| Falabella
is a unique breed of horse that acquired, after many generations and
crossbreeding, stable characteristics of form and height. The name comes from
the family that has developed this special breed since the middle of the nineteenth
century. The origin of the Falabella horse is intimately linked to the origins
of the horse in
Latin America. The Andalusian horses that the Spaniards brought with them to America were later left to survive on their
own due to unsuccessful attempts to conquer the area’s human inhabitants.
Because of the need to adapt to the variable climate of the Pampas region, the horses underwent a
series of structural changes. Looking at the Criollo horse –so distinct from
its forefathers- it is not unreasonable to suppose that in the nearly 400 years
from the era of the Spanish conquest to the discovery of the first ancestors of
the Falabella, some changes would have been possible to produce a harmonious
reduction in the size of the original horse. Given the strong sun, cold winds
from the southwest (Ël Pampero”), the fierce storms and the aridness of the
land, the horse was obliged to move great distances to find water and pasture.
Often the horses had to flee from the Indians and pumas. All these factors
surely caused genetic mutations in successive generations resulting in the kind
of horses that Mr. Newtall –an Irishman who had settled in Argentina- is said to have seen for the first
time in 1845 in the herds of Mapuche Indians of the southern Buenos Aires
province. Mr. Newtall managed to
acquire the few specimens of small horses that the Indians possessed, and after
many years, achieved a herd of horses less than 40 inches in height,
maintaining the same proportions in their features. Mr. Falabella, son-in-law
of Newtall, then sought to improve the breed and refine the shape of the horse.
To attain his goals, Falabella introduced specimens of European breeds (small
thoroughbreds, Shetland's, horses of the Easter Europe).
He
succeeded in raising very small horses significantly more harmonious of form
than the previous generation of horses. At the beginning of the twentieth
century, this incipient breed, already known as Falabella, possessed its
present conformation. In approximately 1930, Julio Cesar Falabella took charge
of Establecimientos Falabella, and began to register the horses he had
inherited and all the Falabellas born thereafter. Building on the wealth of
knowledge his family had acquired, Julio Cesar dedicated his efforts to
systematizing the breeding process, maintaining genealogical reports and
gaining international recognition for the breed. In addition, he increased the
quantity of breeding mares to more than 400 and diversified the colors of the
coat. He named his Falabellas “Minihorses”and the term has since been adopted
commercially.
In 1980,
Maria L.B. de Falabella took over Establecimientos Falabella. Mrs. Falabella is
the current owner and breeder of the renowned Minihorses. The
Falabella is a horse that Possesses all the features and attributes of its
taller great
exception, the Falabella transmits its genes determining sizes, conformation
and temperament to its descendants; other horses called miniatures irregularly
achieve this objective. Gestation and rearing of Falabellas take place
naturally in the open countryside, a fact which demonstrates their rusticity
and capacity to adapt to their environment. These characteristics among others,
have earned for the Falabellas fame throughout the world. Average height for a mature
Falabella is 28 inches, but many Falabellas are as small as 24 to 26 inches in
height. Their feeding is very simple and they do not require any special
treatment; the appropriate care for a Falabella is that advisable for any other
type of horse. Falabellas generally outlive normal sized horses.
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The key of success in each breeding-program is the
genetic prepotency (the force of an individual animal to give through his
breedingquality’s to his descendants).
All our
Falabellas own this prepotency and quality.
This key of success is situated in the Falabella
line-breeding and inbreeding during 140 years, by which a prepotency is created
for the desired quality. There is no success if only profits are requested; it
is more correct to create a good breeding-product, supported by a long ranged
breeding program, which is not influenced by the today’s fashion.
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