Brief introduction

The creole horse (Criollo in Argentina) of Latin America is a direct descendant of the horses brought to the New World in the time of Christopher Columbus by the Spanish conquistadores during the 16th century, most notably by Don Pedro Mendoza, founder of the city of Buenos Aires.

Many of his war horses escaped or were abandoned, and quickly returned to a wild state, in an ideal environment for their development. These were Portugese, Barbe and Spanish (particularly Andalouses) horses, who transmitted their blood and their principal morphological characteristics to the Criollo breed.

During four centuries, the Criollo breed adapted to the environment of the open plains of South America, which lead to a severe natural selection. This adaptation to the living conditions permitted the Criollo to develop its reknowned qualities of resistance to disease and drought.

First the Indians, then the Gauchos, turned the Criollo into their mode of transportation, their hunting or working companion, and their partner in games. Since, the Criollo has always been the horse of the Gaucho for his work with cattle.

Its hardiness is the pride of Criollo breeders, who organize competitions of endurance over distances up to 750 km (465 miles) covered in fourteen days. The horses are heavily loaded (110 kilos, or 245 lbs, of rider and saddle) and feed only on the grass found on the region covered. The horse who finishes the competition without being eliminated by the judges or the veterinarians will have lost weight, but appears just as energetic as the first day of the contest.

At the end of the last century, the introduction of European and North American stallions brought about a degeneration of the breed. A rigorous selection lead by a handful of interested breeders lead to the reconstitution of the breed, which was admitted in 1918 to the Argentine studbook.

Today, in almost all the countries of South America, breeds descending from the Criollo are raised and protected. Argentina claims the Criollo horse the closest to the breed standard.