally the railroads brought the
relative decline of the saddle horse. The process was accelerated
in the XX century, particularly during World War I (1914/18) with
the increased use of the automobile and the disastrous
introduction of Arabian and Thoroughbred bloods in the military
services and breeding programs. "The Iberian Horses, even in the
Peninsula itself, were the victims of these fashion trends from
which only a handful of traditional and wise breeders escaped
unscathed," wrote Dr Ruy d'Andrade.
The long several thousand year history of the Iberian Horse
shows that this powerful race survived all these accidents and
trends. No matter how extensive or how bad the incursions of other
bloods or fashions, there is today, everywhere, a renewed interest
and strong demand for these fabulous animals resulting in a steep
increase in their market value.
A few thousand inferior horses introduced by the barbarian
invasions could not alter the essential qualities of a population
of over half a million horses that already lived in the Peninsula.
For the same reasons the arrival of Arabian blood in the VII
century and the later presence of northern races in the XIX and XX
centuries did not have a lasting effect upon the Iberian races.
The colonization of America has shown that large herds living at
large in nature end up returning to the original type and in this
process, "the spurious disappears expelled by the inadaptability"
(Ruy d'Andrade),
The Iberian Horse has thus survived as a pure breed,
notwithstanding the differences in size, type and utilization in
the many regions of Portugal and Spain. In 1967 the Portuguese
Stud Book (Livro Genealogico Portugues de Equinos) was officially
introduced under the responsibility of the Portuguese Association
of Lusitano Horse Breeders (Associação Portuguesa de Criadores do
Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano - APSL).
The Iberian Horse in Brazil
In 1991 the Brazilian Lusitano Horse Breeders Association -
ABPSL, that succeeded the Andalusian Association after the
separation of the Lusitano and Spanish Stud Books - signed an
agreement with the Portuguese Lusitano Breeders Association.
According to this, all Lusitanos bred in Brazil are automatically
accepted by the Portuguese Stud Book and by all the Associations
of all the countries that have a similar agreement with Portugal.
The Brazilian Lusitanos are then universally accepted.
All the Brazilian horse breeds were formed from horses brought
by the Portuguese colonizers and from those that entered South
America following the migration wave started in Central America
and described in the previous chapter. In Brazil the Iberian horse
formed the Mangalarga and the Campolina breeds.
...The Mangalarga was bred in Minas Gerais by Gabriel Francisco
Junqueira, baron of Alfenas. In 1821 King D. João VI gave
Junqueira a present in the form of the Alter Real Stallion Sublime
and the Baron used it to cover a group of Crioulo mares.
... The Campolina dates back to 1840 and is named after the
farmer Cassiano Campolina who initiated his horse breeding
activities in the South of Minas Gerais using stallions imported
by the same D. João VI for the Coudelaria Real of Cachoeira do
Campo.
...Little is known about the Lusitano horse in Brazil after its
royal introduction last century. It was only in 1974 that it
reappeared, brought from Portugal by Mr Antonio de Toledo Mendes
Pereira founder of the Brazilian Andalusian Horse Association.
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More important than quantity is the quality of the Brazilian
breed, which is inferior to none. This exceptional result
was obtained with the acquisition of some of the best
animals from Portugal and the high technical development of
horse breeding in Brazil. |
...In June 1995 the Brazilian Association had 163 members. By
the end of 1995 the Brazilian Stud Book had about 3,500 Pure
Lusitanos registered, two thirds of them born in Brazil. There are
now more Lusitanos in Brazil than anywhere else in the world. More
important than quantity is the quality of the Brazilian breed,
which is inferior to none. This exceptional result was obtained
with the acquisition of some of the best animals from Portugal and
the high technical development of horse breeding in Brazil.
