The Sorraia is portrayed wrongly in most literature: Contrary to what one reads in many books, it is not a pony, but a horse, and it must not be confused with the Garrano, a native North Iberian pony. The Sorraia is not a relative of the Garrano, but a completely different type of horse.

The few Sorraias alive today – approx. 200 – are mostly in private hands. Therefore, their destiny is uncertain. Nowadays, Sorraias are not allowed to live wild anymore, although some herds have to fend for themselves all year round, with little or no help from Man.

All Sorraias descend from only 11 or 12 animals that d’Andrade secured in the 1930s, and inbreeding is therefore extremely high. Unfortunately, inbreeding is often unnecessarily intensified even further.

The Sorraia horse has no history as a man-made breed. DNA-analyses seem to indicate a close relationship to the Tarpan, but more research is necessary to prove or disprove that. Sorraias can be tamed and turned into good riding and work horses - sometimes they even make outstanding riding horses –, but they can maintain their primitiveness, instincts, specific traits and qualities only if a nucleus herd is allowed to live wild in some sort of a preserve. So far, only one such preserve has been established.

What is relevant is Ruy d’Andrade’s scientific work, and the horses he left to us. Again, who claims d’Andrade to have been wrong needs to provide evidence, not hearsay. The thing to do is to go directly to the source, and that means reading what Ruy d’Andrade had to say about the Sorraias and his research and compare with horses and modern research. D’Andrade was perhaps the most respected expert on Iberian horses of his time, and one of the most prominent breeders of Lusitano/Andalusian horses. He would have known it if the horses which he named Sorraias were a man-made breed. If he was convinced to have found a remnant population of an indigenous, wild, Iberian horse, he was a lot more qualified to draw that conclusion than anyone nowadays, 80 years later. He has often lectured on the Sorraia horse, in 1935 he did so at the XII. International Zoological Congress in Lisbon, which would have been absurd if he had been dealing with a man-made breed. In all his publications he described the Sorraia horse consistently as a direct descendant of a primeval horse, ancestral to the Andalusian and Lusitano. To simply ignore his work and rely rather on an alleged remark of one of his grandsons to "prove" him wrong is hardly convincing, and definetely not scientific.
 

Note: There is no mentioning of "grey" by d’Andrade as found in some translations. The Portuguese term for a grey horse is "ruço", the term for grulla is "rato"; d’Andrade used the term "rato".

Ruy d’Andrade explained that, after this, he paid more attention to the characteristics he observed in this wild herd and explains that he found more than 300 (more or less domestic) animals with these characteristics in the valley of the Tejo, in the Alentejo region, and in the valley of the Guadalquivir.

The presence of atypically colored horses in those last Sorraias d’Andrade found can hardly come as a surprise with a population that obviously was on the brink of extinction, and which must have included some crossbreds. In no way does it mean, let alone prove, that dun or grulla wasn’t the original color of the Sorraia horse. On the contrary, his research convinced d’Andrade that dun/grulla was indeed the original color of the Sorraia horse, and the Iberian wild horse has always been a dun-factor, convex-headed horse according to historic data spanning over 2000 years – if the prehistoric cave paintings are taken into account, even much, much longer.

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that for some reason the mallard became almost extinct and all that was left were a few dozen or so – chances are for some of the remaining ones to be off-colored hybrids. Now, if you were to step in at the last minute and preserve the mallard for future generations, would you pick the odd-colored ones, or would you rather pick the ones that you know are of the true color of the wild mallard? And if later in your conservation project group some odd-colored ones would crop out, would you not cull them in order to preserve the mallard as you originally knew it?

Well, that is exactly what d’Andrade did in regard to the Sorraia horse.

It’s irrelevant whether there were some other horses in that first herd he encountered that showed a mixed ancestry by way of a different color, or in the herds he picked his foundation stock from. What is relevant is that he – a scientist and horse expert of the highest reputation – selected the horses which, according to his knowledge, represented the indigenous wild horse of that region. This he maintained in all his books and articles and tried to document through the evidence he found in his research. Whoever claims he was wrong needs to provide hard evidence for that.

Finally, state-of-the-art technology proved the singular status of the Sorraia horse. While mitochondrial DNA sequencing so far did not back up the theory of the Sorraia being THE ancestor of the Lusitano and Andalusian, it did prove the Sorraia to be a genetic treasure! Jansen et al. in their work "Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse" **) found three genotypes in Iberian horses, one of which, D1, dominates the Iberian breeds (Andalusian and Lusitano, and also the Barb from Northwest Africa), and one, the Sorraia's, is completely different! While one may be able to find the Sorraia's genotype in a Lusitano or Andalusian if one searches long enough, the Jansen study found no Andalusian of the Sorraia genotype!

If all d'Andrade had done was picking randomly some duns and grullas from his or other breeders' herds, then the Sorraia would have the same genotype that the other Iberian horses have! However, the Sorraia's genotype is clearly different.

It is almost incredible that Ruy d'Andrade, armed with nothing but his expert eye, going by primitive phenotypic characteristics, picked the foundation horses for his preservation project unerringly, thus saving horses which we now find to have a rare and unique genotype!

It should be mentioned that a large percentage of Lusitanos have a genotype (A3) that is rather closely related to the Sorraia's. Both genotypes developed from the same branch. However, there is no evidence that the Lusitano's (A3) developed from the Sorraia's (JSO41, resp. A1). This means there is evidence for a relatedness of Sorraias and Lusitanos, but more research is necessary (and is currently being done).

With the Sorraia having a different and very old genotype, and with its absolutely primitive phenotype and wild behavior, and considering the fact that the Sorraia has no history as a domestic breed, it seems rather likely that the remaining Sorraias are a remnant population of a true wild horse form, or subspecies.

Mitochondrial DNA sequencing

In researching relatednesses and phylogenetics, mitochondrial DNA sequencing is the state-of-the-art technology. The mitochondrial DNA is located outside the nuclear DNA. In contrast to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cannot be altered through selective breeding.

What can mitochondrial DNA do?

1. It is the only reliable method to determine relatednesses between breeds and/or populations, and relatednesses of individuals to populations. In the latter case, bloodtyping, for instance, would fail completely.

2. It is the instrument to determine phylogenetic facts, i. e. ancestral relationships. For instance: Japanese geneticists had established through mtDNA sequencing that the Mongolian wild horse (a.k.a. Przewalski’s horse) is not an ancestor of our domestic breeds. This was later confirmed by the work of Jansen et al.**).

Again through mtDNA sequencing, it was determined that the Neanderthaler was not an ancestor of the human race.

While mtDNA is passed on only through the maternal line, the presence of a certain mtDNA pattern in an animal proves beyond doubt that, at least through the maternal line, this animal is indeed related to the population which this pattern is typical for. Through mtDNA sequencing, Jansen et al. proved that our domestic horses stem from several different post-glacial wild horse forms, or subspecies, and also established that domestication of the horse took place in several geographically distant areas.

As far as geographically-linked genotypes are concerned, the study established those for North/Northwest European ponies, for the Mongolian wild horse, and for South Iberia/North Africa. Basically, three South Iberian genotypes were established: one found in most Andalusians and Lusitanos, as well as Barbs (D1); another one found in many Lusitanos (A3), the third one being that for the Sorraia (JSO41 resp. A1), the two latter ones possibly being variations of one and the same genotype.

Andalusians and Lusitanos for a long time represented one and the same breed, and only rather recently were they divided into separate studbooks/registries. The fact that a different genotype is found in a rather large percentage of Lusitanos (possibly up to 40%) indicates that originally, a different wild ancestor may have been responsible for the Lusitanos, or has had a significant influence on that breed.

Two mtDNA patterns were found in the Sorraia horse (A1 and JSO41), which are closely related and represent two different boughs on the same branch of the phylogenetic tree. The A3 genotype in the Lusitanos in turn is related to the JSO41 genotype of the Sorraia, and the two are again separate boughs on the same branch.

It is significant that A1 and JSO41 have not been found in Iberian horses other than Sorraias! This rules out an origin of the Sorraia as an offshoot of the Andalusian breed - if Sorraias were nothing but "ordinary Iberian horses" simply selected for the dun factor, they would have the same mtDNA type as found in Andalusians and other Iberian horses.

The mtDNA patterns found in Sorraias are also sometimes found in a variety of horse breeds. This is only natural, as our domestic horse breeds are usually a mix of populations, types, and breeds; therefore, a mixture of genotypes is usually found in horse breeds.

*) d'Andrade, "O Cavalo do Sorraia", 1945, Boletim Pecuario, XIII

**) Jansen, Forster, Levine, Oelke, Hurles, Weber, Olek, "Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse", 2002, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

 

"Animals that, through selection and breeding, have come to resemble one another and pass those traits uniformly to their offspring".

Jay L. Lush in "The Genetics of Populations" offers this definition:

"A breed is a group of domestic animals, termed such by common consent of the breeders, … a term which arose among breeders of livestock, created, one might say, for their own use, and no one is warranted in assigning to this word a scientific definition and in calling the breeders wrong when they deviate from the formulated definition. It is their word, and the breeders common usage is what we must accept as the correct definition".

Lush is making a significant point here by linking the term "breed" to domestic animals. Besides the fact that a breed has an accepted standard of perfection, the term "breed" can be applied only for domestic animals (and plants), it means that this population of animals share common characteristics because Man has selected and bred for them.
 

So, what constitutes a species?

According to Herre*), animals that constitute a reproductive unit (i.e. mate voluntarily and, in doing so, reproduce with unlimited fertility) belong to one and the same species. Even if they differ considerably in phenotype and behavior, as long as they belong to one reproductive unity they do belong to one and the same species. This definition of a species has been established a long time ago.

The Biological Species Concept (BSC) of MAYR (1942), which is widely accepted in the scientific community, defines species as follows:

"Individuals of different species do not interbreed under natural conditions".

Zoologist and geneticist Thomas Jansen explains:

"This means that fertility or sterility of the offsprings can be an indicator whether the parents belong to one species or not, but this is no necessary prerequisite. 'Natural conditions' means more: pre-mating factors such as different ethological mechanisms, for example different courtship displays, will prevent mating of two individuals of different species in the wild. One example are donkeys and horses: Mules and hinnies (as a product of crossbreeding in captivity) are well known, they are not always sterile. But a horse and a donkey will never mate in the wild because of their very different courtship displays. They belong to different species, no one can seriously cast doubt on this."

Within a species, one can often find populations which differ considerably in phenotype, behavior, etc., and which pass on their characteristics reliably to their offspring. Such a population is considered a "subspecies", or "race", or "variety".

The various wild ancestors of today's horses, as different as they were in phenotype, size, and behavior, still were subspecies within the one species.

Other equids, e. g. Equus asinus, the ass or donkey, are related to the horse closely enough to even make bastardization possible, but such crosses only occur through human intervention. Horses and asses don't mate voluntarily if they have a choice. Therefore, horses and asses represent different species, as do hemiones ("half asses"), and zebras.

Thomas Jansen, regarding the question of Mongolian wild horse and domestic horse belonging to separate species, explains:

"If some people claim that the Mongolian wild (Przewalski’s) horse is another species than the domestic horse, then this is in fact not true. Future research may indicate that the Mongolian wild horse is possibly in the process of forming its own species (in some ten thousand years). However, today, the Mongolian wild horse and the domestic horse belong to the same species, as they interbreed under natural conditions, and with unrestricted fertility.

The only conclusion is: One may define the Mongolian wild horse as a subspecies. It is a horse and nothing else.

Another example is the relationship between wolf and dog. The argumentation would be the same: Wolves and dogs interbreed under natural conditions and produce fertile offspring. Therefore, they belong to one species."

Zoologist Rainer Willmann points out**) that species are separated as such due to the absence of an interchange of genes:

"Reproductive isolation means absence of gene flow from one population into another due to biological mechanisms. This means, strictly speaking, that all members of such unit – species – cannot, under natural conditions, have fertile descendants with members of another species. They are 'genetically separated" from one another."

