Piquira
A Brazilian marcha pony breed with ambling gaits.
The Piquira is a small horse or pony from Brazil. It is one of the country's thirteen officially recognized horse breeds and belongs to the four marcha breeds, known for their smooth, ambling gaits instead of a trot.
Quick Facts
- Country
- Brazil
- Use
- riding
Facts from the source article.
History
The Piquira pony breed got its own stud-book in 1970, the same year a general Brazilian pony society was founded; that society later changed its name. The FAO did not list the Piquira’s conservation status in its 2007 report. By 2026, however, the DAD-IS database classified the breed as ‘not at risk’, based on a 2024 population count.
Characteristics
The Piquira is a breed of small horse or pony. Its height at the withers falls within a specific range for mares and another for stallions and geldings, with average heights and corresponding average body weights recorded for each. Any coat color or pattern is acceptable except pseudo-albino; animals with unpigmented eyes or unpigmented skin cannot be registered. Like other Brazilian marcha breeds, the Piquira never trots. Instead, it performs one of two ambling gaits: the marcha batida or the marcha picada. In both gaits, at least one hoof always maintains contact with the ground. The marcha batida typically involves diagonally opposed pairs of hooves striking the ground together, with a specific average interval between footfalls. The marcha picada is a lateral gait where hooves on the same side of the horse move together, and its average interval between contacts is shorter. Both gaits occasionally include three-point contact.
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