Lavradeiro
{{short description|Horse breed from Roraima, Brazil}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox horse breed
| name = Lavradeiro
| image = Cavalos selvagens de Roraima.jpg
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_caption = In Amajari, in northern Roraima
| image2 =
| image_size2 =
| image_alt2 =
| image_caption2 =
| status = {{ubl|{{nowrap|FAO (2007): endangered/maintained{{r|barb|p=13}}}}|DAD-IS (2023): unknown{{r|dad}}}}
| features =
| altname = Wild Horse of Roraima{{r|dad}}
| country = Brazil
| distribution = Roraima
| standard =
| extinct =
| use =
| colour = {{ubl|chestnut|bay|roan|dapple grey|rose grey{{r|dad}}}}
| height =
| male_height = 145 cm{{r|dad}}
| female_height = 135 cm{{r|dad}}
| weight =
| male_weight = 285 kg{{r|dad}}
| female_weight = 275 kg{{r|dad}}
| note =
}}
The {{lang|pt|italic=no|Lavradeiro}} or Roraima Wild Horse is a Brazilian breed or population of feral horses of Colonial Spanish type in the state of Roraima, in northern Brazil. The name derives from the {{lang|pt|lavrado}} or savannah terrain in that region.
A conservation herd was established in Amajari by the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, the national organisation for agricultural research, in about 1991.{{r|catie|p=36|revista|diario}}
History
The Lavradeiro is of Criollo or Colonial Spanish type, descending from Iberian horses brought to the Americas by the Conquistadores{{r|cabi|p=456}} Horses of this type were brought into Roraima during the period of Portuguese colonisation in the eighteenth century.{{r|faocr|p=24|diario}}
The horses were managed extensively on the unfenced savannah or lavrado, and a substantial feral population established itself. The horses became hardy and well-adapted to the difficult climate and poor grazing of the area.{{r|faocr|p=24}} Until about 1980 this population numbered some {{val|1000}} head, but by the end of the decade numbers had fallen to no more than {{val|200}}, largely as a result of hunting.{{r|fao}}
A conservation herd of some fifty horses was established by the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária, the national organisation for agricultural research, at the Fazenda Resolução in Amajari in about 1991.{{r|catie|p=36|revista}} The feral population is at risk of extinction, the principal threats being hunting and uncontrolled cross-breeding with horses of other breeds.{{r|faocr|p=24}}
Its conservation status was listed by the FAO in 2007 as 'endangered/maintained';{{r|barb|p=13}} in 2023 it was listed as 'unknown'.{{r|dad}} The only population data reported to DAD-IS is for 1992, when there were {{val|1200}} of the horses, including {{val|850}} breeding mares and {{val|100}} stallions;{{r|dad}} total numbers in 2010 are variously reported to have been either {{val|1260|–|1680}}{{r|elise|p=502}} or fewer than {{val|200}}.{{r|revista|na|fapesp}} Germplasm is conserved under the supervision of Embrapa in Roraima.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
Characteristics
Average height at the withers is about {{val|1.40|u=m}};{{Cite book |last=Rousseau |first=Élise |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/899366894 |title=Tous les chevaux du monde : près de 570 races et types décrits et illustrés |date=2014 |publisher=Delachaux et Niestlé |others=Yann Le Bris |isbn=978-2-603-01865-1 |location=Paris |pages=506 |language=fr |oclc=899366894}} it is about {{convert|1.37|m|hand|abbr=on}} for mares and approximately {{convert|1.41|m|hand|abbr=on}} for males. Average thoracic circumference is {{convert|1.63|–|1.66|m|in|abbr=on}}.{{r|catie}}
The coat is generally bay, chestnut, iron grey or roan.{{r|rousseau}} The back is short, the croup sloping. The mane and tail are thick, the ears are small.{{r|rousseau}}
The horses show some resistance to equine infectious anaemia and are well adapted to their biotope. Their blood proteins and random amplification of polymorphic DNA markers have been studied.{{Cite journal |last1=Mariante |first1=Arthur da Silva |last2=Egito |first2=Andréa Alves |last3=Albuquerque |first3=Maria do Socorro Maués |last4=Paiva |first4=Samuel Rezende |last5=Ramos |first5=Alexandre Floriani |date=July 2008 |title=Managing genetic diversity and society needs |journal=Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia |volume=37 |issue=spe |pages=127–136 |doi=10.1590/S1516-35982008001300016 |issn=1516-3598|doi-access=free }}
References
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Further reading
{{commons category}}
{{refbegin}}
- Ramayana Menezes Braga (2000). Cavalo lavradeiro em Roraima: aspectos históricos, ecológicos e de conservação (in Portuguese). Embrapa Comunicação para a Transferência de Tecnologia. Brasília: Embrapa. {{isbn|9788573830712}};
{{refend}}
{{Horse breeds of Brazil}}
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