In contrast to other definitions of the term "species", which lack objectivity, Willmann goes on to say:

"Because reproductive isolation is a real, naturally developed phenomenon dividing the organic diversity, the classification based on this order is also real. Biospecies are therefore real units of nature."

Within a species, subspecies may be found. They belong to the same biological, reproductive unit, but can be recognized and classified due to different phenotypical and behavioral characteristics, and – with modern moleculargenetic methods – by genotype.

"A subspecies can be defined as 'something like a natural race', or variety, which is in most cases founded by geographical separation", says Jansen. "The Mongolian wild horse is not the forefather of our domestic horses, but it is also not another species. As it is easily recognized due to specific phenotypical traits (and, by the way, also by its unique genetic patterns), it can only be named a subspecies."

Again, there is the very old genetic type found in the Sorraia, different from other Iberian horses, its absolutely primitive phenotype and wild behavior - and there is the fact that the Sorraia has no history as a domestic breed. All this suggests that the remaining Sorraias are a remnant population of a true wild horse form, or subspecies.

If Sorraias don't exist in the wild anymore, if they have been bred in captivity for decades now, if their data is recorded in a studbook in Portugal, if they are bred by some like a domestic breed, then all that doesn't take away from the fact that their origin is not that of a domestic breed, that they in all probability do represent a subspecies. After all, the very same happened to the Mongolian wild horse: It survived only in captivity, has been bred in zoos for decades, has a world-wide studbook - yet still nobody claims it to be a breed, although their breeding history in captivity is longer than the Sorraia's. The few that roam wild in the desert of Central Asia now have been re-introduced, they were bred in domestication, or stem from animals bred in domestication.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to actually prove the status of any horse as a wild subspecies, and therefore, it is difficult to do so for the Sorraia. However, it is equally difficult to prove the opposite! What kind of evidence would we consider proof one way or another? Beside the Mongolian wild horse, the Tarpan is recognized by many as a wild subspecies. The mtDNA research so far indicates that Sorraia and Tarpan are of the same genotype (the scientific evidence is not yet substantial enough to really make that claim). If further research confirms what first tests have shown, then the Sorraia is an Iberian regional variant of the Tarpan, a remnant of an Iberian Tarpan population.

In summary, what we have in the way of evidence points clearly one way: for the Sorraia to be a primitive horse, a subspecies.

**) Willmann, "Die Art als Taxon und als Einheit der Natur", 1992, Entomol. Blätter, Bd.88

***) d'Andrade, "O Cavalo do Sorraia", 1945, Boletim Pecuario, XIII; "Apontamentos para um estudo sobre a origem e domesticaçã0 do cavallo na Peninsula Hiberica, Aproximações", 1926, Lisboa; "Alrededor del Caballo Español"; "Les Chevaux du Sorraia", 1935, Extrait des comptes rendus du XIIe Congrès International de Zoologie, Lisboa, "Elements pour une classification des Équidés actuels, d'après leurs caractères craniologiques et dentaires", 1937, Bulletin de la Société Portugaise des Sciences Naturelles

That is a valid point. Not enough effort has been made to preserve the Sorraia as a wild horse, instead, it has been treated and kept and bred recently much like any other breed, even in Portugal. As a result, the behavior in many has changed. However, much of the original wild behavior can still be observed in some herds, although most mares have been exposed to humans so much now and for so long, and some have been raised along with Lusitanos, so they don't shy away anymore if one approaches them. However, when I recently entered a huge pasture that contained about a dozen stallions - young ones and mature ones -, they fled as soon as they saw us, just like so many deer -, so their wildness hasn't been lost yet completely.

However, that's not the point. The way they have been kept and bred in recent decades did have an effect on them, no doubt. But when we discuss the status of the Sorraia, we ought to compare the Sorraia with Przewalski's horse. Przewalski's horses have been bred in captivity even longer, and were generally kept in zoos in little enclosures, while most Sorraias lived in pastures large enough to allow them to remain semi-wild. However, nobody denies the Przewalskis their status. Everything else has been the same with Przewalskis and Sorraias - registration in a studbook, Man making the mating decisions (thus breeding selectively), etc. So if one wants to call the Sorraia a breed due to these circumstances, one needs to do the same with Przewalski's horse (see diagram).

Regardless of how long Przewalski's horse is bred in zoos, the fact remains that its origin is that of a wild subspecies. And the same holds true with the Sorraia, at least we have reason to believe that.

DR. RUY D'ANDRADE ON THE SORRAIA

The following is an excerpt of an article by Ruy d'Andrade in Boletim Pecuário, XIII, 3. Lx., 1945 (some explanations added in parenthesis, bold Italics added by editor)

The horse … is to be found in the south of the (Iberian) peninsula, and I suppose it is the remaining specimen of a fauna dating from the beginning of the Pleistocene era, which persisted throughout the antiglacial period, when there was a horse related to the Pleistocene horses of the Sivalik Hills, and therefore one of the oldest geological periods of Asiatic origin. In the interglacial period (i. e. the last) it was to be found in Africa, where it may have survived throughout the preceeding glacial period, and also in the Hispanic southwest (Andalucia and Algarve), or it may have retreated from Africa through the isthmus which existed before the Straits of Gibraltar opened, which some believe to have occured in the Tertiary era.

How this group of horses was discovered

Many years ago I had already noticed that many foals out of mares of pure Andalusian breeding which I was raising in the Alto Alentejo (Elvas region), and others I had seen in Andalucia and in the region of the Tejo delta, were born with striped, straw-colored coats, especially those of yellow dun or grulla (mouse dun) color; many of whose stripes later disappeared completely as they became grey.

Later, in 1920, on a hunting trip in the region of Coruche, on the lower Sorraia (river), on the ‘Sesmaria’ estate, I saw a herd of ca. 30 individuals, more than half of them were light duns, some were grullas, many with superabundant stripes, and generally in all aspects absolutely wild, or primitive, as if they were a species of zebra, or a hemionus species.

When I later focused my attention on these characteristics, which I referred to in my various studies, I was able to find animals with these particular coat characteristics in all areas of the Tagus valley, the Alto Alentejo, as well as in the Guadalquivir valley, in total more than 300 individuals.

I then decided to reconstitute this primitive kind of horse, in order to find out if it was indeed the origin of our Andalusian horses, which are nowadays of larger frame und greater variety due to the crossbreeding they have been subjected to. So I set out to duplicate in an exclusive herd on my estate what had happened in the Americas, where through life in an authentic wild state the actual cimarron - or crioulo - (wild type) emerged.

However, the herd I had come across on the hunting trip had disappeared, and it was not possible, as had been my wish, to acquire it. Nevertheless, I tried to obtain some mares in that area with the same characteristics; I was able to get seven as founding stock of my herd from various herds at Coruche and vicinity. I bred them to horses of the same origin and bearing the same coat characteristics. After ten years, nearly all the original mares have perished, for they were already old when I had obtained them...

(Dr. Andrade then describes his herd as very homogeneous and goes on to describe the foundation mares in detail), and giving the measurements of the horses in his herd), giving the average measurements as follows:

Height at withers: 143 cm to 145 cm (14 + hh to 14,1 + hh)
Perimeter of thorax: 160 cm to 165 cm
Perimeter of cannon bone: 17,5 cm to 18 cm)

... I am convinced that, if they were moved to a more fertile environment, they would develop more fully. However, since what I was interested in was to promote their primitive characteristics, I deliberately kept them in their habitat, where, struggling against the neglect of the breeders there, and in spite of the dislike those had for their coat characteristics, they had somehow managed to keep their original characteristics, thus revealing that this environment favored their preservation and recovery...

... These reasons lead me to the conclusion that the equine group which I am dealing with here represents a primitive type of the Iberian Peninsula, from which the modern Andalusian and Lusitano stem, a group that interests the Argentinians because it is known that the animals of the Tagus (Tejo) delta and those of the Guadalquivir delta are of the same origin. In fact, our wild bovines (fighting bulls), so common here, and the horses of the Ribatejo are the same as the ones of the salt marshes of the Guadalquivir.

Are domestic horses descendants of one or more postglacial primeval horses?
Has there been one or more domestication events?
Are genotypes geographically linked?
Is the Sorraia horse the ancestor to modern Andalusians and Lusitanos?
Do the pony breeds of northern and western Europe have common ancestors?
Are Arabian and Barb horses related?
Is the Mongolian wild horse ancestral to domestic breeds?
 

The sheer number of different mtDNA types found indicates the existance of different postglacial primeval horses, which, according to zoological systematics, should be referred to as subspecies, and which evidently were sources for the domestication process. Considering the horse’s mtDNA mutation rate and the archeological timeframe, the results of this study would require a minimum estimate of 77 mares to have been recruited from the wild for the domestication process, and which must have successfully reproduced in captivity/domestication. This alone is unrealistic as an achievement of a single prehistoric community, but there is the geographical linkeage, which makes it simply impossible: Each of these 77 mares would also have been of different genotype, which means, according to the results of this study, that at least part of them stemmed from geographically distant areas! This presents a feat which to accomplish would have been absolutely unrealistic for any prehistoric community.

The conclusion can only be that the extensive genetic diversity of this (minimum) of 77 ancestral mares means that a number of distinct horse populations were involved in the domestication of the horse.
  

insufficiently documented pedigrees of C1 type were ponies, including Connemaras. Two ancient Viking horses were also found to have the C1 type. Another mtDNA type, cluster E, consisted entirely of Icelandic, Shetland, and Fjord ponies.

Another geographically striking cluster is D1. Its widespread distribution is no surprise, given the strong influence Iberian horses have had on most domestic breeds, but there is a clear frequency maximum in Iberian breeds, as well as in North African horses (Barbs). Due to the historical Spanish presence in the Americas, a high percentage of American mustangs could be expected to be also of this genotype, which mtDNA sequencing did indeed confirm (31 %). The results show clearly that Andalusians, Lusitanos, and Barbs stem from the same primeval population, but the almost complete absence of this genotype in Arabian horses (only 5 %) proves that Arab and Barb horses are not related and of different genetic origins.

A genotype found in Lusitanos (A3) is rather closely related to the one found in Sorraias, but it has yet to be established if these are all variants within one and the same genotype.

The Mongolian wild horse provides another geographically linked genotype (central Asia). Two mtDNA patterns were found for the Mongolian wild horse in this study. ISHIDA ET AL. had published a third mtDNA type for the Mongolian wild horse, but all three are closely related. It was found by Jansen et al. that the Mongolian wild horse had no ancestral role in regard to domestic horse breeds - the mtDNA patterns of the Mongolian wild horse were not found in any other breed or race. This is in agreement with ISHIDA ET AL., who had sampled only a few horses, while the new results were based on a much greater number of individuals.
 

MITOCHONDRIAL DNA AND THE ORIGINS OF THE DOMESTIC HORSE
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99 (16), pp. 10905-10910 (2002)

The Sorraia’s significant influence on the Andalusian and Lusitano, especially the latter, can’t be denied - too obvious are the Sorraia characteristics of many Lusitanos and not just a few Andalusians. This author has seen Lusitanos which were more or less indistinguishable from Sorraias. If such a Sorraia influence has not been proven through mtDNA analyses, it could be because mtDNA is passed on through the maternal line only. It is possible though that such an influence took place through male lines - and any influence through the paternal line will go unnoticed in mtDNA analyses.

In a scenario with a remnant population of wild horses and extensively-kept domestic horses, it has always been the same story the world over: wild stallions stealing domestic mares, or, if not stealing them, at least breeding them out in the fields. Such a stolen mare may later be reclaimed, but she might have conceived a foal by the wild stallion. Trouble with wild stallions was one of the main reasons for the extermination of

White markings occasionally occur even in wild species, as well as albinism and melanism. For instance, there have been spotted, and/or white, deer, elks, buffaloe, elephants; black foxes, wolves, squirrels, etc. If you were to preserve such species, would you pick the odd-colored ones to do that? Or would you rather try to preserve what's typical?

