Castilian Horse
Encyclopedia
The Castilian Horse, or Caballo Castellano, is a finely gaited palfrey
-type horse that originated from the Kingdom of Castile (now known as Spain
).
high (59 inches (1.5 m)), with the average being 14 to 14.2 hands (56 to 58 in (1.4 to 1.5 m)). More than any other characteristic, the way of moving defines the Castilian Horse. Its signature gait, the Paso Castellano ('Castilian Walk'), is a broken pace that begins with the legs on each side moving forward simultaneously. Unlike a pure pace, the rear foot is placed down before the front resulting in a four-beat cadence differing slightly from an isochronal (1, 2, 3, 4) to near a pace (1, 2...3, 4).
The Castilian horse has a balanced conformation, the length of the legs approximately equalling the depth of the body, measured at the girth. It is not a color-driven breed; all common colors
are acceptable and chestnut, black, brown, bay, buckskin, palomino, gray, roan or dun colors are seen, with solid colors, grays and dark skin considered most desirable. The mane and forelock are lustrous, fine and abundant.
Palfrey
A palfrey is a type of horse highly valued as a riding horse in the Middle Ages. It is not a breed.The word "palfrey" is cognate with the German word for horse , "Pferd". Both descend from Latin "paraveredus", meaning a post horse or courier horse...
-type horse that originated from the Kingdom of Castile (now known as Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
).
Breed characteristics
The Castilian Horse is not a large horse, the very best specimens standing no more than 14.3 handsHand (unit)
The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length, now used only for the measurement of the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA. With origins in ancient Egypt, it was originally based on the breadth of a human hand...
high (59 inches (1.5 m)), with the average being 14 to 14.2 hands (56 to 58 in (1.4 to 1.5 m)). More than any other characteristic, the way of moving defines the Castilian Horse. Its signature gait, the Paso Castellano ('Castilian Walk'), is a broken pace that begins with the legs on each side moving forward simultaneously. Unlike a pure pace, the rear foot is placed down before the front resulting in a four-beat cadence differing slightly from an isochronal (1, 2, 3, 4) to near a pace (1, 2...3, 4).
The Castilian horse has a balanced conformation, the length of the legs approximately equalling the depth of the body, measured at the girth. It is not a color-driven breed; all common colors
Equine coat color
Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings. A specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them.While most horses remain the same color throughout life, a few, over the course of several years, will develop a different coat color from that with which they were born...
are acceptable and chestnut, black, brown, bay, buckskin, palomino, gray, roan or dun colors are seen, with solid colors, grays and dark skin considered most desirable. The mane and forelock are lustrous, fine and abundant.