Galician horse
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| Country of origin | Spain |
| Distribution | Galicia |
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The Galician or Galician Mountain Horse, Spanish: Caballo de Pura Raza Gallega,[5] Galician: Cabalo Galego do Monte,[8] is a breed of small horse from Galicia, in north-western Spain. It is genetically very close to the Garrano breed of northern Portugal.[4] It was in the past used as a war-horse and in agriculture; it is now raised principally for meat. The horses are bay or black.[6][7]: 463
History
The most commonly accepted theory of the origin of the Gallego is that it, like other small breeds of the northern part of the Iberian peninsula, descends from small dark-coloured horses introduced by Celtic immigrants in the sixth century BC.[7]: 462
In the Middle Ages these horses were rented or exchanged for other horses at the border between Galicia and Castile, since the Galician was more sturdy and suitable for the rugged landscape of the country.[9]
In the 1980s and 1990s there was concern that the introduction of stallions of other breeds, with better meat-producing qualities, was placing the original stock at risk.[7]: 462 The Xunta de Galicia published a conservation plan for the breed in 1993.[10] A breed association, the Asociación Pura Raza Cabalo Galego, was formed in 1997, and in 1998 the breed was officially recognised and a stud-book established.[2][11]
The Galego is regulated and protected by the Galician government.[12] It is distributed through much of Galicia and is present in the concellos of A Estrada, Cambados, Covelo, Poio, Pontevedra and Santa María de Oia in the province of Pontevedra; of Abegondo, Arzúa, Cambre, Cariño, Cerceda, Curtis, Ferrol, Irixoa, Lousame, Noia, Ortigueira and Porto do Son in the province of A Coruña; of Guitiriz, Muras, Ourol, Mondoñedo, Riotorto, Vilalba and Viveiro in the province of Lugo; and of Castro Caldelas, Coles and Lobios in the province of Ourense.[7]: 463 A small number have been exported to Germany.[7]: 463 In 2013 the total population was reported as 1623.[2]
In 2015 it was listed by the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, the Spanish ministry of agriculture, among the fourteen indigenous horse breeds in danger of extinction.[5][a] Its conservation status was listed as 'endangered-maintained' by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2007 and as 'at risk/endangered' in 2026.
Use
The horses are usually managed extensively, in semi-feral conditions, on the mountains of Galicia.[13] They may be used for riding or slaughtered for meat; the hair of the mane and tail is used to make brushes.[3]: 468
Notes
- ↑ "Raza Autóctona en Peligro de Extinción
References
- ↑ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Breed Data Sheet: Cabalo de Pura Raza Galega / Spain (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2026.
- 1 2 3 Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
- 1 2 Jesús María Martínez Sáiz (2000). Estudio de la varibilidad genética de la raza equina autóctona caballo losino (doctoral thesis, in Spanish). Departamento de Genética de la Universidad de Córdoba. Accessed September 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Raza equino caballar Caballo de Pura Raza Gallega: Datos Generales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente. Archived September 2015.
- 1 2 Pura raza galega (in Galician). Accessed 10 October 2008
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (editors) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461, pages 462–464.
- ↑ História (in Galician). Asociación Pura Raza Cabalo Galego. Accessed September 2015.
- ↑ P. O'Flanagan (1996), in "Xeografía Histórica de Galicia", Xerais, Vigo.
- ↑ H. Pose, G. Rivero, A. Fernández, J.L. Viana, G. Santamarina e M. Fernández (2001) Actuaciones para la conservación del cabalo galego de monte (in Spanish). Archivos de Zootecnia. 50 (189–190): 251–258.
- ↑ Asociación (in Galician). Asociación Pura Raza Cabalo Galego. Accessed September 2015.
- ↑ Alberto Núñez Feijóo (22 July 2011). Decreto 149/2011, Catálogo Oficial de Razas Ganaderas Autóctonas de Galicia (in Galician). Diario Oficial de Galicia. 141: 20643.
- ↑ [Xunta de Galicia] (4 April 2001). Orden de la de 4 de abril de 2001 por la que se establece la reglamentación específica del Libro Genealógico del Caballo de "Pura Raza Gallega" (in Spanish). Diario Oficial de Galicia. 119.