White markings also occur as a by-product of domestication and inbreeding, the latter often being linked to domestication. The extreme inbreeding in today's Sorraias alone would explain the occurence of an occasional white marking.

Also, the Portuguese National Stud don't seem to really appreciate their Sorraias for what they are, and have been treating them like so many domestic horses. They could easily get rid of what few they have that have some white, but they don't seem to care. The grandchildren of Ruy d'Andrade, who own most of today's Sorraia population, certainly do discriminate against white should it crop out.

The typical Sorraia is a dun or grulla of a lighter shade, without white, with a dark, "sooty“ face resp. muzzle area, bi-colored mane and tail, leg stripes in addition to the dorsal stripe, and sometimes stripes on the neck, over the back, and on the forehead (cobwebbing).

The different management in Alter do Chão (Portuguese National Stud) has resulted in a better production rate there (in 1998 they started to put a stallion out in the fields with the mares, while before that, they tried to handbreed these primitive horses). Also, some of the mares imported into Germany have had foals. The total number of maybe 180 head (including the foals) is of course nowhere near a viable population that would ensure the survival of the Sorraia, the most primitive Iberian horse we have today!

The Sorraia's head is rather long and has a convex, or subconvex, profile. This convexity is not just referring to a dropping nose, often called Roman nose, but a continuous convex line from poll to nostrils. The strongest curve in this line is below the eye, while towards the muzzle it becomes almost straight. The eye is set fairly high, the forehead is narrow, the ears medium long to long and not particularly curved. The whole head gives a clear, "dry", bony, refined appearance, as opposed to a meaty, coarse look.

A prominent set of withers is typical for the Sorraia, as is a long shoulder, a medium-long back, a sloping (but not dropping) hip. Protruding hip bones occur, especially in mares; the hips being on the narrow side and tapering towards the tail, in contrast to the "square" rear end of, for instance, the Quarter Horse.

The horse may be narrow, but has great depth of chest. Cannon bones are fairly long, so are the pasterns. The hooves are small to medium size. There is no excessive hair around the fetlock joints.

Sorraias show amazing flexibility vertically and laterally. They have great ability to collect themselves and are extremely agile. A certain amount of knee action is typical, as is a free, ground-covering trot. Some Sorraias are naturally gaited.

In color, all Sorraias are either grulla or regular dun (no red dun). In contrast to certain other duns, which may have a mealy mouth, Sorraias have a dark, "sooty" face mask and a dark muzzle area. A broad, dark, indistinct belly "stripe" runs under the middle of the belly. Mane and tail are bi-colored, i. e. the black middle part (extension of the dorsal stripe) is fringed by light-colored, often almost white, hair.

"Zebra" stripes on legs occur, sometimes also across the withers, on the neck, or over the back, as does "cobwebbing" on the forehead.

Sorraias typically don't have any white markings.

ZEBRO – WILD HORSE

No one knows for sure nowadays the meaning of the term "zebro" in Portuguese, and there is some difference of opinions. Fact is, though, that up until the Middle Ages, official documents differentiate between the zebro and other wild animals. The Portuguese author Arsénio Raposo Cordeiro ("The Lusitano Horse - Son of the Wind") wrote regarding this matter:

"The Sorraia horse is probably a surviver of the equine type which existed until recently in a wild state and which in the Middle Ages was called 'zebro'…"

Although some authors assume that the word 'zebro' refers to 'bull, cow, calf, or bullock', the Lisbon Charter of 1179 is clear on this matter. It distinguishes clearly between the hide of the bull, of the zebro, and of the deer, each costing half a maradevi (ancient Gothic coin used in Spain and Portugal). In the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, one still finds similar references to the zebro, then considered a distinct equine.

Curiously enough, even today one still can find various places between the rivers Tagus and Guadiana named 'Vale de Zebro' (zebro valley), always referring to areas which had been wilder, or less inhabited. In the same region one can also find places called 'Vale de Eguas' (valley of mares), and 'Vale de Cavalos' (valley of horses), thus distinguishing between the wild, or zebro, horse, and the domesticated horse, the Lusitano horse, its probable descendent.

As Ruy d'Andrade pointed out as early as 1926, it were the Portuguese who first used the term 'zebra' in Africa. to define an (wild) animal of the horse family…"

In my opinion, the fact that the Portuguese named the African wild horse species "zebra" is a really strong indication for "zebro" (or "zebra", both spellings did occur) to have been the Portuguese term for a wild horse. That the area that became a Sorraia Refuge now is one known as Vale de Zebro since medieval times, is actually the icing on the cake!

S. Lûcio de Azevedo's mentioned in "Épocas de Portugal Económico, Es boços de Histórica“ official prices for wild animals according to the hunting laws in the year1253. It says there regarding their hides: „Of the hides of wild animals, the zevro's (yet another spelling of the same term) is the most precious; they cost 30 soldos, more than those of wild bulls, which cost 27 soldos." The hides of elk and deer were even cheaper. In a different paragraph the worth of a dead zevro is given as 50 soldos, 30 for the hide and 20 for the meat.

Ruy d’Andrade wrote that a man from Benavente in Portugal first named the African wild horse "zebras" during a trip through the Congo in 1578, and that in 1450, in the Portuguese town of Evora the price for a zevro was ruled to be 2 dineros, from which he drew the conclusion that wild horses lived in that region at least until 1450.

NEW INFORMATION REGARDING THE ZEBRO

In search for the original meaning of the term zebro, whether it applies to a wild horse or some other wild animal, there has been a valuable contribution made by Jesús Alonso from Spain. It stood to reason that the "zebro's" habitat was not confined to Portugal, but spread over much of the Iberian Peninsula, but Jesús Alonso found evidence to that effect! Not only that, but what he found clearly shows that the term did indeed apply to a wild equid - obviously the animal that Ruy d'Andrade tried to rescue, which he named "Sorraia horse"!

Jesús Alonso found in Spain the Spanish counterparts to the Portuguese field names "Vale de Zebro", etc. The Spanish term for the zebro was "cebro", "encebro", or "encebra", and was in use in Spain up to the XVI century.

"They were wild equids, 'rat'-colored, and had stripes on the back and legs," says Alonso. "So they were probably nothing but Sorraias. Some Spanish town and field names still bear the word Encebro, Cebro, or Encebra, such as Encebras (villages in Cuenca, Alicante and Granada), Cebreros (a village in Avila), or the Cebreiro (a mountain pass in Galicia)."

  Encebras, in southern Spain, near
  Elda, near the Sierra del Carche, is
  just one of many town and field
  names in Spain that refer to the
  wild equid "encebro", or "zebro",
  that once roamed here












Evidently, the equid zebro, encebro, or encebra has been mentioned by different Spanish sources from the XIV to the XVI century in an area covering at least South, Central and Eastern Spain (that is where encebro-related field names are found). Jesús Alonso could also find historical sources where the encebro is mentioned, such as the book "El Libro de La Montería" (meaning "The Book of Hunting"), written in the first half of the XIV century under the auspices of king Alfonso XI of Castile. This book describes, often tediously, the best places for hunting within the domains of this king. It concentrates mainly on bear and boar, but says in one of the chapters about the medieval wildlife of Cartagena (in Murcia, southeastern Spain) that "encebras" lived there.

Besides in the El Libro de la Montería, encebras are mentioned in other sources: The "Relación de Chinchilla", written in 1576, describes the animals living around Chinchilla in southeastern Spain and describes the encebras as "ash-colored mares", resp. colored like rats, a bit short, whinnying as mares, and running faster than the best (riding) horse".

"Colored like rats" is indicating clearly that they were grullas, as the Portuguese term for grullas is "rato", which means "rat". This also strongly indicates that the original color of the Sorraia (or zebra, or encebra) was grulla/mouse-dun/rato, and not dun (baio). The "Arte Cisoria", written by a Valencian called E. de Villena, mentions encebra meat and says that it was eaten as a remedy against idleness/lazyness (back then, people often thought that by eating the flesh of an animal, that animal's energy, vitality, strength and abilities would become their own).

In the medieval tale "Romance del Rey Marsin" one of the verses says, "There goes King Marsin, a knight riding on a zebra, for lack of a (riding) horse".

The Libro de la Montería mentions encebras in the mountain areas of Murcia in book III, page 192, saying:
"The Villa Franca river is a good range for boar and enzebras in winter." "Cabezas de Copares is a good place for boar and enzebras in winter." "The Sierra de Zelchite is a good place for boar in winter and there are plenty of enzebras."

Here is a text found and translated by Jesús Alonso:

"Zebro is the name given in the middle ages, in Portugal, León and Castile, to a certain species of wild equine that lived in some parts of the Iberian peninsula until it became extinct towards the end of the XV century. In the kingdom of Aragon it was better known as Zebra or Encebra.
Medieval chronicles describe the zebro as a domestic ass-like animal, but taller, stronger and sturdier, besides being very fast and ill-tempered. The coat was greyish ("rat coat" is the term commonly used in medieval descriptions), interrupted by a black stripe along the back. It seems the nose was also black, and it had stripes on the legs. They lived in herds that preferred to wander on the plains, but withdrew to the mountain regions due to hunting and pressure from domestic stock.
Around the end of the XV century and beginning of the XVI century, the zebro disappears from the hunting chronicles, probably due to its extinction. However, there are isolated mentionings in later writings.
The zebro´s identity has been debated for a long time. At first it was thought they were simply feral asses of the North African species Equus asinus atlanticus, introduced a bit before the Roman conquest. But several aspects did not fit: their wild and unruly behaviour, their greater size and the fact that they were whinnying like horses. The possibility that it was an endemic species of the Iberian Peninsula grew stronger and stronger.
There are two curiosities left to tell about the zebro. First, that the last area where it was abundant, the southeast of Spain, kept some field names regarding this animal, such as Valdencebro (Teruel), Encebras (Alicante), or Las Encebras (Murcia) in Spain, and Ribeira de Zebro in the municipality of Moura, Portugal. Secondly, that when Portuguese started exploring the African coast and arrived at Cape Good Hope at the end of the XV century, they found striped equines that seemed to them very similar in shape and size to the zebros, so they called them zebras."

Fernando Prado from Brazil mentioned that a book titled "800 Years of Hunting in Portugal" describes the zebro as a hemionus (halfass). However, there are several reasons why that is unlikely:

1) Perhaps the strongest indication for the zebro to have been a horse, not a hemionus, is that the zebro is reported to have been whinnying like horses - no hemionus species does that.

2) Zebros are described as having had dark, or black, noses - which would be consistent with rato color, but not with the mealy mouth found in wild asses and halfasses.

3) None of the hemionus species have prominent leg stripes. Although they usually do have a dorsal stripe, and the Onager has a really broad one, their legs are light in color, mostly nearly white, as are their bellies and flanks. The Somali wild ass does have leg stripes, but even it doesn't have an appearance like the striped horses Ruy d'Andrade knew and portrayed, likely to remind the Portuguese explorer around Africa of their native wild equines when seeing zebras there... Especially the Quagga must have come pretty close in appearance to dun-factor horses as Ruy d'Andrade portrayed and desrcibed them. None of the wild asses and halfasses really resemble even remotely the zebra in color.

4) All hemionus species, and subspecies, are of a yellowish or reddish color, set off with whitish areas - Onager, Kiang, Khur, Kulan, Dschiggetai, and Syrian hemionus. None of them are what one could call rato (grulla). Of course one couldn't rule out the existence of a rato-colored hemionus subspecies in southwestern Europe, namely, Iberia, but that is really a far stretch, when all existing hemionus are more baio in color than rato (even though they differ from what we know as baios).

