Pirinenc Català

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Pirinenc Català
Conservation status
Other namesCatalan: Cavall Pirinenc Català[3]
Country of originSpain
DistributionCatalonia
Traits
Weight
  • 650–750 kg[4]: 3 
Height
  • 145–160 cm[4]: 3 

The Pirinenc Català or Cavall Pirinenc Català is a Spanish breed of heavy horse in the autonomous community of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain. It is reared almost exclusively for horse-meat, but may also be used for draught work.

The horses are rustic and well adapted to mountain weather and terrain, and are managed extensively with only minimal human intervention, grazing year-round on the pastures of the Pre-Pyrenees and Pyrenees of Catalonia.[5]

History

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The Pirinenc Català derives from heavy horses imported to Catalonia from the early twentieth century onwards; many of these were from France, and included animals of the Ardennes, Boulonnais, Breton, Comtois, Percheron and Poitevin breeds. These were cross-bred with local horses, among them some remaining stock of the old Catalan – an Iberian breed of riding horse with similarities to the Mallorquín, Menorquín, Lusitano and Pura Raza Española – which was thus absorbed into the heavy horse population and has been considered extinct since the first third of the twentieth century.[6]: 445 [7]: 450 

A breed standard was published by the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2008 and a stud-book was established.[8] In 2011 a federation of breeders' associations – the Federació d'Associacions de Criadors de Cavall Pirinenc Català – received approval to manage it;[4] a breeding programme was approved in 2021.[9]

In 2023 the total number of the horses was 4925, including 4338 mares and 587 stallions, in the hands of 391 breeders; all were in Catalonia.[10][2] In 2025 the conservation status of the breed was listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as "at risk/endangered".[2]

Characteristics

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The horses derive from a wide variety of origins and so form a highly variable population. In general, they share three principal characteristics: they are heavily built or massive; they are long in the body but not tall; and they have a concave facial profile.[6]: 445  The coat may be of any colour, but is usually some shade of chestnut;[6]: 446  the principal colours listed in the breed standard are chestnut, bay and black;[11]: 4  roan and grey are permitted, but not prioritised.[9]: 4 [8] Height at the withers is between 145 and 160 cm, and body weights are usually some 650 to 750 kg.[4]: 3 

Mares are fertile and are quick to reach sexual maturity; they give birth easily and display good maternal qualities.[12]

Use

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The Pirinenc Català is generally bred only for horse-meat; foals are milk-fed for the first six months, when they are taken from the dam and sold to be fattened for slaughter, which is usually at about a year old.[6]: 446 

A few are sold for draught work, usually in southern Catalonia or in Valencia.[6]: 446 

References

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  1. ^ Barbara Rischkowsky, Dafydd Pilling (editors) (2007). List of breeds documented in the Global Databank for Animal Genetic Resources, annex to: The State of the World's Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome: Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. ISBN 9789251057629. Archived 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Breed data sheet: Cavall Pirinenc Català / Spain (Horse). Domestic Animal Diversity Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Accessed August 2025.
  3. ^ Raza equino caballar Cavall Pirinenc Català: Datos Generales (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Archived 9 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Miquel Molins Elizalde (18 July 2011). Resolució AAM/3373/2011, de 18 de juliol, de reconeixement oicial per a la creació i la gestió del Llibre genealògic del Cavall Pirinenc Català sol·licitada per la Federació d'Associacions de Criadors de Cavall Pirinenc Català (FECAPI) (in Catalan). Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya. 6256 (19 November 2012): 56950. Archived 21 August 2025.
  5. ^ Raza equino caballar Cavall Pirinenc Català: Usos y sistema de explotación (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Archived 21 August 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Miguel Fernández Rodríguez, Mariano Gómez Fernández, Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo, Silvia Adán Belmonte, Miguel Jiménez Cabras (editors) (2009). Guía de campo de las razas autóctonas españolas (in Spanish). Madrid: Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino. ISBN 9788449109461.
  7. ^ Valerie Porter, Lawrence Alderson, Stephen J.G. Hall, D. Phillip Sponenberg (2016). Mason's World Encyclopedia of Livestock Breeds and Breeding (sixth edition). Wallingford: CABI. ISBN 9781780647944.
  8. ^ a b Joaquim Llena i Cortina (24 April 2008). ORDRE: AAR/1842008, de 24 d’abril, per la qual es crea el Llibre genealògic de la raça equina Cavall pirinenc català, i se n’aprova la reglamentació especíica i el seu estàndard racial (in Catalan). Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya. 5122 (30 April 2008): 34100–34109. European Legislation Identifier: permalink.
  9. ^ a b Elisenda Guillaumes Cullell (31 May 2021}. Resolución por la cual se aprueba el programa de cría de la raza equina Cavall Pirinenc Catalá (in Spanish). Generalitat de Catalunya: Departamento de Agricultura, Ganadería, Pesca y Alimentación: Dirección General de Agricultura y Ganadería. Archived 21 August 2025.
  10. ^ Datos censales (Cavall Pirinenc Català) (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Archived 21 June 2025.
  11. ^ [Grup de Millora Animal] (November 2012, revised April 2021). Programa de Conservación y Mejora de la raza equina Cavall Pirinenc Català (in Spanish). Universitat de Lleida, Departament de Ciència Animal. Archived 21 August 2025.
  12. ^ Raza equino caballar Cavall Pirinenc Català: Datos productivos (in Spanish). Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación. Archived 21 August 2025.