Cavallo Romano

Cavallo Romano : The Cavallo Romano Della Maremma Laziale horse is a horse breed that is native to Italy. Its origin place is the region of Lazio in central Italy. Till 2010 this breed was classified and considered to be same as the Maremmano horse in the huge area in the Tuscan Maremma.

But DNA testing confirmed that this was a separate breed and distinguishes not only physically but also genetically. So, as the name itself and these differences tell us that this is a Roman horse of the part of the Maremma in Lazio. It is an ancient breed and as the Catria, Ventasso and twelve other breeds from Italy, it is an indigenous breed of limited distribution. They are listed by the Italian breeders association AIA and officially recognized in 2010.

The Roman horses have derived from the harsh environment of the malarial swamps and marshes and have survived the great reclamation made between the 16th and the 20th century. In October 2010 was found a register for the Cavallo Romano Della Maremma Laziale. Roman horses showed greater variability and a higher proportion of the ancestral genes, having 38.5 genes of the original type for the Roman horse, despite the Maremmano horse having only 12. Today the population number of the breed is only about 800 and most of them are located in Monte Romano in the province of Viterbo and less in the province of Panzano Romano and Rieti.

Some has described the Roman horse in the early 20th century and described it like a horse with a slightly convex profile, broad forehead, small ears, firmly attached, thick neck, well developed withers, short shoulders, strong knees, strong hooves, rounded ribs, broad chest, straight back, long, thick mane and tail set low and coat is black in all its variations, many of them bay and grey and standing from 14.2 to 15.7 hands high.

This description is almost the same as today`s Cavallo Romano Della Maremma Laziale. It has a long, firmly attached and slightly heavy head with the Roman or convex profile set on thick, muscular and arched neck. The shoulders are muscular and straight, a chest is wide, girth is deep and the back is short, straight and muscular.

The croup is sloping and wide, legs are well-built, tough with broad and sloping hooves and the tail is set low. Horses that have a concave profile, long and drooping ears, or poor conformation of the legs are not allowed to be registered in the register.