5) While archeologists and paleozoologists are agreed on the existence of a hemionus population in Europe (and a wild asinus population as well) in prehistoric times (to have become extinct 7,000 years ago at the latest), all hemionus species and subspecies are and were found in Asia and Arabia - far from Iberia. Again, it is some stretch to believe, and cries for substantiation, that they should have become extict everywhere else in northern Africa and the Mediterranean, but survived in Iberia - the farthest from their original stronghold.
Maybe something that one should also consider here is that Ruy d'Andrade, in his report of his first encounter with the wild bunch of horses that inspired him to pursue his Sorraia project, was reminded by them of a herd of hemionuses. It can't be ruled out that people less educated in equines than he was would simply have considered them to be - if not halfasses, because for that they would have had to be properly educated again - but a different kind of animal (species), which they called zebro/encebro. Today, Sorraias are becoming more and more small editions of the modern Lusitano, but there used to be those that were quite different in phenotype - leaner, with less muscling, rafter-hipped, often ewe-necked, and with ears that tend to be longish. Such horses, especially when in poor condition, definitely resemble a hemionus to a degree.

Jesús Alonso said:

"I do not think zebros were wild asses, not only because of the whinnying or the color, but also because there are no wild donkies in cave paintings or other paintings, or any artistic evidence of wild donkies living in the Iberian peninsula, and they are not mentioned by Greeks or Romans, who, on the other hand, mentioned the existence of wild horses."

A full brother to Sovina, born at Hardy Oelke's place in 2000, was shipped to Wisconsin in early 2001. His name is Tejo II, named after the majestic Portuguese river which dominates the region north of Lisbon, and into which the river Sorraia empties. Owner Karen Dalke has been doing research regarding the mustang's importance and role in the life of today's Americans. She also owns "Elle Est Féliciteé", a grulla Nevada mustang mare registered Tentative in the Sorraia Mustang Studbook.

Tejo II, a grullo of excellent Sorraia type and very sweet disposition, will hopefully establish himself as a sire of Sorraia Mustangs and later, of pure Sorraias. His dam is from the old d'Andrade herd, and his sire is still a herd sire there resp. at the National Stud in Alter do Chão. Tejo's sire and dam are both grullas.

Karen also expressed her hopes to be able to acquire some Sorraia mares in the future, to breed them to Tejo. Her plans for Tejo include not only to break him to the saddle, but also to drive him hitched to her 1903 doctor's buggy.

 

Sovina as a yearling while still in Germany. He has shed his winter coat since
and has raised eyebrows wherever he was exhibited.
Photo © Oelke

Tejo II – A Great-looking Specimen
Karen Dalke sent in this current shot of her Sorraia stallion Tejo II,
which – as everyone can see – is a very typical specimen, and is in
great shape.
Photo © Dalke

Gore Bay residents Kevin Droski and his wife, Lynne Gerard, have imported this Sorraia colt to breed to specific North American mustang mares that are similar in their appearance to the Iberian Sorraia horse, and to any Sorraia mares that may be brought to North America. Known as "Sorraia Mustangs", Sorraia-like mustangs are cropping out among mustang herds all over North America. By creating a Sorraia Mustang preserve at Ravenseyrie, their remote, 243 acre farm, Droski and Gerard hope to make a significant contribution to the consolidation of the Sorraia characteristics in select North American mustangs, perhaps eventually even strengthening the gene pool of the Iberian Sorraias.

"We feel our preserve will benefit the efforts to save the Sorraia as well as bring attention to the special qualities of Sorraia Mustangs," says Gerard. "Ravenseyrie is an excellent natural environment for breeding and raising these rare horses in a semi-wild setting. Kevin and I look forward to recording and sharing data on this project across the ocean and out west."

It has been a pleasure to be of service to Lynne and Kevin. I deeply appreciate their interest and aspiration for the reestablishment and preservation of that rare animal, the Sorraia-type mustang, and the effort and sacrifice they made to make a meaningful contribution to the cause. I'm impressed by their enthusiasm and diligence and sincerely hope that Altamiro will become the foundation sire of excellent strains of Sorraia Mustangs.

Adds Kevin Droski: "Our present mustang fillies, Bella and Belina, are a marvelous expression of many of the most desirable attributes of the horse. They are tough, smart, sensible and well suited to these rugged island conditions. A stunning addition to this landscape, their mere presence justifies the effort. The introduction of Altamiro promises to be both fascinating and productive."

It is of particular interest that Fernando Prado Ferreira has a grullo Lusitano stallion that in every way resembles a Sorraia in phenotype. This horse is one of the best Sorraia types alive anywhere, and the only difference is his size.

This summer, Fernando bought a Sorraia mare in Portugal, to import her to his home country, a mare that is in foal to a Sorraia stallion.

On November 4th, 2006, Vaiada, the Sorraia mare from Portugal, arrived in good condition in Brazil.

"This marks the first time since Brazil was a Portuguese colony that a Sorraia was brought back again to this country", Fernando commented proudly.

Fernando also found a Brazilian native horse, a crioulo, that looked exactly like a Sorraia. Unfortunately, that stallion died recently. He then located a son of this stallion that looked much like him. The horse wasn't for sale, though. It is a very good cow and ranch horse, the kind that a vaqueiro won't part with!

FIRST SORRAIA BORN IN BRAZIL

Fernando Prado Ferreira, who recently imported a Sorraia mare from Portugal, announced the birth of a foal out of that mare:

"I am very pleased to annnounce that Vaiada, my Sorraia mare bred by José Luis d`Andrade and imported to Brazil last November, gave birth to a healthy and good looking colt named Cabral, after the Portuguese Navigator who discovered Brazil in 1500. It is my belief that Cabral is the first Sorraia born in the Americas, which makes all of us especially proud. In reality, it is the return of the Sorraia as we know it today, since the colonial times of Portuguese America, now Brazil."

Cabral V.P. was born February 22, 2007.

In view of unnecessary inbreeding by the Portuguese in the past, it seems to be in order to report that recently, at least a certain interchange of Sorraia stallions has taken place between some breeders.

2003 had been a bad year for the Sorraias in Portugal, as very few foals were born and survived. 2004 was much better in that respect. In 2005, a number of foals were born - in spite of the draught - and also in 2006, which was a much better year in regard to the weather.

The greatest threat to the Sorraia's identity in Portugal is that it is increasingly treated like just another breed, and is thus losing rapidly the wild behavior and instincts. This is in sharp contrast to what Ruy d'Andrade saw in these horses and why he preserved them. This domestic breeding also tends to change the phenotype, and artificial measures taken in the reproduction of the horses allow individuals to reproduce which would have been eliminated under natural conditions - again, quite the opposite of Ruy d'Andrade's endeavour.

The Portuguese declared 2004 to be the "Year of the Sorraia Horse". However, they celebrated it by showing Sorraias in a variety of activities, just like they were so many small Lusitanos, or other domestic horses. It had not been Ruy d'Andrade's idea to create a new horse breed, one smaller than the Lusitano, as an alternative to the latter. He was convinced of the Sorraia's status as a primitive and indigenous Iberian horse. What is taking place today is not in keeping with his ideas and conviction. The only place where Sorraias are allowed to live wild and natural today is the newly established "Vale de Zebro Sorraia Horse Refuge" in Portugal (see separate chapter).

It may strike us a bit odd that two German horse experts contributed decisively to the awareness and preservation of the Sorraia horse. Michael Schaefer directed scientific interest to these horses and bred them for three decades on his farm near Munich, however without having any influence on their preservation in Portugal, the country of their origin. There, the government and private breeders more or less neglected this genetic treasure, which due to inbreeding and lack of interest was threatened to become extinct. Not until the mid-1990s was there a man whose interest in the Sorraias and whose engagement were to lead to a positive turn for them. The renowned western horse expert and author of specialized books Hardy Oelke, who has always been interested in primitive horses, found on a trip into American mustang country some mustangs that he thought resembled the Sorraia to an uncanny degree. He decided to travel to Portugal to see first-hand if that impression was correct. Because of the phenotypical similarities he subsequently initiated a mtDNA research which yielded significant results in various aspects.
 



The horses are difficult to see in the refuge, as there are plenty of opportunities for them to hide
Photo © Oelke


His first visit to Portugal made him already concerned about the Sorraias' situation in their homeland, an impression that got stronger with every visit. He decided to try and help these horses and in 1997 imported some to Germany, with more following later.

"Nowhere were the Sorraias treated as what Ruy d'Andrade believed them to be and why he tried to preserve them", explained Oelke. "And hardly anywhere were they kept under according conditions. Until 1998, there was a small group allowed to live under practically wild conditions, but they, too, have since come under a certain domesticating influence. Everywhere else they are treated increasingly like a domestic breed. I realized that only a reservation would enable at least some of these horses to retain their primitiveness. That had also basically been Ruy d'Andrade's intentions, only that his descendants didn't keep that up."

"It's the icing on the cake that the refuge lies in what is known as the "Vale de Zebro", i.e. a original habitat of these ancient Portuguse wild horses", Oelke says, "as 'zebro', for all we know, meant 'wild horse' in medieval times."

March 13, 2004 became a historical date for the Sorraias, as that's when Oelke's Sorraia mares arrived back in their home country and were released in the refuge as the nucleus of a new, wild herd. Their shipment there was made possible by the Germany-based Wiechers international transport service. They all arrived in good shape and immediately took possession of their new range. For more than a day they disappeared and were only viewed by Oelke due to sheer luck the following evening. When the mares spotted the intruder, they took to their heels in the blink of an eye.

"They showed that they haven't yet quite lost their instincts", said Oelke. "Here they can live as free and wild as is possibly in today's Europe, and have a chance to retain their primitive character."

As his own stallion was already too tame, and also the sire of one of the mares, he approached a grandson of Ruy d’Andrade, Fernando d'Andrade, for a stallion, who graciously agreed to support the project by lending a proven herd sire. Fernando d'Andrade's Sorraia herd is one of the most naturally kept, and is also genetically as distant from the mares as is possible in Portugal.

"The project should be put on as wide a genetic base as is possible under the circumstances", Oelke explained. "The mares stem from two different herds, and the stallion is now from yet another herd."

The stallion had had hardly any contact with humans and had to be driven on the truck by way of a chute. After having jumped off the truck in the refuge, he directly took to the woods - probably he had smelled the mares. He will hopefully sire some offspring within the next couple of years.

The refuge, which is not too far from the town of Coruche, is about five square kilometers in size. Climate, vegetation, and topography are similar to what the Sorraias were used to for millenniums, when they roamed the range as "zebros". Human intervention is going to be kept at an absolute minimum. Even scientific observations are not planned for the time being. The area is patrolled by armed forest rangers, but no one is going near the horses. Management is restricted to eventually taking out excess horses. According to the law of Nature, the weakest ones will be taken out whenever the herd will get to be too large.



THE VALE DE ZEBRO SORRAIA HORSE REFUGE

By Hardy Oelke

Yesterday, the mares had arrived and had been unloaded in the refuge. After two days on the road, they had seemed overjoyed by being released in such an ideal environment. My feelings were mixed - I had taken care of them for years, and they had grown on me. But I could not help but notice how they lost more and more of the wild behavior they had once possessed, and seeing what is being done with the Sorraias everywhere, how they are increasingly treated like a domestic breed, I am glad that this refuge could be realized, where they will lead as wild and natural a life as is possible in our modern times.

All morning we had been wandering over the refuge, seeing horse tracks here and there, but not a single horse. After lunch, I went back in alone, determined to search for them until I found them, or until it would get dark on me. Now the sun is already pretty low and I decide to head back toward the gate. My legs and feet hurt. I've done more walking today than I normally do in months…

One significant observation this project has already yielded: horses are generally viewed as steppe animals, as creatures of the open plains. Well, the Sorraia Refuge has several fairly flat and open valleys. The cows can be seen mostly in these bottom areas, feeding on the lush grass there. And I had certainly expected the horses to prefer these flat bottoms as their "living quarters". Quite to the contrary. They have taken to the forest almost immediately, and have never come out of it since! Unless they did so at night.

