Sorraia

The Sorraia is an indigenous horse from Portugal, which has influenced many light modern horse breeds.

Breed characteristics

The Sorraia has an appearance remarkably similar to the prehistoric cave paintings found across the northern Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula. Not surprisingly, it has recently been genetically linked to the now extinct Tarpan that once ranged throughout southern Europe and into Asia.

The breed possesses many characteristics that are typical of prehistoric Iberian equines, with a narrow, convex head and long slender ears. The neck is elegant and muscular, and can be held nicely arched. The horses are somewhat compact, with an uphill build, well defined withers, and a medium tail set. The Sorraia's hips tend to slope down and outward in what is sometimes referred to as a raftered hip. This can give the animal an exaggerated appearance when in poor condition. Sorrias have a narrow but deep chest having great lung capacity, and a fairly horizontally angled sloping shoulder. Their legs have exceptionally good joints, hard hooves with a thick wall, and good cannon bones that are rounder in cross section, and therefore stronger, than in most human-created breeds. These natural sized horses can run from between 13 hh to 15 hh (similar in range to the size found in hemionus and zebras). Smaller individuals are probably due to the marginal grazing on which they are specialist at surviving.

Their black manes and tails usually have a lighter, almost whitish, fringe of bordering hair, called bi-coloring. Sorraias are almost always a "primitive" color: dun, grulla, or sometimes a melanistic darkening that can almost look true black (rare). Certain golden duns can have such pronounced bi-coloring of the mane and tail that they can almost appear to be palomino, but are not. Sorraias always have a dorsal stripe and, unless a population has been genetically bottle-necked, zebra markings on the legs, and withers.

Sorraias are extremely tough, but with a calm and gentle temperament. Possessing great endurance and stamina, they tend to have an exceptionally long, durable working life.

Breed history

The Sorraia is descended from an ancient stock and is directly related to the Tarpan. They may have originated in the western region of the Iberian Peninsula. Surviving remnants of what was once an extensive population can be traced to an area between the Sor and Raia rivers, from which the breed gets its name. Traditionally, the Sorraia would be used for herding, working the land, light harness work, and riding. They were the popular working horses for the cattlemen and shepherds of the region.

The breed may have had an influence on contemporary Iberian light riding breeds, including the Iberian horses: the Andalusian, the Alter Real, the Carthusian, and the Lusitano. The only true substantiated genetic link has been established with the Lusitano that has a genotype that although not exactly like the contemporary Sorraia genotype, is closely enough related that it is thought to have been another Sorraia genotype when this primitive horse was distributed in greater numbers. We must assume the Spanish conquistadores took some horses with Sorraia origins to the Americas, as there has been mt-DNA evidence that has found Sorraian gentotypes in a couple of feral horse groups of western USA. Most notable today in America is an attempt by breeders to revive the breed through the Sorraia Mustang Studbook [http://www.spanish-mustang.org/] . Genetic tests are being carried out to see if there are any Sorraia genotypes among the Chilean Horse breed which is the purest and oldest of all stock horse breeds in the Americas.

It was actually Ruy d'Andrade, breeder of Alter Reals and Lusitanos, who rediscovered the breed in the 1920s, when he found a herd of 30 horses on the Sesmaria estate. D'Andrade captured 11 of these wild horses,that are the founders of all existing population. The descendants of these horses are still maintained by the D'Andrade family in Portugal, who keep a small feral herd. It is interesting that the mitochondrial DNA tests have shown these horses to have a very distinct genotype from the rest of the Iberian breeds, except a portion of the Lusitanos that seem to be have a maternal link to the Sorraia. This would indicate that D'Andrade's choices of foundation animals were very accurate in obtaining the Sorraia genealogy that at the time still persisted in that region of Portugal.

Today, it is questioned if all Sorraias are 100% pure. Their situation is, in fact, very similar to that of the Przewalski's Horse of Mongolia, which also suffered a small degree of genetic out-crossing before emergency conservation measures were finally taken. Today, this project is being focused on through the efforts of the Sorraia Studbook [http://www.sorraia.org/] .

External links

* [http://www.sorraia.org/ A page dedicated to the Sorraia.]