Lavradeiro

The Lavradeiro or Wild Horse of Roraima is a Brazilian breed or population of feral horses of Colonial Spanish type in the state of Roraima, in northern Brazil. The name derives from the lavrado or savannah terrain in that region.

A conservation herd was established in Amajari by the Empresa Brasileña de Investigación Agropecuaria, the national organisation for agricultural research, in about 1991.

History
The Lavradeiro is of Criollo or Colonial Spanish type, descending from Iberian horses brought to the Americas by the Conquistadores Horses of this type were brought into Roraima during the period of Portuguese colonisation in the eighteenth century.

The horses were managed extensively on the unfenced savannah or lavrado, and a substantial feral population established itself. The horses became hardy and well-adapted to the difficult climate and poor grazing of the area. Until about 1980 this population numbered some $1,000$ head, but by the end of the decade numbers had fallen to no more than $200$, largely as a result of hunting.

A conservation herd of some fifty horses was established by the Empresa Brasileña de Investigación Agropecuaria, the national organisation for agricultural research, at the Fazenda Resolução in Amajari in about 1991. The feral population is at risk of extinction, the principal threats being hunting and uncontrolled cross-breeding with horses of other breeds.

Its conservation status was listed by the FAO in 2007 as 'endangered/maintained'; in 2023 it was listed as 'unknown'. The only population data reported to DAD-IS is for 1992, when there were $1,200$ of the horses, including $850$ breeding mares and $100$ stallions; total numbers in 2010 are variously reported to have been either $1,260$ or fewer than $200$. Germplasm is conserved under the supervision of Embrapa in Roraima.

Characteristics
Average height at the withers is about $1.4 m$; it is about 1.37 m for mares and approximately 1.41 m for males. Average thoracic circumference is 1.63 –.

The coat is generally bay, chestnut, iron grey or roan. The back is short, the croup sloping. The mane and tail are thick, the ears are small.

The horses show some resistance to equine infectious anaemia and are well adapted to their biotope. Their blood proteins and random amplification of polymorphic DNA markers have been studied.