The forest here - mostly cork oak and pines, heather and bushes - is not dense and lets plenty of light in and offers good grazing. The horses seem to like it. Even if they should later - after having become more familiar with the surroundings and feeling more secure - go more often to the open valley bottoms, in other words, if their object of taking to the bush is to hide, it is still significant that they automatically seek security in the forest. If the theory were valid that the horse is an animal of the open grassland, where it can see danger from afar and take to its heels, then why do these reintroduced Sorraias retreat to the forest for security?

This morning we had been making too much noise, I'm sure. Even if everyone is cautious, a group of four men is bound to make some noise, and the horses could have avoided us easily. Going alone, I've tried to be really quite… I can't deny that I'm a bit disappointed not to have found them. I had been hoping to get a few photographs of them in their new habitat. On the other hand, I'm telling myself, "This is great!" It is exactly why this area was chosen, because it is so large and diversified, with hills, forest, bushes, etc., all of which makes it hard to see the horses, but make a wonderful environment for them. I'm reminding myself that it is exactly what I've hoped for all these years, and that it doesn't matter if I get a glimpse of them or not. What matters is that I've done for them the best I could, enabled to do so by the generous consent of the Cunhal Sendim family who own this land.

And all of a sudden I see a horse's tail moving between some pine trees! Well, I've found them after all, albeit by cheer luck! I slowly step a little bet closer, as noiselessly as I can. I get my camera ready, zoom in on them, and start shooting. At least I'll have some shots to show off! Then one of them notices me and in the blink of an eye they are all gone, like so many deer…

How wonderful! They have not yet lost their wild instincts completely. I well remember how they reacted even in the comparatively small and completely open pasture I kept them in at home, how in the beginning they had run away whenever one entered it. And how over the years, the distance of tolerance had continuously decreased. Hopefully, not being exposed to humans routinely in the future - not being interfered with at all - will result in a revitalization of their wild behavior. Maybe in a year's time one won't even be able to do what I just did - or at least not without a lot more cunning.

A few days later, a Sorraia stallion is hauled to the Sorraia Refuge and released there. He is from Fernando d'Andrade, whose Sorraias, especially the stallions, are still pretty wild and not being handled at all. He had to be driven into a round corral and from there into a chute, which the truck was backed up to, so he could be driven onto it. Fernando d'Andrade, a grandson of the great Dr. Ruy d'Andrade, is thus supporting the project, as he also is of the opinion that it is likely to help the Sorraia horse.

The stallion jumps off the truck, puts a little distance between himself and the people and starts sniffing the ground. Then he takes off rather dedicedly in one direction. Has he already smelled the mares?

After the truck and everybody else has left, I try to follow the stallion. Perhaps I have a chance to see him making contact with the mares… Every so often I stop and just listen, expecting to hear the typical screaming and squeaking horses make when introducing themselves - but there is nothing to hear except the wind in the trees, and sometimes the faraway clinking of the cows' bells. When the sun starts to set I leave, again a little disappointed, but with a more deeply felt satisfaction for the size of the Refuge and what it has to offer. The stallion and the mares are bound to meet soon, if they have not already done so. For them to be able to roam like their ancestors did is the main issue of this project, for them to hone their survival instincts, to be able to complete their diet with all sorts of plants besides grass, to stay surefooted… All this land is, by the way, not artificially fertilzed, and no chemicals are used for whatever reason, allowing a natural balance of plants to grow. For all these reasons, the area is ideal. After all, for all we know it is a land where wild horses used to roam in the past, because "Vale de Zebro", the name this area is known by, can be translated as "valley of wild horses".

What is the medium-term and long-term plan for the Vale de Zebro Sorraia Horse Refuge?

The short-term, medium-term, and final plan is to leave the horses to themselves and interfere with them as little as possible. Regarding the stallion now introduced, the plan is to take him out after two years; by then there should be some male offspring. The two strongest of the young stallions will be left in the Refuge, any additional ones will be taken out. Then it is left to the two stallions to battle over the mares. The area is large enough to allow for this, meaning it is large enough for a defeated stallion to retreat from a stronger one. As there are mares in the refuge from two different Sorraia herds, and the stallion now introduced is from yet another herd, we will have represented most of what genetic diversity can be found in today's Sorraias.

Any excess horses that need to be removed will always be the weaker ones, which Mother Nature eventually would have culled anyway. The eventual size of the population in the refuge is dependend of the Cunhal Sendim family, who own the land; it is their call to decide on the limit. They have been very supportive and are glad to be of service to a uniquely Portuguese cause, that of the zebro, or Sorraia horse!

This is the only herd now that is allowed to live wild, without human interference, or at least with the least possible interference. As in this day and age, everything has to be managed to a degree. The fact that the area is fenced in is, for instance, an interference. However, it stands to reason that the horses can't be allowed to go just anywhere, because then they would get lost. Even the mustangs in America, whose herd management areas may sometimes be the size of half of Portugal, need to be managed, in order to keep numbers in check and allow other wildlife to prosper. What will be different in the Vale de Zebro Sorraia Refuge compared to some other places where Sorraias are kept under fairly natural consitions is:

- In the Refuge the stallions are not going to be separated from the mares, but stay with them all year round, and the young stock is not separated either, allowing for a natural interaction and social structure.

- Young horses will grow up under natural conditions, and not together with domestic horses (Lusitanos), as is the case with several Sorraia breeders in Portugal nowadays, including the National Stud (Coudelaria Nacional). Being raised with Lusitanos, they adapt the Lusitanos' tame behavior.

- Mares and foals will not get their manes and tails roached, as is customary with most breeders, which not only looks awful, but robs the horses of natural protection, and the process is bound to desensitize them. And it is of course completely unnatural anyway.

- The horses born in the Refuge are not going to be branded, or handled in any way.

As of June 2006, everything in the Refuge has been going fine. If one could ask the horses, they would most likely say: "More than just fine. This is GREAT!"

Fortunatey, the terrible draught in 2005 did not affect the Refuge adversely. Because of the size of the area, and the diverse vegetation, the horses did not have to suffer in any way. It's also very fortunate that the area was spared from the wildfires. Rough roads have been cleared as firebreakers, and also to give access to the firefighters in case of an outbreak. And all relevant people have been instructed as to what to do in case of an emergency. These things are good to know...

Late in the summer of 2005, the stallion had driven away the two yearling colts, which was to be expected. They have become very shy, living in hiding where the trees are pretty dense. They had not yet joined to form a bachelor band. It was with great difficulty - and considerable help of lady luck - that we were able to locate them at all. One day we saw one, a couple days later we happened on the other one. They both looked like they are coping well. It's going to be interesting to see if and when and how they are going to join the mares again, once the old stallion has been removed, which is going to happen this summer (2006), as the lease has run out.

There was a yearling colt still with the herd on June 14th, but another check on the herd a few days later revealed that he, too, had got driven off by the stallion. He has not been seen since...

No foals had been born as of June 2006, but three mature mares looked heavy with foal. The three-year-old mare was still close with the stallion - she has been his special girl friend right from the beginning. Will she be bred this season?

All the horses in the herd were in good flesh and radiated health, soundness, and contentment. There are now six mares/fillies, and when the old stallion has been removed, there will be the two young stallions born in 2004 vying for the mares.



This is one of the herd's favorite places,
a shade tree a the edge of the woods
Photo © Oelke




The leading stallion studying the "news" at one of his "stud piles"
Photo © Oelke

Exciting things have happened in the Vale de Zebro Refuge! The mature stallion that Fernando d'Andrade had generously contributed in 2004 to get things started, and to introduce a somewhat different strain, had been removed in the late summer of 2006. He had sired a number of foals, but the interesting question was now how the young stallions born in the Refuge would deal with the situation, how they would behave, if and when one of them would assume the new role as a harem stallion, and which one of them.

Bachelor bands are often observed with wild horses: groups of stallions - usually young stallions - that have not been able to win mares, and which are dominated and treated by a dominant stallion like they were so many mares. In the Vale de Zebro, such bachelor bands were never observed. The young stallions that were chased off by the herd stallion all lived their separate lives, hiding as best they could in the woods. They were occasionally sighted, but only rarely, and if happened upon, they would flee instantly.

In April 2007, after the old stallion had been taken out the year before, one of the two stallions that were then three-year-olds had taken up with the mares. Both these 2004 stallions had been sired in Germany by the stallion I had then, but were born in the Refuge. I will refer to them here now as S1 and S2.

The first thing I noticed when going into the Refuge in 2007 was that the horses had adopted a different routine. They were not found where before, one usually had been able to find them. We wandered several hours over part of the area, and all we got to see was a solitary young stallion which I took for one of the three-year-olds, but which I later confirmed to be a two-year-old. Even the resting place under a big tree that the band had frequented so much that the ground was strewn with manure had been abandoned, and had been abandoned long since because all the manure had deteriorated into the soil, and the place was practically bare of horse signs. Although the old stallion had always looked more like a bystander and had usually been on the fringes of the herd, he obviously had had a greater influence on the herd's behavior and routine than one had realized.

The three-year-old stallion S1 was barely tolerated by the mares in the spring of 2007, but went through all the motions, like sniffing the ground where the mares had urinated and where they had dropped their droppings, and marking them with his own urine and droppings. The youngest adult mare, which was four years of age at the time, was still not ready to tolerate him, attacking him fom time to time and trying to drive him off. Interestingly enough, she is his full sister. The stallion could often be observed to flirt with a young filly, which I took for a two-year-old.

The other three-year-old stallion in 2007, S2, was seen heavily limping and in skinny condition; obviously he had been fought off and been injured in the process. In fact, one morning I first heard, then saw him, coming down a hillside and through the brush, running across the valley and taking up cover on the opposite side, checking whether the dominant stallion S1 was still on his heels. The latter was seen briefly looking after him, then turning around to go back to "his" mares. By that time S2 had recovered and was not lame anymore. Another solitary stallion was observed in a far corner of the area, in good flesh, and evidently a year younger.

To briefly digress here: When Fernando d'Andrade had put two yearling colts in a pasture occupied by three mature stallions, two of the old stallions tried to attack the youngsters while the third (who had never been with any mares) protected them and led them way off, keeping them there under his wings, thus forming the closest thing to a bachelor band I've seen with Sorraias (stallion pastures, as one can find with some of the d'Andrade family, could be viewed as bachelor bands, and even the mature stallions get along just fine, but they aren't the same as bachelor bands in the wild, because the horses did not group out of their free will).

During the time I had Sorraias at my home in Germany, I had used two different young stallions, neither one sired a foal before he was four years of age. In the zoological park in Springe, Germany, the same had been experienced with their Sorraia stallions. So, naturally, I did not expect any babies to be born in the Refuge in 2008. However, before going there again in April 2008, I had received the wonderful news from Manitoulin Island in Ontario that Altamiro, the three-year-old Sorraia colt there, had become a daddy! Which means he had sired at the tender age of two! Even so, I tried not to get my hopes up too much. However, sure enough, practically the first thing we saw when finding the horses in the Refuge in April of 2008 was that the oldest mare there had a baby foal at her side! Which proved, of course, not only that the young stallion had been able to establish himself as the harem sire, but also that he is fertile, which can't be taken for granted in a population as inbred as the Sorraias are.

  The 19-year-old mare with her 2008 foal
  Photo © Oelke

Soon though it became clear that several horses were missing, some youngsters and definitely two mature mares. So it was with worries that we left the Refuge at nightfall.

The next day revealed what had happened, however, and brought another exciting discovery. We soon enough found the horses again, which were at a place in Vale de Zebro were a smaller valley merges from one side. There was a herd of cows grazing in that little valley, and among them we suddenly saw one of the missing mares standing, looking towards the band of horses we were observing. Then, out from the herd of cattle came another horse, soon identified as a stallion - the stallion that had been beaten up the year before! He walked over a little in the direction of the band we first saw, and at this time it became clear what had happened: Two bands had formed, each "owned" by one of the now four-year-old stallions.

