Pelajes Criollos (Spanish Edition) - Softcover

Emilio Solanet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9879898605 ISBN 13: 9789879898604

Publisher: Letemendia, 2001

Synopsis

Pelajes Criollos, es la obra mas completa entre todas las de su genero; el estudio mas profundo y exhaustivo de cuantos se han llevado a cabo sobre un tema que tanto apasiona e interesa a los amantes de los caballos, al hombre de campo para sus labores, como tambien al curioso de la literatura. Abarca la hipologia y la historia, y sobre la base de la investigacion y de las observaciones personales de su autor autoridad eminente, mundialmente reconocida en la materia-, muestra no solo al caballo criollo, sino tambien al hombre. El editor entrega a las manos del lector, una obra de esta naturaleza; un libro erudito y amable, Util y hermoso, profusamente ilustrado a color. Una obra unica en su genero, que constituye un verdadero diccionario en cuanto a pelajes se refiere.

About this title

About the Author

Emilio Solanet nacio en Ayacucho (Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina) en 1887 y se graduo como medico veterinario en 1909. Poco despues, guiado por una aficion apasionada hacia los caballos, recorrio el territorio de la Provincia de Chubut (Argentina) con el fin de adquirir yeguas y padrillos a los aborigenes de la region. Con algunos ejemplares que le vendio el cacique tehuelche Juan Schackmatr se instalo en la estancia El Cardal , cerca de Ayacucho, iniciando alla la cria planificada de caballos criollos. Junto con aquel grupo inicial llego a su propiedad Mancha , que anos mas tarde seria protagonista junto con Gato - del memorable raid de Buenos Aires a Nueva York que, entre 1925 y 1928, llevo a cabo Aime F.Tschiffely, quedando ambas monturas como arquetipos de la resistencia y la guapeza del caballo de nuestra tierra. El propio Tschiffely senalo: ... el doctor Emilio Solanet ha debido, por cierto, enorgullecerse de ellos . El interes del Dr. Solanet por la politica los llevo a desempenarse como concejal de Ayacucho, Diputado Provincial (Provincia de Buenos Aires) durante dos periodos y Diputado Nacional (Argentina) en 1930 y entre 1946 y 1948. Fue Profesor Titular de Zootecnia en la Facultad de Agronomia y Veterinaria de la Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) e integro el Consejo de la Facultad y el Superior de la Universidad. Publico, entre otros titulos, La raza criolla (1940), Equinotecnia (1941), Hipotecnia (1943), La cria de yeguarizo y la remonta (1947) y Pelajes criollos (1955), su obra de mayor trascendencia. Fallecio el 7 de Julio de 1979, a los 92 anos, legando el testimonio de un amor entranable por las costumbres de nuestra patria, una patria que, como bien supo decir al comienzo de su Pelajes Criollos, fue hecha a lomo de caballos.

