The Falabella is an Argentine

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

of small

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

. It is among the smallest of horse breeds, with a height at the

withers The withers is the ridge between the shoulder blades of an animal, typically a quadruped. In many species, it is the tallest point of the body. In horses and dogs, it is the standard place to measure the animal's height. In contrast, cattle ar ...

in the range ..

History

The ancestral stock of the horse of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

descended from horses brought to the

western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

of Andalusian and other Iberian bloodlines. In the southern part of the continent, significant numbers of these horses developed within geographically isolated conditions and by the mid-19th century, there were any number of smaller, inbred animals in the herds of Mapuche of southern Buenos Aires province in Olavarría, Argentina."Falabella miniature horse." ''from'' International Museum of the horse
/ref> The Falabella horse was originally developed in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

from local horses of

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

stock, beginning in 1868 with the breeding program of Patrick Newtall. When Newtall died, the herd and breeding methods were passed to Newtall's son-in-law, Juan Falabella. Juan added additional bloodlines, including the

Welsh Pony The Welsh Pony and Cob is a group of four closelyrelated horse breeds including both pony and cob types, which originated in Wales in the United Kingdom. The four sections within the breed society for the Welsh breeds are primarily distinguis ...

Shetland pony The Shetland pony is a Scottish breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles in the north of Scotland. It may stand up to at the withers. It has a heavy coat and short legs, is strong for its size, and is used for riding, driving, and pa ...

, and small

Thoroughbreds The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are co ...

. With considerable

inbreeding Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...

, he was able to gain consistently small size within the herd. Beginning in the 1940s, a descendant, Julio C. Falabella, created a formal

breed registry A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breede ...

, the ''Establecimientos Falabella,'' now the ''Asociación de Criadores de Caballos Falabella'' (Falabella Horse Breeders Association), and worked to standardize the breed to reach a consistent height, first achieving an average size of under Later breeders developed the modern standard, a horse breed that averaged approximately in height.

Characteristics

Average breed heights for a fully-grown Falabella today are between . The breed is proportioned similarly to horses, other than in size. They are similar to

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

s or

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

s in their conformation, with a sleek coat and a slim frame. The Falabella’s body is small and compact. The breed also inherited some cob-like features from

pony A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...

bloodlines, including sturdy bone, and a thicker hair coat, particularly the mane, tail and around the fetlocks. The head may be slightly larger and the neck is often stouter by comparison with a normal-sized horse, but overall, the animal is not unusually or abnormally proportioned.

Bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

(or a variant of bay, called "brown") and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

are the most common colors, but there are also pintos,

palomino Palomino is a genetic color in horses, consisting of a gold coat and white mane and tail; the degree of whiteness can vary from bright white to yellow. Genetically, the palomino color is created by a single allele of a dilution gene called t ...

s and other spotting patterns found. Black or red

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

-spotted Falabellas (resembling, but not the same as the

Appaloosa The Appaloosa is an American horse breed best known for its colorful spotted coat pattern. There is a wide range of body types within the breed, stemming from the influence of multiple breeds of horses throughout its history. Each horse's colo ...

horse breed) also exist, but are not common. Falabella foals are very small, standing around tall at birth, and maturing to their adult height by the age of three. They generally stand between tall when fully mature. They are considered very hardy and consistently pass on size, conformation and temperament.

Use

The Falabella is kept as a pet or for show. It can be ridden by small children, or trained to pull a small

cart A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

References

{{Reflist, 45em, refs= Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007)
List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources
annex t
''The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture''
Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. {{ISBN, 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020. Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016)
''Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding''
(sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. {{ISBN, 9781780647944. Breed data sheet: Falabella Pony / Argentina (Horse)
Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed December 2020. Accessed December 2020. Élise Rousseau, Yann Le Bris, Teresa Lavender Fagan (2017)
''Horses of the World''
Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN, 9780691167206. Richard I. Robinson (July 1965). Falabella Miniature Horses. ''Western Horseman'', July 1965. Horse breeds originating in Argentina Horse breeds