Barb horse

The Berber is the oldest horse breed cultivated in the Mediterranean region.

Background information on the evaluation and breeding horses can be found at: exterior, interior and horse breeding.

Exterior

The Berber is a noble horse of medium size and is similar in type to the Iberian horse, which is due to the close relationship of the races.

The head is medium in size, often with a convex nose line and sits on a brisk rather short neck, which springs from a long, rather steep shoulder. The viable back is short, the body of good depth, but usually not very wide. The croup is sloping and round and has a low tail set, which is a typical feature of the Berbers. The legs of this extremely resistant horse 's hooves are hard and of excellent quality. Occasionally, slight misalignments in the form of Säbelbeinigkeit or cow hocks are represented by the legs.

Berber show fluid motion with knee action and sure-footed in all gaits. Some representatives of the Berber race are Naturtölter.

Breeding history

The origin of the Berbers located in North Africa and goes well into the early history of the domestication of the horse by the people back to the second millennium BC. Already in ancient Greece, and later with the Romans and throughout the Middle Ages were horses from North Africa Carthage, Phoenicia Numidia and North African mercenaries the most sought after tribute goods, spoils of war and diplomatic pressures.

All war horses races of the Mediterranean descend directly from Berber horses. The close relationship between the Berbers and other Iberian breeds ( especially the Andalusian ) is historically conditioned by the close cultural and economic ties with the Maghreb of the Iberian Peninsula. Berbers and Iberians are genetically very closely. After the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors ( from 711 AD) and in the following centuries, in which the horse breeding in Al- Andalus flourished, even occasional Arabian horses came abreast of countless Berber horses in the region, but little influence on the Iberian horse breeding exercised.

The first horses that were spent after 1492 to the New World, were Berbers and Iberians. On their genes all American horse breeds, such as established the Mustang, Creole, Peruvian Paso.

Neapolitans such as ( one of the founders of the Lipizzaner breed ) originated around 1220 in the southern Italian stud farms of Frederick II, first 12 black Berber stallions and mares Berber unspecified number of named.

Because of the great distance, it was an expensive, time-consuming and dangerous undertaking to import Berber horses in the north of Europe, which is why they were the horses of the maximum -off. Louis XIII. learned from écuyer de sa majesté Antoine de Pluvinel the equestrian art of the Renaissance on a Berber stallion named " le bonito ".

All riding masters of the 16th to the 19th century, whose books have come down to us, the Berber horse praise due to its hardness, his courage, his beautiful movement and its particular suitability for the stubs. In the 17th century it was used in England reinforced Berber horses to grow ever faster race horses.

The Berber was and is a noble horse and so stallions of this breed were used early on in the whole of Europe for refining the local races. The most well-known representative is the stallion Godolphin Barb, the most important of the three founders of the English thoroughbred race. On the distribution of the Berbers in the world, the Mediterranean ports contributed to the North African coast, from where the horses were shipped over centuries.

During the French colonization of North Africa state studs and a studbook have been set anywhere near the coast, which has survived to this day. During this period the Berber horses of the locals were changed sensitive because the French military preferred the Arab-Berber horses for his cavalry and North Africa committed to high tribute payments of such horses. In the state studs Arabian stallions were set up and forced the entire population to operate the crossbreeding of their horses. The breeding reinblütigerer Berber was only continued in remote areas of retreat insurgents, so the purest racial types are to be found far from the state studs in the back country today. Arab-Berber be performed since 1948 as a separate breed in the stud book and appreciated for their great performance and rideability as a leisure and sport horses.

The pure Berber population today is very low, binding figures are not available. Optimistic estimates suggest that the total number of 2,500 horses from around the world.

In 1988, the Association of World Organization of the Berber horse ( OMCB ) / Organisation mondiale du cheval Barbe was established with the aim to preserve the remnants of the Berbers and to strengthen the race again numerically. This effort was supported initially by the origin countries (Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia), as well as France. Since 1992, Germany also with the ( VFZB ) / Association is the friends and breeders of the Berber horse eV member of OMCB.

Use

Berber horses are used today in North Africa as a riding horse for the different regional interpretations of folk Sports Fantasia. Less often they are used as distance and jumping horses or as agricultural workers. In Europe, the use of it primarily as leisure horses, occasionally they are found in the Western or endurance riding.

Temperament and characteristics

The strength of this spirited and courageous animal lies in its great endurance and motivation. He is an extremely frugal and tough riding and working horse that acts agile and over short distances with great rapidity. The Berber horse is known for a large owner loyalty and social bonding ability.