The Piquira breed came about through the crossing of small sized national mares with the Shetland Pony. All along, the selection was based on two fundamental characteristics: small size and a smooth gait. This is still a breed that shows great genetic variation due to recent introductions of the Brazilian Pony breed and the fact that several mares of unknown origin have been registered, taking into account only the four beat gait and the height limits established by the breed standard. However, it is important to emphasize that there are a great number of animals of excellent quality.
Piquira breeders are members of the Brazilian National Pony Breed Association (Associação Brasileira dos Criadores do Cavalo Ponei) founded in 1970, with its headquarters in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais.
The main purpose of Piquira Horses is to please children. But these small and nice horses have great endurance and brio, used in different kinds of farm work, gait contests and agility tests. The Piquira is extremely docile, with a calm temperament and a pleasant smooth four beat gait. The breed standard establishes the following:
The Piquira is a small size horse, with an average height of ….. The four beat gait may be diagonal broken or lateral broken.
