Empiro, 2004 Bay Gelding is a good example of the Marchador conformation with his fine, elegant neck tying in well to a long, sloping shoulder, short back, strong loins and low set hocks. This horse can’t help being an athlete.

Celibalto and Fernando step out on the trail

The Breed: The Marchador breed originated in Brazil over 200 years ago where it is recognized as the national horse. When Napoleon invaded Portugal in the early 1800's, the king of Portugal fled to Brazil by ship, taking with him his cavalry and some of his best stallions. Once in Brazil he then began a breeding program with those imported stallions. Descended from the ancient Iberian horses of Portugal, combining Andalusian stallions, Criollo (Creole, the original working cow horse) and Barb mares, the foundation for the Managalarga Marchador was created. The breeds chosen were to fullfull a need for horses that could work cattle, have tremendous endurance on the huge Brazilian ranches and still be a comfortable ride for the aristoctrat and owners of the ranch to ride in comfort. This breed has been selectively bred for intelligence, amiable dispositions, soundness, endurance, versatility and superb athleticism.

This breed is not registered only by their heritage, but also by their merit. At birth, the foal is DNA tested to verify the registered sire and dam are the foals heritage. Then the foal recieves provisional papers. These papers mean the foal is eligable to be inpected by a certified registrar at the age of three or older. The test is a very difficult discriminating test. It consists of three parts: The animals conformation must meet standards; They animals gait is obvserved by the inspector watching the animal move with a rider and the inspector rides to check the feel of the gait, sometimes for extended periods of time; Then last, through out the inspector is watching the attitude and willingness of the animal. They must be compliant and kind through out the testing.

Their height ranges from 14.2-16 hands with most being in the 15 hand range. All colors are represented by the breed and include grays, roans, bays, blacks, sorrels, browns. paint markings, palomino and buckskins are also common in the breed.

Versatility: Marchadores excel at cattle work but are versatile enough to be trained in almost any discipline including jumping, dressage, all phases of ranch work, gymkhanas and make excellent trail and endurance horses. Their elegant carriage, short backs and natural collection make them excellent sporthorses.

Disposition: The breed is gaining favor among all horse enthusiasts including novice riders because of their people friendly dispositions ability to form strong bonds with their owners and love to please, endearing them to beginners and advanced riders alike.

The Gaits: The Marchadores possess their own smooth, distinct gaits which include the “picada” with the feet moving laterally and separately and has moments of triple support. The “batida” is charactarized when the horse places the feet diagonally and with moments of triple support. These movements are unlike other gaited breeds including Missouri Foxtrotters and Paso Finos. The footfall pattern for the batida is 4:3:2:3:4:3:2:3.  They are: LF RH RF LH --- RH RF LH ---- RF LH --- RF LH LF --- RF LH LF RH --- LH LF RH --- LF RH ---LF RH RF.  The fox trot is 3:2:3:2:3:2:3:2. Marchadores can also possess 3 clear gaits including normal walk, trot, smooth rocking horse lope and fast, open gallop.

Requirements: Only horses that pass rigorous inspection on conformation, disposition and gaits are eligible for permanent registration for breeding stock insuring consistency in the breed.

Here at 4 Seasons ranch in Western Montana we use our Marchadores in the rugged mountain terrain as working ranch and trail horses where their cowsense, rugged endurance and easy-riding, ground-covering gaits make it a pleasure to do the demanding jobs required of western cattle ranches.

also visit: Summer Wind Marchadores for more fine Marchadores

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