Criollo Horses
Arguably the toughest breed of horse in the world, the Criollo is renowned for it's amazing endurance and hardiness. It has descended from the horses which enabled the Spanish conquistadors to dominate the New World becoming even stronger over the centuries, initially through natural selection and then draconian breeding programs in later years.
The Criollo is inexorably linked with the Gaucho, the cowboy of the South American pampas. These men are renowned as true "tough guys"- hard working, living of the land in all weathers and battling the elements and terrain to drive their cattle incredible distances. One thing above all else made it possible for them to earn this reputation, the little horses which were every bit as tough and proud as the men who rode them.
In more modern times the breed's reputation was cemented in 1928 when Aimé Tschiffely, a Swiss former school teacher, completed a ride from Buenos Aires to New York. This odyssey of 13,350 miles took over 3 years and was done on the backs of the two Criollos, Mancha and Gato. Both the horses were well in their teens when they set off and they lived to the ages of 40 and 36 respectively.
These two Criollos became heroes of the Argentine nation somewhat as Seabicuit did in Depression era America - the only difference was the thoroughbred only had to go 1 1/2 Miles to earn immortality!
In the 21st century Criollos and Criollo crosses, can be found throughout the world excelling in any discipline which demands the toughest, soundest horses. They are becoming increasingly popular for long-distance endurance (for obvious reasons!) however the sport upon which the Criollo has had the most influence is polo. The majority of polo ponies in the world will have at least some Criollo blood in their veins. The game of polo has developed to need the raw speed of the thoroughbred but the additional need for strength, atletesism and, above all, a calm, trainable disposition has kept the Criollo in the mix.
Unlike almost any other breed of horse and despite it's fame in other disciplines, the vast majority of Criollo horses today are still doing exactly the job they were bred to do... Working the cattle of South America.
Our Criollo stallion Arrayan Numa flew into the UK in 2007, if you are interested in the Criollo breed please drop us an email and arrange to visit him and chat Criollo.
The Criollo is inexorably linked with the Gaucho, the cowboy of the South American pampas. These men are renowned as true "tough guys"- hard working, living of the land in all weathers and battling the elements and terrain to drive their cattle incredible distances. One thing above all else made it possible for them to earn this reputation, the little horses which were every bit as tough and proud as the men who rode them.
In more modern times the breed's reputation was cemented in 1928 when Aimé Tschiffely, a Swiss former school teacher, completed a ride from Buenos Aires to New York. This odyssey of 13,350 miles took over 3 years and was done on the backs of the two Criollos, Mancha and Gato. Both the horses were well in their teens when they set off and they lived to the ages of 40 and 36 respectively.
These two Criollos became heroes of the Argentine nation somewhat as Seabicuit did in Depression era America - the only difference was the thoroughbred only had to go 1 1/2 Miles to earn immortality!
In the 21st century Criollos and Criollo crosses, can be found throughout the world excelling in any discipline which demands the toughest, soundest horses. They are becoming increasingly popular for long-distance endurance (for obvious reasons!) however the sport upon which the Criollo has had the most influence is polo. The majority of polo ponies in the world will have at least some Criollo blood in their veins. The game of polo has developed to need the raw speed of the thoroughbred but the additional need for strength, atletesism and, above all, a calm, trainable disposition has kept the Criollo in the mix.
Unlike almost any other breed of horse and despite it's fame in other disciplines, the vast majority of Criollo horses today are still doing exactly the job they were bred to do... Working the cattle of South America.
Our Criollo stallion Arrayan Numa flew into the UK in 2007, if you are interested in the Criollo breed please drop us an email and arrange to visit him and chat Criollo.
