The Ventasso Horse ( it, Cavallo del Ventasso) is a rare breed of

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 ...

originating from the upper Val d'Enza valley in the

Emilia Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

region of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is one of the fifteen indigenous horse "breeds of limited distribution" recognised by the AIA, the Italian breeders' association. It takes its name from the Monte Ventasso, in the province of

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...

. The Ventasso Horse breed was formed through the interbreeding of local horses with the Lipizzaner and the Maremmano. Until the 1940s the horses were supplied to the military. Today it is used as a general riding horse and as a competition sport horse. It is critically endangered, with less than 50 purebred horses remaining. They are well proportioned and expressive, with a straight profile and a muscular, medium-length neck. The shoulder is sloping. The chest is deep and the back is of good length.

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 ...

and

gray Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

are the most common colours.

References

Horse breeds Culture in Emilia-Romagna Horse breeds originating in Italy {{Horse-breed-stub