The Mangalarga Marchador breed originated in the south of Minas Gerais State, at Campo Alegre farm. Gabriel Francisco Junqueira (1782-1868) was the owner of Campo Alegre Farm. In 1812 he received a present from the governing prince Dom João VI: a horse of the Alter breed (coming from the "Coudelaria Alter de Chão", in Portugal) whose name was "Sublime". The animals resulting from the cross- breeding of "Sublime" and the Brazilian mares ("Barb blood") were the basis of the first Mangalarga Marchador horses.
The Alter has a high percentage of Andaluzian blood, but is more refined in its general appearance. The Brazilian mares were introduced in Brazil by the conquerors and most of them were of Andaluzian Barb origin. From the start, Gabriel Francisco Junqueira took into consideration the smoothness of the gait, the endurance and the pride of his horses. The name Mangalarga Marchador was based on the name of the farm of an important client of the Fazenda Campo Alegre. A very famous farm in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Mangalarga. When buyers would visit the south of Minas Gerais they would ask for Mangalarga horses, the same ones from Fazenda Mangalarga.
Due to continuous relocating of several Junqueira families to the state of São Paulo, the Mangalarga Marchador was then introduced in the state, where later it received the infusion of exotic blood (Morgan, American Saddle Bred, Thouroughbred) and resulted in the Mangalarga breed, better known as the “Mangalarga Paulista”, meaning that it is from the state of São Paulo. The gait is a diagonal two beat with a low suspension time between the switching of diagonal hoof support.
The nationwide Mangalarga Marchador Breeder's Association was founded on July 16th, 1949. The Breed Standard is the following:
The Mangalarga Marchador is a medium size horse with an average height of 15 hands. The four beat gait may be diagonal broken or lateral broken.
