Sorraia horse

What is a Sorraia?

The Sorraia horse is, in contrast to what some authors have disseminated, not just a breed, but it represents the indigenous wild horse of southern Iberia that survived in the wild until the first quarter of this century. The whole Iberian peninsula, i.e. Spain and Portugal, had the same indigenous, or autochthone, horses; so "Iberian" is a better term than "Spanish". Some authors have called the Sorraia a pony, which is wrong. Based on its conformation, the Sorraia is definitely a horse. The Sorraia horse is the most important ancestor of the Iberian breeds such as Lusitano and Andalusian. It is this horse that contributed the proud carriage, the ability to flex at the poll, to collect and to work off the hindquarters to these breeds, and via the Lusitano and the Andalusian to all modern warmblood breeds. It also contributed a latent tendency for lateral gaits and the talent for cow work.

What does the Sorraia look like?

A description of the Sorraia would be identical to that of the primeval form III horse: It is Roman-headed, which must not be confused with Roman-nosed. A flat forehead and a Roman nose would be a draft horse characteristic. The form III profile is subconvex, sometimes convex, all the way from poll to muzzle. The head is also typically fairly narrow from a front view, rather narrow between the eyes and even from a side view it tends to be not very deep. The throat latch is clean, affording a natural capacity to arch the neck. The chest is narrow, but deep. Due to prominent withers higher than the croup this is an "uphill horse". The back is of medium length. The hip is typically of good length and sloping, but not steeply dropping, and the tailset is not particularly low. Clean, fairly long legs with longer, round cannon bones are typical, and they have no excessive hair around the fetlocks and medium-sized feet. The size is around 14 hands, although some horses mature higher when properly cared for. Many Sorraias are kept semi-wild and have to fend for themselves without getting supplemented.