The other stallion, S1, started to also leave his band and walked toward the side valley, and the two stallions met about halfway between the two bands, which may have been about a hundred yards apart. They exchanged the usual greetings between horses, mostly sniffing, facial expressions, then engaged in a little mock fight, including rearing and biting at the forelegs, which makes them kneel down. It was noticeable that S1, who had first established himself as a harem stallion the year before, was the less active one. Obviously he had more self-assurance and authority, while the other one made more of a show. After this exchange of pleasantries, and reestablishing their positions, they turned around and each went back to his respective band.

This was probably the most exciting observation I'd ever made in the Refuge.

The next days we were unable to find the second band, but on the last day we had the advantage of an off-road vehicle and, driving all over, eventually found them. This time, we were able to study them more closely. An older mare was with this band that looked like she may have been due for a foal in 2008, and a colt that could have been an early 2007 or late 2006 foal. There was another mare in this band that was the very one which attacked the S1 stallion in 2007 when she was still with the first band. She had a colt at her side - her first ever - that must have been born in 2007 and therefore was still sired by the old stallion that had been leased and removed after two years. This is the mare with the best leg stripes anywhere. She had expressed such male behavior the year before that I had been worried whether there was something wrong with her, and whether she would ever have foals herself...

This young mare rejected the S1 stallion back then and took up with S2, which is interesting, as S1 is her full brother. The harem stallion of this second band, S2, is the son of the old mare in the first band that had the 2008 baby. A coincidence? I don't think so - obviously, Mother Nature at work, playing the horses' instincts, sorting them so that the least possible inbreeding is taking place!

The guardian for the cattle, who is looking after them regularly and therefore gets to see the horses most often, told me that there was a time late last year when all these horses mingled together; that means both stallions were with the mares, before the separating into two bands took place. Evidently, the separation didn't take place in a dramatic way, with the stallions fighting and one managing to kidnapping two mares and their foals, but it happened more like a gentleman's agreement. This during a time when the mating season was over and none of the mares would have been in heat.

By the same token, I assume that the friendly exchange between the two harem stallions that we observed may take place only during times when no mare is in heat in any of the bands; and if one is in heat, that they will stay apart as much as they can.

Another interesting observation was made: On the outskirts of the second band there hovered a young stallion, a three-year-old. He looked like he was making use of some cows as kind of a barrier. We observed him also to more or less sneak into the band, greeting S2, the harem sire, then running off with him and having a bit of a mock fight away from the mares and their colts. It was all in good spirit and there was no hostility between them. The S2 stud occasionally even allowed the lesser one to chase him. After they had had their workout, they remained standing there close together for a while, resting. Again, I assume that this behavior only took place because no mares were in heat, but it surely is interesting.

At any rate, things are developing great in the Vale de Zebro Refuge. I had been hoping for two bands to eventually develop, but did not dare hope it would take place so soon. Reports of how bitterly Sorraia stallions had fought, so that they had to be separated for fear they would fatally injure one another, had me worried. Evidently, the absolute natural conditions the animals are kept in, and the size of the area, has allowed for this natural development to take place.

I find it also great that now both these stallions get their chance to reproduce, as S1 has better color, but I like S2 better as far as conformation and size is concerned.

Regarding the fact that the two colts did sire foals so early in their lives - the one in Canada and the one in Vale de Zebro -, the only explanation I have is that they both lived under natural conditions - not just unmolested and roaming free, but also in an area with natural plants, grasses, heather, woods, and unfertilized and untreated with chemicals. My pastures at home were unfertilized and untreated with pesticides, too, but they were just that: pastures. These horses have free access to a variety of plants and minerals from marshy grounds to sandy soil to rocks and forest. In both cases there was no older stallion to drive them away, of course, but that was also the case on my place and in Springe... For lack of a better explanation, I give credit to these natural conditions.

One of the fillies in the first band looked like she may be in foal; if that proves to be true, she would be foaling as a three-year-old and be the youngest Sorraia mare I know to become a mother.

To be continued ...

  S2 and the 3-year-old romping
  Photo © Oelke

The Sorraia horse is the most primitive Iberian horse known to Man that still exists, a probable ancestor of the proud Lusitano, of Spanish Mustangs and Central and South American breeds. Indigenous to South Iberia, and influencial in the creation of many domestic breeds, the Sorraia horse is today critically endangered. It is no longer found in the wild in its homeland, but a few herds remain in domestication and semi-domestication.

Much misinformation has been disseminated about this ancient subspecies, but here is the first book in English, offering first-hand knowledge and authentic historical data!

What's more: Incredible as it may seem, this horse survived true in type among some American mustang herds!

"Born Survivors on the Eve of Extinction" – interesting, educational, and fascinating reading for all Iberian horse enthusiasts, wild horse lovers, and mustang fans

Os Cavalos do Sorraia são os últimos descendentes do cavalo selvagem do sul da Península Ibérica que, aparentemente, sobreviveram no então inacessível vale do rio Sorraia em Portugal. O hipólogo português Dr. Ruy d'Andrade descobriu em 1920, enquanto caçava, a última manada existente desta raça, tornando-se o responsável pela sua preservação. Chamou-os de "Sorraia", por causa do Rio Sorraia, local onde os descobriu. Admite-se que no passado em Portugal, estes cavalos selvagens tenham sido conhecidos por "zebro" ou mesmo "zebra".

Os Cavalos do Sorraia medem aproximadamente entre 1,40 m e 1,48 m na cernelha e são sempre de coloração baia ou rato. Quando domados, podem-se tornar nuns obedientes animais de sela. Actualmente existem aproximadamente 200 cabeças, encontrando-se a maior parte em Portugal, embora a Alemanha também detenha um bom número. Nos dias de hoje, esta espécie já não vive em regime selvagem, mas é criada de maneira natural pela família d'Andrade. Contudo, os que pertencem à Coudelaria Nacional são normalmente mantidos em estábulos e tratados como se fossem apenas mais uma criação de cavalos.

Ainda hoje existe uma manada selvagem, que sobrevive sem qualquer ajuda humana no "Refúgio do Vale de Zebro Sorraia" a nordeste de Lisboa.

É frequente os Sorraias, serem erradamente apresentados como uma raça domesticada. O seu salvador, Dr. Ruy d'Andrade, zoologista, paleontólogo, um dos mais conceituados criadores de cavalos Lusitanos e um especialista de renome em Cavalos Ibéricos, considera-os como uma subespécie selvagem e um antepassado do cavalo Lusitano, teoria entretanto comprovada através de pesquisas moleculares e genéticas. Ao criar Sorraias como uma raça domesticada, não se contribui para a sua preservação, mas antes para a sua mudança contrariando os ideais do Dr. Ruy d'Andrade - se ele não tivesse acreditado que Sorraia fosse uma subespécie selvagem, não teria dado uma palestra sobre Sorraias no XII Congresso Internacional de Zoologia em Lisboa.

SORRAIA – UMA RAÇA DOMESTICADA?

A forma como os Sorraias são alimentados e criados actualmente, pode levar a que rapidamente esta raça se transforme em mais uma raça domesticada. Chamar a estes cavalos uma criação, é exactamente o oposto do que Ruy d'Andrade pensaria e do que tentou preservar. Se os cavalos que ele chamou de "Sorraias" tivessem existido como uma criação, ele teria tido conhecimento disso e não iria arriscar a sua reputação como cientista, descrevendo-os como descendentes selvagens dos cavalos da Idade do Gelo.

Do seu relatório e notas, há especialmente dois parágrafos, que frequentemente são mal interpretados. Um é o relato da sua descoberta destes cavalos:

"Mais tarde, em 1920, andando à caça na região de Coruche, no baixo Sorraia, numa propriedade chamada 'Sesmaria', deparei com uma manada de uns 30 indivíduos, mais de metade dos quais eram baios claros, alguns ratos, muito zebrados e com aspecto geral absolutamente selvagem ou primitivo, como se fossem uma espécie de zebras ou hemiones."

É essencial referir, que Ruy d'Andrade, não faz qualquer referência ao facto desta manada, consistir em cavalos de diferentes cores, apesar de frequente e erradamente interpretado dessa maneira. O que ele referiu, é que mais de metade desses cavalos eram baios claros - ele não diz se os outros, nem refere especificamente se haveria outros, seriam de cor baia mais escura. Relativamente aos de cor rato "muito zebrados", ele não refere quantos haveria de cor rato e menos zebrados. De facto, ele não menciona quaisquer outras cores, além de baio ou rato. Isto deixa a possibilidade, de alguns dos cavalos daquela manada, não serem de cor nem baio nem rato, mas o facto é que ele não mencionou qualquer outra cor - e, além disso, a existência de outras cores nunca constituiria um problema, já que de uma população remanescente, não se pode esperar que de alguma forma continue pura.

Baseados em análises de genética molecular, sabemos hoje, que o Sorraia não é apenas o produto de criações seleccionadas com cores baio/rato em cavalos domesticados, nomeadamente Lusitanos e Andaluzes. Isto foi provado através de análises mitochondrial de ADN por uma equipa liderada pelos geneticistas Prof. Dr. Klaus Olek e Dr. Thomas Jansen, e também pelo hipólogo Hardy Oelke.

O Cavalo do Sorraia não tem história como raça domesticada, o que condiz com as pinturas rupestres do antepassado cavalo Ibérico selvagem e descrições históricas; por essa razão, deve ser considerado uma subespécie original. Tudo o que é possível referir acerca do cavalo Przewalski como uma subespécie selvagem, é válida também para o Sorraia, com a excepção, de que a subespécie Sorraia, tal como o Tarpan, nunca foi cientifica e zoologicamente descrita e reconhecida.

Noutra parte dos apontamentos de Ruy d'Andrade, este relata o que tentou fazer para preservar o Cavalo do Sorraia:

"Quis então tentar reconstituir este tipo primitivo de cavalo no propósito de averiguar se realmente seria esta a origem dos nossos cavalos andaluzes, actualmente com maior estatura e variaçã0 de forma pelos cruzamentos que têm suportado, e dispus-me a reproduzir o que a criação em regime exclusivamente manadio, de autêntica vida selvagem, tinha produzido nas Américas, fazendo surgir o actual cavalo cimarron - o crioulo."

Aqui, "reconstituir" pode facilmente ser mal interpretado, devido aos assim chamados "Tarpans reconstituídos", que estão em exposição em vários jardins zoológicos e registados como uma criação na América do Norte. O "Tarpan reconstituído" foi criado num processo de criação/procriação usando diferentes criações de póneis, Koniks Polacos e também, cavalos Przewalski. Noutras palavras, foi um cruzamento planeado. O que Ruy d'Andrade fez, foi totalmente diferente. Ele tentou salvar o que ainda existia e restabeleceu uma população viável, não expondo os cavalos a uma situação de "sobrevivência do mais forte", mas deixando-os viver no seu habitat natural.

O Cavalo do Sorraia - uma subespécie em perigo de extinção e uma preciosidade, que até agora, teima em não desaparecer. No Refúgio do Vale de Zebro Sorraia estes cavalos tem a possibilidade de se restabelecer. É um projecto em memória de Ruy d'Andrade e à personalidade deste grande estudioso português.

Sorraias stellen eine Restpopulation eines südiberischen Wildpferdes dar, das anscheinend weitgehend unvermischt im damals unzugänglichen Gebiet des Sorraia-Flusses in Portugal überlebt hatte. Der portugiesische Wissenschaftler Dr Ruy d'Andrade hatte 1920 auf einem Jagdausflug dort diese Pferde entdeckt und ist verantwortlich für ihre Erhaltung. Aufgrund seiner Studien nahm er an, im Sorraia-Pferd den Vorfahren der Lusitanos und Andalusier gefunden zu haben.

