Calabrian
Origin
Italy
History
During the Greek colonial period, Calabria, situated in the southern part of Italy, was the birthplace of a horse with Oriental-African characteristics. This horse was smaller, more elegant and faster than the energetic and robust nordic type horse founded in the northern part of Italy and resulting from the Celtic Gauls invasions.
The mixture of the small, pround Oriental horses with horses from Africa imported by the Carthaginians produced one of the best horses of the time. The quality of the Calabrian horses was confirmed by Hannibal, who stole thousands of horses from Calabria and Puglia for his cavalry in preparation for his offensive against Rome in 217 B.C..
Through the following centuries, the Calabrian horses were crossed with horses of the Roman-occupied provinces, especially those from Gaul and Germany. These added robustness to the Calabrian horse.
After the fall of the western Roman Empire in 476 A.D., horse breeding in Italy went through a period of prosperity. With the invasion of the Lombards, Germanic-type horses came into Italy and found their way into Calabria, adapting well to the horse population already in existence there.
With the arrival of the Franks in 776, Italy resulted in the formation of many small, independent feudal states. During this feudalism, horse breeding blossomed due the continuous discord among the factions which stimulated the improvement of horse breeds for use in armies.
Around 900, the invasion by the Saracens revitalized the Calabrian horses by the influx of Arab horses and moreover provided protection for all things having to do with horses. Horse breeding continued to prosper due to the importance of military cavalries. With the Crusades, around 1200 A.D., there was an influx of new Oriental horses into southern Italy. Meanwhile in the North, the importance of the Andalusian horses began. The Andalusians were consequently taken to Calabria to produce larger, stronger horses for the new, heavier armor worn by knights of the period. The importation of Andalusian stallions into Italy rule the late 13th to mid-15th centuries.
Until the early 1700s, a decline of horse breeding in Calabria took place due an increase in the breeding of mules, which were better suited to the mountainous regions. In 1874, breeding of the Calabrian horse hit its lowest point when breeding of the Persano horse in the province of salerno was suppressed by a decree and the animals that made up the breed were sold and divided among the Salernian and Calabrian breeders.
In the early 1900s, the breed was revitalized, some of the breeding farms had purebred Oriental stallions, others had English and some Hackney stock.
Currently, Calabrian breeders are intent on the production of halfbred riding horses for racing.
Description
- Head:
wide forehead, straight or slightly convex profile, large eyes - Conformation:
-arched, well-formed neck
-broad and deep chest
-sloping and long shoulder
-pronounced withers
-straight and short back
-short loins
-sloping and well muscled croup
-strong and well defined tendons
-straight legs with a good natural stance
-well formed hoof with strong horn - Average height:
16 to 16.2 h.h. - Colour:
bay, brown, black, grey or chestnut - Temperament:
spirited, friendly, willing - Today:
they are used as riding horses for sport and leisure.
