Horses

A hardy endurance breed, the Argentine Criollo is the ?native horse of Argentina and descends from the horses of the Iberian conquest.

Spanish and Portuguese exploration parties took only the hardiest horses to South America, and only the toughest survived these low water/fodder voyages. During long battles with the local Indians, many horses escaped, were turned loose or captured.

When parties went to explore and conquer South America, horses were shipped to the river Plate from Iberia, and as in all the Spanish and Portuguese conquests, they brought the toughest, hardiest horses they could. Conditions were tough on such voyages with insufficient food and water. Many horses died or were unable to regain health. Whether it was the primitive characteristics that cropped out under the wild conditions in the New World, or whether some of the shipments were of rather primitive Iberian horses in the first place, fact is that until fairly recently, the Argentine Criollo and the Criollo in general, bore a considerable resemblance to the ancient Sorraia wild horse of Portugal and Spain (zebro, or encebro).

During long campaigns with Indians, many horses escaped or were turned loose. Also after destruction of the settlement of what is now Buenos Aires was attacked and destroyed by Indians in the mid 16th century, ?many horses escaped into the wild where natural selection of the hardiest specimens let the the creation of the Argentine Criollo breed.

Argentina summers are very hot but winters are severely cold with the land subject to drought so many of the horses became migrational, and their winter coats grew thicker than their ancestors. The wild horses of these herds were known as Baguals, and some herds numbered into the thousands.

These tough beginning have led to the creation of a horse that challenges the Arab in its ability to cover large distances quickly.? There are several historical examples of them being ridden over a hundred miles a day for more than 5 days in a row.

The modern Criollo is mainly a working cow horse, but is also used for pleasure and rodeo events, as it is easy to handle, agile and fast. They are of course raced in endurance events, and in Argentina there are Criollo only races held to preserve and develop the endurance capabilities of the breed.? IN such races, the participants are pastured together for 30 days and given the same treatment to ensure it is the horses genetics that chosoe the winner, not preference of treatment.? They race over 465 miles (750 km, the maximum time allowed is 75 hours. The only feed the horses are allowed during the 14 days is the grass they can eat along the roadside.? The horses are checked by a vet each evening and horses showing any signs of distress are withdrawn.? The purpose of these events, is to choose the best horses to continue the breeding stock.

The argentine Criollo is a hardworking endurance horse that can obtain all its protein needs from grass without supplemental grain feeding. Their skeletal structure is hardy and leg/feet problems are extremely rare.

Argentina's legendary polo ponies are the result of Criollo mares crossed with the Thoroughbreds "?? the result being a sound, sturdy hard working horse with the increased speed of the thoroughbred.

Conformation
The Argentine Criollo is found in a great variety of colors and all are allowed. Dun and grulla colors are said to be the color of the very toughest horses. The neck is medium long and strong, the croup is sloped and round and the tail is carried close to the buttocks at work or rest. The mane and tail are thick unlike the Palomino of North America. The head has either a straight or a slightly convex profile, whereas its ancestors would have had typical Iberian convex-shaped head.

Emilio Solanet founded the studbook for the Argentine Criollo in 1918, after he observed the falling of standards of Criollo horses in his Argentina.