Das Sorraia-Pferd ist in der Fachliteratur fast überall falsch beschrieben. Nachstehend die häufigsten Falschdarstellungen:
- Der Sorraia wird vielfach als Pony bezeichnet, ist aber ein Pferd.
- "Sorraia" ist kein Synonym für "Garrano", der Sorraia steht dem Garrano-Pony nicht einmal nahe.
- Die Größe des Sorraias ist meistens falsch angegeben. Sie liegt bei 1,40 m Stockmaß, meistens darüber. Manche Hengste werden 1,50 m und mehr. Ruy d'Andrade gab die Höhe mit 1,41 m bis 1,43 m an
- Das Sorraia-Pferd ist immer falbfarben, entweder grau- oder gelbfalb.

Heute gibt es nur noch etwa 150 Sorraias, die meisten davon in Portugal. Sie leben heute nicht mehr wild, sondern werden meistens gehalten wie Hauspferde, wenn auch überwiegend in Robusthaltung. 2004 wurde ein Reservat in Südportugal gegründet, worin wieder ein kleine Gruppe völlig unbehelligt vom Menschen lebt (s. Abhandlung unten).

Die heutigen Sorraias gehen alle auf nur 11 Tiere zurück, welche den Beginn von d'Andrades Erhaltungsprogramm bildeten. Sie sind deshalb alle eng miteinander verwandt. Leider wurde die Inzucht später noch unnötig verstärkt.

Das Sorraia-Pferd hat keine Historie als Hauspferdrasse. Andernfalls hätte Ruy d'Andrade auf dem XII. Internationalen Zoologischen Kongress in Lissabon nicht über sie referiert. DNA-Analysen (mtDNA-Sequenzierungen) haben ergeben, dass das Sorraia-Pferd einen besonderen Genotyp aufweist und es darum nicht als Vorfahr des Andalusiers in Frage kommt. Möglicherweise ist damit auch in Frage gestellt, dass es ein Vorfahr des Lusitanos war. Die DNA-Forschungsergebnisse zeigen aber, dass das Sorraia-Pferd einen besonderen Status hat, der es möglicherweise als iberische Lokalform des Tarpans ausweist. Weitere Studien werden bald Aufschluss geben.

Das Sorraia-Pferd kann gezähmt ein gutes Reitpferd abgeben.

DER SORRAIA - NUR EINE WEITERE HAUSPFERDERASSE?

So wie das Sorraia-Pferd heute bei den meisten gehalten wird, könnte es tatsächlich so weit kommen, dass sie demnächst zur Hauspferdrasse degeneriert sind. Dass die Pferde in Deutschland nicht halbwild gehalten werden können, ist verständlich, aber auch die Portugiesen machen heute leider alle Anstrengungen, diese Primitivpferde so schnell wie möglich in eine Hauspferdrasse zu verwandeln. Eine portugiesische Biologin bezeichnet sie schlicht als Rasse. Das ist im krassen Gegensatz zur Arbeit Ruy d'Andrades, der in ihnen Reste eines autochthonen Wildpferdes sah.

Es wurde hier und da behauptet, Sorraia-Pferde seien nur eine private Farbzucht von d'Andrade. Dazu ist zu sagen, dass jeder Beweis dafür fehlt. Ruy d'Andrade war ein angesehener Wissenschaftler und zumindest in Portugal der angesehendste Hippologe, darüber hinaus hatte er auch als Zoologe und Paleonthologe einen Namen und war einer der berühmtesten Pferdezüchter. Er hat auch über Portugal hinaus in spanisch und in französisch veröffentlicht. Wenn die Sorraias eine Hauspferdrasse gewesen wären, hätte er dies gewusst und hätte nicht seinen Ruf als Wissenschaftler riskiert, indem er sie als Nachfahren eines eiszeitlichen Wildpferdes beschrieb. Ruy d'Andrade, der Entdecker dieser Pferde, war sehr viel besser qualifiziert sie zu beurteilen, als jene, die sich heute, über 80 Jahre später, dazu hinreißen lassen.

Seine Beschreibung seiner ersten Begegnung mit diesen Pferden lautet, korrekt übersetzt:

"Später, 1920, sah ich auf einer Jagdtour in der Gegend von Coruche, am unteren Sorraia (Fluss), im Sesmaria-Gebiet, eine Herde von ca. 30 Tieren, mehr als die Hälfte davon waren helle (Hellbraun- bzw. Gelb-)Falben, manche waren Graufalben, viele mit übermäßiger Streifung (sehr starker Zebrierung), und generell in jeder Beziehung absolut wild oder primitiv, als ob sie eine Zebra-Spezies oder eine Halbesel-Spezies darstellten."

Es muss beachtet werden, dass d'Andrade hier keineswegs andeutet, dass diese Herde aus Pferden verschiedener Farben bestand, wie das gelegentlich interpretiert wird. Er sagte, dass mehr als die Hälfte Gelbfalben/helle Falben waren - er erwähnte nicht, ob die anderen, unerwähnt gebliebenen, dunklere (Braun-)Falben waren oder wieviele Gelb- oder Graufalben waren mit weniger ausgeprägter Streifung. Er erwähnt überhaupt keine anderen Farben als Gelbfalben (Hellbraunfalben) und Graufalben. Das lässt zwar die Möglichkeit offen, dass ein paar dieser Tiere eine andere Färbung hatten, was auch nichts Besonderes wäre, aber tatsächlich erwähnt er keine anderen Farben.

In Übersetzungen ins Deutsche wurde das portugiesische Wort für Graufalbe in d'Andrades Beschreibung als "grau" übersetzt, was auch für Schimmel stehen könnte, bzw. ins Englische wurde es direkt mit "grey" (Schimmel) übersetzt, was falsch ist. Das portugiesische Wort für Graufalbe ist "rato", das für Schimmel ist "ruço"; d'Andrade schrieb "rato"!

Aufgrund der mtDNA-Analysen (die zuverlässigste heute bekannte Methode) wissen wir inzwischen aber sowieso, dass eine Herkunft der Sorraias von Hauspferden - was bedeutet Andalusiern und Lusitanos - einfach auf Falbfarbe selektiert, ausgeschlossen werden kann. Denn bislang ist der Genotyp der Sorraias bei keinem Andalusier oder Lusitano gefunden worden! Als weiteres Argument sei das Wildverhalten der Sorraias angeführt, was zwar weniger objektiv erscheinen mag, was aber dem Kundigen auffällt und ihn überzeugt. Dieses Wildverhalten ist, wenn es einmal verlorenging, für immer verloren, wie die Koniks zeigen, die schon lange in großen Reservaten leben.

DAS SORRAIA-PFERD – RASSE ODER UNTERART?

Wenn das Sorraia-Pferd keine Rasse ist, dann muss es eine Unterart darstellen. Alle echten Pferde gehören zur selben Art, und auch das Mongolische oder Asiatische Wildpferd ist eine Unterart von Equus ferus.. Das Hauspferd ist Equus ferus forma caballus, das Mongolische Wildpferd Equus ferus przewalskii. Der Tarpan, als weitere Unterart, hat keinen gültigen wissenschaftlichen Namen, weil er nie wissenschaftlich formell beschrieben wurde.

Der Zoologe spricht manchmal auch bei Wildtieren von Rassen, wenn es um Unterformen geht, aber die Definition des Begriffs Rasse wird von der Oklahoma State University so gegeben:

"Tiere, die durch Selektion und Zucht einander ähneln und diese Eigenschaften uniform an ihre Nachzucht weitergeben".

Jay L. Lush schreibt in "The Genetics of Populations":

"Eine Rasse ist eine Gruppe domestizierter Tiere, die so genannt wird aufgrund der Übereinkunft ihrer Züchter, ... ein Begriff, der unter Züchtern von Haustieren entstanden ist und der, so könnte man sagen, für ihren eigenen Gebrauch geschaffen wurde, und niemand will diesem Begriff eine wissenschaftliche Bedeutung geben oder die Züchter falsch heißen, wenn sie von der formulierten Definition abweichen. Es ist ihr Wort, und wie die Züchter es gewöhnlich gebrauchen, das müssen wir als korrekte Definition akzeptieren."

Lush zeigt hier auf, dass der Begriff "Rasse" domestizierten Tieren gilt. Eine Rasse hat einen Rassestandard, und der Begriff "Rasse" kann korrekt nur auf domestizierte Tiere (und Pflanzen) angewandt werden. Er bedeutet, dass diese Population von Tieren gemeinsame Eigenschaften aufweist, die durch menschliche Zuchtauswahl entstanden und gefestigt wurden.

Es gibt keinerlei Hinweise dafür, dass das Sorraia-Pferd das Produkt menschlicher Zuchtauswahl ist. Es hat keine Historie als Hauspferdrasse, entspricht prähistorischen Abbildungen autochthoner Wildpferde Iberiens und Beschreibungen aus dem Altertum, darum muss es als ursprüngliche Unterart gelten, nicht als Rasse. Alles, was auf das Mongolische Wildpferd zutrifft, trifft auch auf das Sorraia-Pferd zu, mit der einzigen Ausnahme, dass es - wie auch der Tarpan - nie wissenschaftlich beschrieben wurde.

Der Begriff "Art" ("Spezies") umfasst wilde und domestizierte Tiere, d. h. wilde Tiere und die von ihnen abstammenden Haustierrassen. Bei Pferden haben wir Wildformen und die von ihnen abstammenden Hauspferdrassen, aber alle gehören zur selben Art.

SORRAIA-PHÄNOTYP

Das Sorraia-Pferd misst zwischen 1,40 m und 1,50 m Stockmaß; typischerweise sind die Pferde um 1,42 m/1,43 m groß. Es ist ein schlankes, schmales Pferd mit verhältnismäßig langen Beinen. Der Hals ist ausreichend lang und schlank, manchmal hirschhalsig, und klar ausgeschnitten in der Kehle. In mastiger Kondition entwickelt sich ein Speckkamm.

Der Kopf ist lang und hat ein konvexes Profil. Dieses konvexe Profil bezeichnet nicht eine Ramsnase, sondern weist eine konvexe Linie vom den Ohren bis zum Maul auf, wobei die stärkste Vorwölbung etwa unterhalb der Augen liegt. Die Augen sitzen eher hoch, die Stirn ist schmal, die Ohren sind eher lang und nicht stark gebogen. Der ganze Kopf ist trocken und edel.

Widerrist und Schulter sind gut ausgeprägt. Der Rücken ist eher gerade und mittellang. Die Kruppe ist schräg aber nicht abgeschlagen, dachförmig und verhältnismäßig schmal, zu den Sitzbeinästen hin enger zulaufend, ähnlich einer Eselskruppe. Vorstehende Hüftknochen sind eher typisch, es sei denn, die Tiere sind fett.

Obwohl schmalbrüstig, hat das Sorraia-Pferd einen tiefen Brustkasten. Die Röhren sind eher lang, ebenso die Fesseln. Die Hufe sind klein bis mittelgroß. Die Beine sind trocken und haben keine auffallende Kötenbehaarung.

Sorraias haben eine erstaunliche Flexibilität, sowohl vertikal wie seitlich. Sie tragen sich sehr gut in der Bewegung und sind extrem agil. Ein gewisses Maß an Knieaktion ist typisch. Der Trab ist raumgreifend, der Galopp balanciert, mit gutem Untersetzen der Hinterhand. Manche Sorraias gehen angeborenen Tölt.

Alle Sorraias sind entweder graufalb oder gelbfalb (hellbraunfalb). Im Gegensatz z. B. zum Mongolischen Wildpferd oder auch dem Fjord Pony haben sie kein Mehlmaul, sondern eine dunkle Maul- und Gesichtspartie. Anders als das Mongolische Wildpferd sind Mähne und Schweif zweifarbig, d. h. der dunkle Mittelstreifen (Verlängerung des Aalstrichs) ist von hellen, oft fast weißen haaren beidseitig flankiert, wie auch beim Fjord Pony.