Review

1. CRIOLLO (Horse.) The Criollo (in Spanish), or Crioulo (in Portuguese), is the native horse of Argentina (1918), Uruguay (1923), Brazil (1932) and Paraguay. It may have the best endurance of any horse breed in the world next to the Arabian. In fact, due to the criollo's low basal metabolism, it may be a better long-distance horse than the Arabian in prolonged races over a week in duration with no supplemental feed. The breed is most popular in its home country, and is known for its hardiness and stamina. The word criollo originally referred to human and animals of purebred Spanish ancestry that were born in the Americas, or, in Portuguese crioulo, to animals or slaves born in the Americas. With time, the significance of the word would simply come to mean native breeds of the Americas. 2. BREED CHARACTERISTICS. The criollo is a hardy horse with a brawny and strong body. They have short, strong legs with good bone, resistant joints, low-set hocks, and sound, hard feet. The long-muzzled head is medium- to large-sized and has a straight or slightly convex profile with wide-set eyes. The croup is sloping and the haunches well-muscled, the back short with a strong loin. They have sloping, strong shoulders with muscular necks. The body is deep with a broad chest and well-sprung ribs. The criollo is tractable, intelligent, willing, and sensible. Criollo horses average 14.3 hands high. The maximum height for stallions and geldings is 15 hands high and the minimum height is 14 hands high.The maximum and minimum heights for mares are 2 cm less (approximately one inch). The line-backed dun is the most popular color, but the breed may also come in bay, brown, black, chestnut, grulla, buckskin, palomino, blue or strawberry roan, gray and overo colors. The breed is famous for their endurance capabilities and ability to live in harsh conditions, as their homeland has both extreme heat and cold weather. They are frugal eaters, thriving on little grass. They have good resistance to disease and are long-lived. 3. BREED HISTORY (Part 1.) The breed dates back to a 1535 shipment of 100 Pure Bred Spaniards - Andalusian stallions coming from Cadiz, Spain, to the Rio de la Plata imported by Buenos Aires founder, Pedro de Mendoza. In 1540, Indian hostility forced the Spaniards to abandon Buenos Aires and between 12 and 45 surviving horses were set loose. When Buenos Aires was resettled in 1580, it is estimated that the federal horse population numbered around 12,000. Since it largely reproduced in the wild, the criollo developed into an extremely hardy horse that was able to survive the extreme heat and cold, subsist with little water, and live off the dry grasses of the area. Settlers later came and started capturing horses for riding and for use as pack animals. The Native Americans had already been doing that many years before. Throughout the 19th century a large proportion of the horses were crossed with imported European Thoroughbred, coach and draft horse stallions and a larger, coarser, long striding multi-purpose cart and saddle horse resulted. However, the crossbreeding nearly ruined the native Spanish horse type. In 1918, the Argentine breeders decided to create a purebred criollos registry. The breeder's association was formed in 1923. Much infighting occurred between the bands of Emilio Solanet and Enrique Crotto as the first promoted the Asian type criollo and the latter the taller African type with a coarse convex head, fallen croup and thinner mane and tail. --Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4. BREED HISTORY (Part 2.) It was not until 1934, that Dr. Solanet was able to firmly take control of the breeders association and set a new goal for the breed as a shorter more compact stock horse which emulated the Chilean Horse breed he so much admired. In 1938, 70% of the registered crioulos were culled because they did not possess the phenotype aspired by Dr. Solanet and his followers. The new breed standard which he had written in 1928 was finally made available to the public now that he was assured the breeders were more united in their breed objectives. It would not be until 1957 that the registry was closed for Argentine native breeds but the registry has remained open for the Chilean Horse breed that has been so influential in giving shape to the criollo as a better stock horse. Nevertheless, the breed maintains its own identity in a taller, leggier and squarer body conformation with a more angular hock that gives it the long stride it requires to cover the great distances in the flat Argentine plains (known as 'pampas'). The modern criollo head prefers with a straight facial profile and a shorter muzzle and longer ears than is typical in the Chilean Horse breed. The breeders implemented rigorous endurance tests to help evaluate horses for breeding. In these events known as 'La Marcha' the horses ride over a 750 km (466 mi) course to be completed in a 75-hour split in 14 days. No supplemental feed is allowed: the horses may only eat the grass at the side of the road. At the end of the day, a veterinarian checks the horses. The horses are required to carry heavy loads of 245 lb (110 kg) on their backs. Today, the horse is used mainly as a working cow horse, but is also a pleasure and trail horse and has contributed a great deal to the Argentine polo pony (criollo/Thoroughbred crosses make excellent polo ponies). They are also excellent rodeo and endurance horses. The national rodeo competition is known as 'paleteada' and it involves a paired team of horses and riders that approach a steer from both sides at a full run. The steer is sandwiched in between the two horses that lean into the bovine, practically carrying it down a 60 m long delineated path which the horses must not step out of during the defined trajectory. It is an amazing demonstration of control that can literally pick up a steer and place it wherever it needs to be. One example of the breed's fantastic endurance was the ride made by the Swiss-born Argentine rider Professor Aime Felix Tschiffely (1894-1954) in 1925-28. Tschiffely took two criollos, 16-year-old Mancha and 15-year-old Gato, on a 13,350 mile (21,500 km) trek from Buenos Aires to Washington D.C., crossing snow-capped mountains, the world's driest desert, the thickest tropical jungles and riding in all types of weather. Alternating the riding and packing between the two horses, the trio took three years to finish the trip. Although Prof. Tschiffely went through many hardships on the trip including a bout of malaria, the horses did wonderfully in the wide array of extreme topographies and climates. Gato lived to be 36, Mancha lived to be 40, living out the last years of their lives as celebrities in la estancia El Cardal (El Cardal Ranch), the breeding establishment of the man most credited for developing of the crioulo breed, Dr. Emilio Solanet. In 1987, Jorge Saenz Rosas, owner of the Argentine estancia Cristiano Muerto, offered his criollo Sufridor to the American Louis Bruhnke and the Russian/French Vladimir Fissenko for a horseback ride from the Beagle Channel in Tierra del Fuego to the shores of the Arctic Ocean in Deadhorse, Alaska. After traveling for five and a half years, the ride was accomplished in the summer of 1993. Having made the entire journey, the Criollo Sufridor is likely the horse that has traveled the furthest in a single direction. --Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Argentine ''Criollo'' is an amicable, robust cow pony known affectionately as the ''South American Quarter Horse.'' The nickname, however, is a misnomer. More accurately the Criollo is the South American Mustang, descended from escaped conquistador stock horses from the 16th century. Half a millennium in the wild has produced a distinct breed. --Western Horseman, ''Gone Gaucho'', Ryan Thomas Bell, June 2005

Edition details

• Publisher: Letemendia
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 9879898605
• ISBN 13: 9789879898604
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: Spanish
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 148
• Editor: Letemendia
• Illustrator: Fernando Romero Carranza, Angel Cabrera