What stands out and differentiates the Mangalarga Marchador from other breeds, as its name indicates, is the Marcha / the Gait. The marcha is a very fast gait that allows the animal to move always maintaining two or three legs on the ground, avoiding the impact that is transmitted to the riders by the trotting horses. During the gait the animal describes in the air a semicircle with the front legs and uses the later ones to push itself forward. It moves forward alternating diagonal and lateral supports, always softened by an intermediate time, the triple support (triple apoyo), in which three members touch the ground at the same time. This gait features makes it one of the most comfortable and agile saddle horses in the world.

One of the main characteristics of the breed is that they are active and docile: they can be ridden by people of any age and level of riding skills. They are horses of great intelligence: their training is easy and fast in comparison with other breeds. Their stamina and ability to travel long distances are counted among the remarkable elements of the breed (see Notable Facts outlined below). Finally, they are strong horses and easy to adapt to any type of climate (tropical, temperate or cold) and terrain.

The MM is a medium-sized horse, but it is still strong and muscular. The height stands between 1.47 and 1.60 meters, with 1.52 being the ideal height. The chest and front shows lightness, with the triangular pyramidal head and neck reflecting its origin in Lusitanos and Andalusian horses. The trunk is strong, with well-arched ribs. In the extremities, the tendons are strong and well delineated. There is a great variety of colors of hair that go from the tordillo (that dominated the race in its origins) to the pampas / tobianos (that are in fahsion and very demanded today) happening through hair such as zaino, sorrel, black, bay and many others.

Notable Facts

The condition of being a comfortable animal, docile and of great strength / resistance for the march led it to be recorded in the Guinness Book (the Book of the Records). Between May 1991 and July 1993, three riders – Jorge Dias Aguiar (64), Pedro Luiz Dias de Aguiar (60) and Pedro José Reis (65) – toured six Mangalarga Marchador for 19,300 kilometers, connecting the most distant points of Brazil. With the inclusion of Argentina and Paraguay, the project ended up becoming the “Mercosur Cavalcade.” At the end of the “odyssey”, the riders and their sturdy horses had covered a total of 25,104 kilometers, a test that legitimized the virtues of breed and their ability to march great distances mounted by riders of all ages.