Zebrierungen an den Beinen und über dem Widerrist sind typischerweise vorhanden. Früher waren diese Pferd extrem gestreift, auch über dem Rücken, am Hals und am Kopf, was leider weitgehend verlorengegangen ist. Über den Grund dafür kann nur spekuliert werden.

Typischerweise haben Sorraias keine weißen Abzeichen.

"VALE DE ZEBRO SORRAIA HORSE REFUGE"
EINE HEIMET FÜR DIE WILDPFERDE - ENDLICH EIN RESERVAT FÜR SORRAIAS!

Von Martin Haller

Lange Zeit hielt man die Sorraias für die legitimen Vorfahren aller iberischen Pferde, gewissermaßen für Ur-Andalusier. Der portugiesische Historiker, Zoologe und Pferdezüchter Dr. Ruy d'Andrade hatte die These vom iberischen Urpferd aufgestellt und damals durch sehr stichhaltige Argumente untermauert. Ruy d'Andrade hatte selbst die letzten wildlebenden Sorraias im Gebiet des gleichnamigen Flusses entdeckt und eine kleine Herde bewahrt.

Mit der enorm angestiegenen Popularität aller iberischen Pferde (PRE, Lusitano) rückte auch das kleinere, eher unscheinbare Sorraia-Pferd etwas näher an den Mittelpunkt des Interesses. Es war sehr reizvoll, in ihm noch den direkten Vorfahren der prachtvollen Andalusier und Lusitanos zu sehen. Inzwischen weiß man allerdings aufgrund von DNA-Untersuchungen, dass es sich beim Sorraia nicht um einen Ur-Andalusier handeln kann, sondern um eine eigenständige Wildform, die genetisch nahe am Tarpan steht. Selbst in seinem letzten Rückzugsgebiet in Portugal, im Ribatejo und Alentejo, ist das Sorraia-Pferd beinahe ausgestorben. In ganz Portugal leben zwischen 80 und 100 Exemplare, und in Deutschland gibt es etwa 40 bis 50 dieser urtümlichen Pferde.

Es mutet schon etwas seltsam an, dass ausgerechnet zwei deutsche Hippologen ganz entscheidend zur Popularisierung der Sorraias und zu deren Erhaltung beitrugen. Michael Schäfer lenkte durch seine Publikationen das wissenschaftliche Interesse auf diese Pferde und vermehrte sie auf seinem Hof bei München während drei Jahrzehnten, allerdings ohne wesentlichen Einfluss auf ihre Erhaltung im Herkunftsland Portugal zu nehmen. Dort kümmerte man sich von seiten des Staates und der privaten Pferdezüchter nur wenig um diesen genetischen Schatz, der aufgrund von Inzucht und mangelndem Interesse vom Aussterben bedroht war – so sehr, dass man einen Gesamtbestand von nur mehr rund 100 Tieren vermutete. Erst Mitte der 90er Jahre fand sich erneut ein Mann, dessen Interesse und Engagement für die Sorraias zu einer positiven Wende führen sollte. Der bekannte Western Horse-Experte und Fachautor Hardy Oelke, schon immer sehr an Primitivpferden interessiert, stieß auf einer seiner Reisen in die Mustang-Reservate Amerikas auf freilebende Pferde, die seiner Meinung nach den Sorraias verblüffend ähnlich waren. Kurz entschlossen flog er nach Portugal, um sich aus eigener Erfahrung zu überzeugen. Aufgrund der phänotypischen Übereinstimmungen initiierte er dann das oben erwähnte DNA-Analyseprojekt, das in verschiedener Hinsicht wichtige Erkenntnisse zeitigte.

Schon bei seinem ersten Portugal-Besuch war Oelke beunruhigt über die Situation der Sorraias in ihrer Heimat, was sich bei jedem weiteren Besuch noch verstärkte. Er wollte etwas für diese interessanten Tiere tun und importierte 1997 die ersten Exemplare nach Deutschland, denen bald weitere folgten.

"Nirgendwo wurden die Sorraias als das angesehen, was Ruy d'Andrade in ihnen sah und weshalb er sie erhalten wollte", erklärt Oelke. "Und kaum irgendwo wurden sie entsprechend gehalten. Bis 1998 gab es noch eine kleine Gruppe, die praktisch wild und sich selbst überlassen leben durfte, die aber dann auch unter menschliche Einflussnahme kam. Überall sonst wurden und werden sie zunehmend wie eine Hauspferderasse behandelt. Ich erkannte, dass nur durch die Einrichtung eines Wildreservats wenigstens ein Teil dieser Pferde in ihrer Ursprünglichkeit erhalten werden könnten. Im Grunde war das auch Ruy d'Andrades Grundidee gewesen, die aber seine Nachkommen aus dem Auge verloren."

Nach Oelkes Beobachtungen zeichneten sich die Sorraias durch ein Wildverhalten aus, dass z. B. den Koniks völlig fehlt und auch bei Mustangs unter vergleichbaren Bedingungen nicht zu beobachten ist. Dieses Wildverhalten droht mehr und mehr verlorenzugehen. Also begann er, in Portugal, in Deutschland und Holland nach einer Möglichkeit für ein Wildreservat zu suchen. Nach einigen erfolglosen Anläufen kam es dann im vorigen Sommer durch Vermittlung eines portugiesischen Freundes zu einem Kontakt mit einer alteingesessenen Familie, die in verschiedenen Teilen des Ribatejo biologische Land- und Forstwirtschaft betreibt. Diese Familie erklärte sich bereit, genügend Land für ein Sorraia-Reservat zur Verfügung zu stellen, weil sie Interesse an den Pferden hat. Sie freut sich, mit der Erhaltung dieser genetischen Kostbarkeit einen gemeinnützigen Beitrag leisten zu können, der von besonderem Wert für Portugal und darüber hinaus für die gesamte Pferdewelt ist.

"Besonders schön ist es, dass das Reservat im Vale de Zebro liegt, also einem Verbreitungsgebiet dieser uralten, portugiesischen Wildpferde", so Oelke, "denn 'zebro' bedeutete im Mittelalter wohl soviel wie Wildpferd."

Der 13. März 2004 wurde zu einem historischen Datum für die Sorraias, denn da wurden Oelkes Stuten in ihrer alten Heimat freigelassen, um dort den Kern einer neuen, freilebenden Herde zu bilden. Die Stuten waren tags zuvor auf einen Spezial-LKW der internationalen Pferdespedition Wiechers aus Deutschland verladen worden, welche großzügigerweise die lange Reise gen Süden gesponsert hatte. Wohlbehalten waren sie im "Vale de Zebro Refugio do Cavalo do Sorraia" ("Vale de Zebro Sorraia-Pferd Refugium") eingetroffen. Von der neuen Freiheit machten sie auch umgehend und ausgiebig Gebrauch: Über einen Tag lang blieben sie verschollen, und erst am folgenden Abend konnte Oelke die kleine Gruppe finden, sich anpirschen und einige Aufnahmen schießen. Als die Stuten ihn bemerkten, ergriffen sie augenblicklich die Flucht – was Oelke nicht enttäuschte, sondern freute:

"In Deutschland war über die Jahre ihre Fluchtdistanz sehr geschrumpft – hier zeigten sie sofort, dass sie ihre alten Instinkte noch nicht verloren haben. Ich hatte beobachtet, dass die Pferde bei mir in Deutschland wie auch bei den verschiedenen Haltern in Portugal zunehmend ihr natürliches Verhalten verloren. Darum bin ich über dieses Reservat so glücklich. Hier werden sie so frei und wild leben können, wie dies heutzutage in Europa nur möglich ist, und haben eine Chance, ihr ursprüngliches Verhalten zu bewahren."

Doch ohne Hengst würde das Ganze natürlich keinen Sinn machen, und seinen eigenen wollte Oelke nicht nehmen, da dieser bereits zu zahm war und außerdem der Vater einer der freigelassenen Stuten. Also kontaktierte er Fernando d'Andrade, einen Enkel des Entdeckers der Sorraias, da er wusste, dass dessen Herde in Portugal noch die naturbelassenste ist. Außerdem ist sie genetisch relativ weit von den freigelassenen Stuten entfernt.

"Alle Sorraias sind ohnehin eng verwandt", erklärt Oelke. "Aber ich wollte das Projekt auf eine genetische Basis stellen, die so breit ist, wie dies unter den gegebenen Umständen möglich ist. Die Stuten stammen aus zwei verschiedenen Beständen, und der Hengst sollte möglichst aus einem weiteren Bestand kommen."

Fernando d'Andrade unterstützte sofort bereitwillig das Projekt, und stellte großzügigerweise einen Hengst zur Verfügung, der seine Fruchtbarkeit bereits unter Beweis gestellt hat. Er hatte kaum Kontakt zu Menschen gehabt und musste in einen Korral und von da über eine Verladegasse auf den LKW getrieben werden, da er natürlich niemanden an sich heran ließ. Als er im Refugio vom Lastwagen gesprungen war, machte er sich umgehend aus dem Staub. Vermutlich hatte er die Stuten schon in der Ferne gewittert… Mit ihnen wird er hoffentlich in den nächsten zwei Jahren für Nachwuchs sorgen.

Das Reservat, nicht allzu weit von der Stadt Coruche entfernt, ist rund fünf Quadratkilometer groß. Klima, Pflanzenwuchs und Landschaft sind ähnlich jenen Bedingungen, welche die Sorraias seit Jahrtausenden in Portugal vorfanden, als sie noch als "Zebros" umherstreiften. Keinerlei Chemikalien werden ausgebracht, weder in Form von Dünger, noch zur Schädlingsbekämpfung, so dass sich die Tiere so ernähren können, wie es ihrer Natur entspricht.

Der menschliche Einfluss wird bewusst minimal gehalten, selbst wissenschaftliche Beobachtungen sind vorerst nicht vorgesehen. Zwar wird das Gebiet regelmäßig von bewaffneten Forstaufsehern abgefahren, den Pferden will man aber nicht zu nahe kommen. Eine Einflussnahme soll darauf beschränkt bleiben, später ggf. überzählige Tiere herauszunehmen. Den Gesetzmäßigkeiten der Natur entsprechend, sollen dann die schwächsten Tiere ausgesondert werden.

Eine signifikante Beobachtung konnte bereits gemacht werden:

"Das Reservat bietet freie, offene Flächen ebenso wie bewaldete", berichtet Oelke. "Die Pferde haben nach der Freilassung sofort Zuflucht im Wald gesucht und konnten zumindest in der ersten Woche überhaupt nicht außerhalb des Waldes gesichtet werden. Das zeigt meines Erachtens, dass die landläufige Ansicht, Pferde seien nur Steppentiere, nicht verallgemeinert werden kann und auf jeden Fall neu überdacht werden muss."

Das urtümlichste iberische Pferd, das wir kennen, das Sorraia-Pferd, ist heute in seiner Existenz bedroht. Viel Falsches wurde über diese Pferde geschrieben. Dieses Buch stellt das Sorraia-Pferd vor und seine nordamerikanischen Nachkommen, die unter den Mustangs noch heute zu finden sind.

"Das Vermächtnis des Columbus" – interessant, informativ und faszinierend für alle Liebhaber iberischer und wilder Pferde.

"Eine der wichtigsten und besonders verantwortungsvollen Veröffentlichungen über Pferde, die in den letzten Jahren erschienen sind." – Prof. Dr. Rainer Willmann, II. Zoologisches Institut Göttingen

Deutsche Ausgabe
"Das Vermächtnis des Columbus"
– Restauflage –
Von Hardy Oelke
95 Seiten, viele Farbaufnahmen, fester Einband
€ 20,- plus Versandkosten
Kierdorf Verlag, Gut Dohrgaul, D-51688 Wipperfürth
Tel. 02267-4495, Fax -4458
E-mail: kierdorf-verlag@t-online.de