Archaeological evidence in the Iberian
Peninsula, modern day Spain and Portugal, indicates that
the origins of the Lusitano horse date back to at least
25,000 B.C. in the form of its primitive ancestor, the
Sorraia breed. Cave paintings in the Iberian Peninsula
dated from around 20,000 B.C. depict portraits of horses
and activities related to a horse culture. Furthermore,
there have been findings of small tools made of bone which
were used to make rope from the hair of horses. The Sorraia
is believed to have developed from crosses between native
Iberian Proto Draft Horses (Equus Caballus Caballus of
Western Europe) and ancient strains of Oriental/North African
horses.
Looking further back into the evolution
of the horse, we find that the most ancient ancestor of the
horse was a small, herbivorous mammal of the genus Eohippus
from the Eocene Epoch, having four-toed front feet and
three-toed hind feet, which existed fifty million years
ago in an area that is now the western United States. Eohippus
eventually became modified into what we know as the horse.
These horses then migrated from America through the land
bridge connecting Alaska and Siberia and entered Asia where
they established themselves and from where they disseminated
to Europe and Africa. When the Spaniards arrived in the
New World however, the horse had been extinct in the American
continent for about 8000 years.
The Early Ancestors
The Sorraia remained isolated for several millennia in
the southern part of Iberia, the Alentejo and Andalusian regions of modern Portugal
and Spain. Noted Portuguese historian Mr. Ruy d'Andrade suggested that by the
Neolithic period (4000 B.C.) the native tribes of the area may have used horses
in war. Around 3000 B.C., Iberian tribes from North Africa invaded the peninsula,
which would be later named after them.
They were soon to be followed by the Phoenicians
and Celts, who were largely responsible for a two way exchange
of horses which brought an influx of oriental breeds from
Libya, Egypt and Syria to the Iberian peninsula. By the time
of the first expeditions of the Greeks, in 800 B.C., the
Celts and Iberians had formed an alliance known as the Celtiberians.
According to Lady Sylvia Loch, "It was the horses of the
Celtiberian that were to become famous throughout the civilized
world.
From this period onward, we find many references
to the Iberian or Celtiberian horses and riders of the peninsula
by Greek and Roman chroniclers. Homer refers to them in the
Iliad around 1,100 B.C. and the celebrated Greek cavalry
officer Xenophon had nothing but praise for the gifted Iberian
horses and horsemen". Xenophon, in one of his books written about 370 B.C.,
admiringly describes the equestrian war techniques of Iberian mercenaries
who were influential in the victory of Sparta against Athens in the Peloponnesian
wars. This type of warfare consisted of individual horse charges with fast
starts, stops and pirouettes followed by retreats and renewed attacks.
A form of riding that was made possible by the use of incredibly agile
horses, curb bits and stirrups.
Further invasions
by the Carthaginians and Romans recognized the superiority
of the Iberian horses and horsemanship to the point that
the Romans adopted the Iberian equestrian style of warfare.
They set up stud farms for their cavalry in the conquered
Iberian territories to accomplish the expansion of the
Roman Empire. In his book, Cavalo Lusitano o filho do
vento, Mr. Arsénio
Raposo Cordeiro writes that, "The perfect bond between Iberian man
and horse may have provided the original inspiration behind the legend
of the Centaurs, a hybrid manhorse creature deemed the spring from
the valleys of the Tagus River. At the time it was also believed that
the mares of this region were sired by the wind, which accounted for
the amazing speed with which they endowed their progeny."
The Berber Influence
In 711 A.D. the Muslims
initiated the invasion of the Iberian peninsula, at the
time being ruled by the Visigoths, and in varied degrees
they occupied the peninsula until the end of the fifteenth
century.
A lot has been written
about the influence of the Arabian horse on the Iberian
stock during the years of occupation. The fact is that
although politically this was an Arabian invasion, ethnically
the invaders were Moors. The leader of this initial invasion
was a Moslem Berber named Tariq ibn Ziyad who led 12,000
Saracens (largely Berbers from Algeria and Morocco) across
the Strait of Gibraltar into Spain. These people brought
some of their native Berber horses with them on the expedition.
Although it is not exactly clear how many of the invaders
had brought horses with them, one can speculate that
because of the difficulties in transportation the number
of horses was limited and that most of the Cavalry men
obtained their horses from the outstanding Iberian stock
existing in the south of the Iberian peninsula. Lady
Sylvia Loch states "It
is now almost conclusively established that the Barb (or
Berber) horse also developed as a breed from primitive
Sorraia stock which gradually migrated from Spain and Portugal
into North Africa in prehistoric times. Contrary to popular
opinion, therefore, the Iberian horse was the likely forefather
to the Barb and not vice versaÉ It would be more
accurate to say that at the time of the Moorish conquest,
Barb blood was reintroduced to the Iberian Peninsula."
Regardless of the exact influence of one breed over another,
it is evident that the exchange of blood was mutually beneficial and that it
produced many similarities between the two breeds, to the point that the modern
Barb resembles Iberian stock as well as the criollo horses of South America.
In the almost eight hundred years during which Spain and Portugal were in constant
war with the Moors, horse and horsemanship had become finely attuned to the
war exercises.
This superb war horse was the one that
the Conquistadors introduced and dispersed throughout the
Americas, together with the a la gineta style of riding,
which influenced the horse cultures of the Gauchos, Charros
and Llaneros. By the XVII century the Iberian ward horse, or Jennet as
it was beginning to be called, had become important not
only in the battlefield but also in the great riding academies
founded in France, Germany, Italy and Austria. In Portugal,
almost 100 years before the famous Italian author Francesco
Grisone, the King Dom Duarte I wrote his classic book,
Livro da Ensynanca de Bem Cavalgar toda a Sela in 1435.
The Portuguese traditional interest in horsemanship seems
to have always preceded their neighbors in its progressive sophistication,
creating an equestrian tradition that has lasted intact to this day.
When not at war, bullfighting on horseback and High School
public displays were the main entertainment for the dedicated
Portuguese land gentry.
The Lusitano - Classical Iberian War Horse
Today, the annual Fair of Golegã still
combines, in the most spectacular way, the aspects of traditional gineta
riding, classical European High School and breeding of the most exemplary
Baroque horse, the Lusitano.
In modern Portugal, the performance
of the horse in the bullring is perhaps one of the most
important factor in the breeding and selection process
of the Lusitano horse. This factor has sustained the
preservation of the characteristics of the classical
Iberian war horse, so esteemed in the world across the
ages. In a description by Sylvia Loch, she states: "To
look at, they are noble rather than pretty with aristocracy written
all over their fine, slightly hawked long faces. They
develop a powerful neck and shoulder which makes them
look extremely majestic in front. The quarters are not
large, but the loins are wide and strong and the hocks
long and wiry, giving them the power to bounce forcefully
forwards with masterful impulsion. Deep flexion is obtained
from the developed second thigh and the longer than usual
cannons and pasterns.
The same characteristics that are
essential for the bullfights, also make the Lusitano
extremely efficient for other sport activities, or as
a working and pleasure riding horse."
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