Mangalarga Marchador

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The Brazilian Paso or the Mangalarga Marchador

A horse without frontiers

By Claudia Harris

A horse without frontiers with over 200,000 registries in Brazil the Mangalarga Marchador is one of the most popular and widespread horse in South America. It was developed by Gabriel Francisco Junquiera who, in 1822, was given the Foundation Sire "Sublime", an Alter Real Stallion from Portugal. Sublime was bred to native mares of Spanish Jennet and Barb blood. The first offspring were called Sublime horses. The most important client of Senior Junqueria were the owners of the Mangalarga Farm in the state of Rio de Janeiro who acquired breeding stock and awakened interest among local ranchers.

The horses smooth, cadenced and rhythmic gait, the marcha, contributed to the second name the Mangalarga Marchador was created. The first association for the Mangalarga Marchador horse was founded in 1949 to set standards in confirmation, disposition, and gait.

The horse stands between 14.2 and 16 hands, weighing around 1,000 pounds. Most colors are represented in the breed, predominant are greys, bays, and chestnuts. As all Spanish horse breeds the Mangalarga Marchador is intelligent, regal and docile with an undying stamina. Rigorous tests including cross country, endurance, reining, and gait classed insure the breeding of excellent stock. Natural gaits are the walk, the marchs, and the canter. There are two different marcha types. Which one is superior is subject to personal preference.

The Marcha Picada is a lateral four beat gait with moments of triple hoove support, as also found in the Paso Fino gait, the Paso Corto or the Paso Largo. The Marcha Batida is a diagonal four beat gait also showing moments of triple hoove support, like the Trocha in the Paso Fino breed.

Breed Characteristics

Mangalarga Marchador

The Mangalarga Marchador is of good size with an average height of over 15 hands and weighing 900 to 1100 pounds. Horses smaller than 14.2 hands are not being accepted for registration. Most colors are represented in the breed with grays, bays and chestnuts being the most popular. The horses are well known for their keen intelligence, docile nature, undying stamina and regal bearing, but most of all, for their incredibly smooth and fluid ride even at high speeds. The head is triangular in shape with a straight profile and rounded over the nose region, typical of the Barb horse. The coat is fine and silky and the mane and tail are full. The neck is of medium length, sufficient for the horse to be well balanced for riding and reining. It is well arched and muscular, inserted in the top third of the chest to allow for a proud, high carriage. The thorax is deep and allows for great lung capacity, one of the reasons for the legendary stamina of the breed. The back is of medium length with short and well muscled loins. The gaskin and forearm tend to be long, well muscled and articulated and the cannons are short. The pasterns and hooves are at the slightly lower angle typical of Spanish horses. This allows him to overreach well and without excessive stress to his suspensories.

Gaits
The Mangalarga Marchador has two special gaits or marchas, the marcha picada and the marcha batida. Which gait is superior is always subject to debate and it seems to boil down to the personal preference of the individual breeder. In Portuguese, picada stands for a light touch and of the two marchas, the marcha picada is a bit smoother. It is a broken pace and therefore creates little vertical movement. This gait is characterized by the movement of the animal's legs in a lateral sequence, with periods of triple hooves support.

The principal advantage of this lateral four beat gait is its greater smoothness resulting from the periods of triple hooves support and from the overreach. The gait can be sustained for long periods of time, allowing the rider hours of enjoyable riding with little discomfort. The timing of foot falls is similar to the paso llano of the Peruvian Paso Horse. Batida means to hit and describes the gait considered to be a broken trot. It is characterized by the movements of the legs in a diagonal pattern, also with moments of triple support and a four beat sequence. This gait, unlike a trot, shows very little suspension (all the legs in the air) as the horses are always in contact with the ground. This creates stability and smoothness. The longer and more frequent the moments of triple hooves support are, the more comfortable the gait will be. On flat ground, performing the batida at a normal speed, the hind foot overreaches the track of the forefoot on the same side, adding to the smoothness of the ride. In this gait the timing of the footfalls is similar to the trocha gait seen in Colombian Horses.

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The Brazilian Paso or the Mangalarga Marchador

Last modified: 11/07/05