by Charity Nicole Robertson

Created on: July 12, 2010   Last Updated: July 14, 2010

The Chilean Corralera is one of the most beautiful horse breeds in the world. They only weigh around 817 pounds, but they have enough strength to push a 1,102 pound cow up against a padded wall. It is kind of unbelievable that a horse that rarely exceeds 15 hands can easily carry a 250 pound person.

The Chilean horse originated back in 1544, but became a true breed with its own registry in the 1890s. Over the years, this horse has been used primarily as a war horse, a cow horse and for traveling through the rugged Chilean Patagonia. They were exceptionally surefooted horses that were capable of traveling through difficult terrain.

During the early part of the breed, a special type of threshing mare was developed. These mares were bred to thresh wheat by running in groups of up to a hundred horses, in a large round pen with wheat up to their knees. The mares were expected to solely move by themselves and any mare that stumbled or fell was immediately sent to slaughter. This produced some of the top breeding stock for the Chilean Corralero, insuring that they would be surefooted and dependable. Some of the best horses descended from these threshing mares.

The Chilean Corraleras predominate in the central area of Chile, where they are used in the Chilean rodeo, for ranching and for pleasure. They have the ability to live in either cold or hot climates, since they are blessed with two-layered coats. These horses are very tough and have a low metabolism which allows them to be easy keepers.

They have an incredible resistance for pain and rarely get sick. When they do get sick they can quickly recover which is a great blessing. These horses are quite a bit longer than they are tall, but they are very well proportioned, and for the most part, the smaller they are the more muscular they become.

These horses have refined heads with small ears and dilated nostrils. Their necks are thick and muscular, fitting in nicely with their wide chests. Every cowboy in Chile takes great pride in his horse’s long, wavy, thick mane and tail. It is very common for a cowboy to roach part of his horse’s mane. In rodeoing it is very important that the Corralera not be too tall so that it can push the cow with its chest and not with its legs.

The Corraleras can be any color except a true white, but for the most part darker colored horses are more sought after. This breed is rarely known of outside of South America, and it is the only horse breed that has a closed registry.

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