The Sorraia is a pony breed from Spain and Portugal, and have influenced many American horse breeds.

Breed Characteristics

The Sorraia has an appearance remarkably similar to the prehistoric cave paintings found across the northern Mediterranean and the Iberian peninsula. Not surprisingly, they have recently been genetically linked to the now extinct Tarpan that once ranged throughout southern Europe and into Asia.

The breed possess many characteristics that are typical of prehistoric Spanish equines, with a narrow, convex head, and long slender ears. The neck is elegant, muscular, and can be held nicely arched when they wish to. They are somewhat compact, with an up-hill build, well defined withers, and a medium tail set. The Sorraia's hips tend to slope down and outward in what is sometimes referred to as a raftered hip. This can give the animal an exaggerated appearance when in poor condition. They have a narrow, but deep chest having great lung capacity, and a fairly horizontally angled sloping shoulder. Their legs have exceptionally good joints, hard hooves with a thick wall, and good cannon bones that are rounder in cross section, and therefore, stronger, than in most human-created breeds. These natural sized horses can run from between 13 hh to 15 hh(similar in range to the size found in hemionus and zebras). Smaller individuals are probably due to the marginal grazing on which they are specialist at surviving.

Their black manes and tails usually have a lighter, almost “whitish” fringe of bordering hair, called bi-coloring. Sorraias are almost always a "primitive" color: dun, grulla, or sometimes a melanistic darkening that can almost look true black(rare). Certain golden duns can have such pronounced bi-coloring of the mane and tail that they can almost appear to be palomino, but are not. Sorraias always have a dorsal stripe and, unless a population has been genetically bottle-necked, zebra markings on the legs, and withers.

Sorraias are extremely tough, but with a calm and gentle temperament. Possessing great endurance and stamina, they tend to have an exceptionally long, durable working life.

Breed History

The Sorraia is descended from an ancient stock, and is directly related to the Tarpan. They may have originated in the western region of the Iberian Peninsular. Surviving remnants, of what was once an extensive population, can be traced to an area between the Sor and Raia rivers, from which the breed gets its name. Traditionally, the Sorraia would be used for herding, working the land, light harness work, and riding. They were the popular working horses for the cattlemen and shepherds of the region.

The breed has had a profound influence on most light riding breeds, including the Spanish horses: the Andalusian, the Alter Real, the Carthusian, and the Lusitano. Spanish conquistadores took many Sorraia to the Americas, and thus influenced many American breeds. Most notable today is an attempt by breeders to revive the breed through the American Sorraia Mustang.

Today very few pure Sorraia still exist, and most have been maintained mainly by the d' Andrade family in Portugal, who keeps a small feral herd. It was actually Dr. Ruy d’Andrade, and breeder of Alter Reals and Lusitanos, that discovered the breed in the 1920s, when he found a herd of 30 horses on the Sesmaria estate.