After a couple of months of meditation about what could be useful to publish in this blog, I started to investigate about one of the other roots of the Polo Argentino horse: the Criollos.The Criollos (that is the name of the breed) are commonly called this way in different South American countries as Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, where Criollos Breeders can be found in many Associations.
It started with the first arrival of horses which the Spanish conquistadores brought to America, and these later spread over all the vast pastures of the New World.
In the beginning, the horses that came with the first Discoverers where left in the wild in America after the failed attempts of building the new cities as Buenos Aires , where it took two foundation waves in 1536 and later in 1580 to establish the city. In the first Don Pedro de Mendoza came with about 80/100 horses but only 50 survived and were left in the wild. Then, in the second attempt, Don Juan de Garay came with several more horses, as the historic papers of the Founders say.
Several well documented essays talk about the prolific reproduction of these horses; in one of them it is said that they practically couldn’t see the horizon in the plains due to the large amount of horses that pastured there.
Here’s where the other important part of Criollos’ history appears: the Indians. They first used the horses as food using only their tongue but after seeing that they could also use them as transportation they started to use them with that purpose too. After years of comprehension they finally domesticated them better that the ones the European had brought. That can be demonstrated with the abilities they had to handle them well just with the use of their voice or even without reins; that is a very interesting world to explore.
For many decades, the Indians used their horses as main and important possession. Due to this, one of the most important objectives in the Argentine Desert Campaign was to obtain the resources of cattle and horses that the Indians (mainly nomads) in the South of Argentina and Chile possessed. The reason of this was because in most of the Indian attacks (Malones) to the new cities or small urbanizations built by the conquerors the Indians looted women and possessions and left everything destroyed in a way similar as the Attilas Hunes’ attacks had done to Rome.
These horses where very appreciated by military forces due to their easy riding, endurance, and forceful will. Coronel Lavalle, one of the most important military commanders, was very eager to obtain these after battling with the Araucanos and keep them for himself as battle trophies. Estanislao Zeballos, in his ‘Viaje al pais de los Araucanos’ , says: “(…)Levalle’s dun horses brought to my mind the legends of the Arabian horses(…)”.
As result of the spread of horses all around South America, wild born horses could still be found in the first decades of the 1900. One the true Founders of the Criollos breed , Don Emilio Solanet, went to the Argentine Patagonia and purchased wild horses he selected from the ones possessed by Chief Shamatr or Sacamata from the Tehuelches tribe in 1911. From these purchases he standarized the modern known horse breed he named as Criollos.
An important contribution was made by Solanet in the construction of this breed, as he was Veterinary, Zoologist and University Professor. He created the petric fundamentals that resulted in one of the most incredible horses that today exists. He then selected the horses that participated in the epic adventure going from Buenos Aires to New York in 1925 without any provision but what they found on the road (see picture of the horses Gato and Mancha).
From these same roots the Argentine Polo ponies which became famous as known in the Olympic Games of 1924 and 1936 (when Polo was part of games and the Gold Medal was won in both by Argentina) where originated. (see photo of the Argentine Olympic Champion team of 1936 hereunder)
In my upcoming articles I will start to define the Criollos from the words of Dr Emilio Solanet and how they made contributions for the actual success of the Polo Argentino Horses.
It started with the first arrival of horses which the Spanish conquistadores brought to America, and these later spread over all the vast pastures of the New World.
In the beginning, the horses that came with the first Discoverers where left in the wild in America after the failed attempts of building the new cities as Buenos Aires , where it took two foundation waves in 1536 and later in 1580 to establish the city. In the first Don Pedro de Mendoza came with about 80/100 horses but only 50 survived and were left in the wild. Then, in the second attempt, Don Juan de Garay came with several more horses, as the historic papers of the Founders say.
Several well documented essays talk about the prolific reproduction of these horses; in one of them it is said that they practically couldn’t see the horizon in the plains due to the large amount of horses that pastured there.
Here’s where the other important part of Criollos’ history appears: the Indians. They first used the horses as food using only their tongue but after seeing that they could also use them as transportation they started to use them with that purpose too. After years of comprehension they finally domesticated them better that the ones the European had brought. That can be demonstrated with the abilities they had to handle them well just with the use of their voice or even without reins; that is a very interesting world to explore.
For many decades, the Indians used their horses as main and important possession. Due to this, one of the most important objectives in the Argentine Desert Campaign was to obtain the resources of cattle and horses that the Indians (mainly nomads) in the South of Argentina and Chile possessed. The reason of this was because in most of the Indian attacks (Malones) to the new cities or small urbanizations built by the conquerors the Indians looted women and possessions and left everything destroyed in a way similar as the Attilas Hunes’ attacks had done to Rome.
These horses where very appreciated by military forces due to their easy riding, endurance, and forceful will. Coronel Lavalle, one of the most important military commanders, was very eager to obtain these after battling with the Araucanos and keep them for himself as battle trophies. Estanislao Zeballos, in his ‘Viaje al pais de los Araucanos’ , says: “(…)Levalle’s dun horses brought to my mind the legends of the Arabian horses(…)”.
As result of the spread of horses all around South America, wild born horses could still be found in the first decades of the 1900. One the true Founders of the Criollos breed , Don Emilio Solanet, went to the Argentine Patagonia and purchased wild horses he selected from the ones possessed by Chief Shamatr or Sacamata from the Tehuelches tribe in 1911. From these purchases he standarized the modern known horse breed he named as Criollos.
An important contribution was made by Solanet in the construction of this breed, as he was Veterinary, Zoologist and University Professor. He created the petric fundamentals that resulted in one of the most incredible horses that today exists. He then selected the horses that participated in the epic adventure going from Buenos Aires to New York in 1925 without any provision but what they found on the road (see picture of the horses Gato and Mancha).From these same roots the Argentine Polo ponies which became famous as known in the Olympic Games of 1924 and 1936 (when Polo was part of games and the Gold Medal was won in both by Argentina) where originated. (see photo of the Argentine Olympic Champion team of 1936 hereunder)
In my upcoming articles I will start to define the Criollos from the words of Dr Emilio Solanet and how they made contributions for the actual success of the Polo Argentino Horses.
