What kind of horse is the Cavallino Rampante?

I think its a mustang they look alike

 

I would suspect a Lippizan or Arabian/Lippizan cross. Not a mustang - the Ferrari depiction of the stallion is much more "thick" than that of a mustang - a mustang in the US is a fairly small equine.

Another possiblilty is the Kladruby.

Thanks for the challenge Andreas!! As you know I have a special interest in horses otherwise I wouldn't have 47 equine children to care for twice a day.

Carol


A little bit on the Lippizan:

Developed exclusively by the Hapsburg monarchy for its use during times of war and peace, the Lipizzan is the true horse of royalty. Four hundred years of selective breeding have made the Lipizzan one of Europe's oldest breeds of horse. The Lipizzan's historical and cultural development enhances its mystique. Physically capable of withstanding the demands of the Airs Above the Ground, this baroque mount was bred to perform haute ecole dressage at the Spanish Riding School and owes its survival to the intervention of American General George S. Patton during World War II.

BREED ORIGIN

The Hapsburg family controlled both Spain and Austria when the art of classical riding revived in Europe during the Renaissance. There was a need for light, fast horses for use in the military and the riding school. The Spanish horse, produced during Moorish rule by crossing Berber and Arab stallions with Iberian mares, was considered the most suitable mount because of its exceptional sturdiness, beauty, and intelligence. In 1562, Maximillian II brought the Spanish horse to Austria and founded the court stud at Kladrub. His brother Archduke Charles established a similar private imperial studfarm with Spanish stock in 1580 at Lippiza (nowadays: Lipizza [Italian], or Lipica [Slovenian]) near the Adriatic Sea. Here on the Karst plateau near Triest the type of horse which was bred in Lippiza was called the Lippizaner. Today in Europe the breed is called Lipizzaner or, in America, Lipizzan.

 

So what breeds are native to Italy? I’m pretty sure the Lippizan is indeed famous for "prancing" & bred to show up on hinds. However, I think of the Ferrari stallion (definitely male) as a black muscular breed with narrow joints and a powerful yet graceful gait full of attitude. Is there such a breed native to Italy?
Great question & something I'd love to know the answer to.

 

Why not a Thoroughbred? Afterall, aren't these are race horses??

 

I doubt anyone had a breed in mind at the time.

 

I think it's a boy horse.

 

I don't see anything hanging, so I think it's a girl horse.

 

The Lippizan are born black then turn white with age. My Grandfather use to raise them in Europe.

 

Unfortunately the drawings didn't copy as they are quite good


SPANISH BARB WAR HORSE

by Susan Paulton

Literature and art of post-renaissance Europe have immortalized the Spanish War Horse. This breed has a definite and unique appearance that sets it apart. Its breed type is what made the breed. The breed is the breed type. One cannot exist without the other. Yet today, this ancient breed type is rarely seen in 'Spanish' or 'Barb' horses in any country.

Mounted European and New World combat of the Renaissance Era required that a horse perform, with ease, all the strenuous, balanced leaps and jumps that we know today as those performed by the Lipizzans of Austria. These fundamental war maneuvers of instant stop and accelerate, whirl and leap, and kickout with both hind legs while in the air were used to intimidate the enemy as well as place the rider in position to either save his life or harm the enemy.

Such maneuvers required a special horse conformed to accommodate agility and soundness as well as great stamina. There is a distinctive build inherent to the Iberian/Barb horse that allows the "circle of power" to be in complete balance from poll to hocks. This is a full neck, deep and arched, that extends upright from an exceedingly long, sloping shoulder, a strong back that couples into a completely rounded croup with a low snug tail set, a point of buttock that sets directly perpendicular below the dock, and hind legs that are placed forward of that point of buttock.

The striking correlation between breed type and ability, natural collection, poll flexion and a temperament of 'fire & feather' (fierce when at war, gentle when at home) has created an equine unlike any other in the world.

Other distinctive characteristics of the Spanish Barb War Horse are a lean head structure with a convex face profile; flat muscling throughout; long legs that are free of feathering and fetlock hair; a rather narrow build as viewed from the front; and very hard, upright hooves. The average height is 14 to just under 15 hands. Solid bay, black and buckskin are the predominant colors, the only white, if any, is a small star.

The unique arched croup structure of the ancient Iberian/Barb horse prevailed in Europe and the Americas during the time when this was the dominant horse. As alien blood was infused into the Iberian and Barb horses, true breed type changed and was lost. The first characteristic to disappear and the hardest to breed back is the arched croup with its low, snug tail set. The great infusion of Arabian, Thoroughbred, draft and pony blood quickly erased the noble convex, well chiseled head structure, the shapely full neck, the almond shaped eye, the exquisite shoulder and leg action, to name a few.

Even one cross with a non-Iberian/Barb horse will introduce genes that will contaminate the genetics to the extent that breed type is changed and lost. If two horses that carry only half Iberian/Barb blood are mated, the odds are that only 1 in 16 will carry the true breed type.

With every successive generation of foals, the trademarks of the original Spanish and Barb horses are disappearing. Breeders are simply not aware of this unique breed type that should be displayed in every one of their horses. Registration papers are used as criteria for breeding. Personal opinion also dictates what is bred because the registries allow for so many "types" of horses to be registered to accommodate the influence of contaminate blood.

Since 1878, Spain purposely crossed her Spanish horses with Arabians. To use the Arabian to "refresh" the Spanish breeds can only be an error of the highest magnitude, for the breeds pertain to two completely different families of the horse kingdom bred for completely opposite purposes, therefore entirely opposite in their characteristics.

The Spanish horse was bred to round and gather its body for leaps, jumps, sliding stops, quick starts; the Arabian was bred to stretch out and run. The Spanish horse has a convex head; the Arabian concave; the Spanish horse's croup is very rounded with a low tail set; the Arabian's croup is horizontal (straight lines) with a high tail set. The Spanish horse's tail trails low and quiet behind; the Arabian flags its tail. The Spanish horse's neck is strong and heavy; the Arabian's neck slender and light. The Spanish horse's shoulder is exceedingly long; the Arabian's shorter.

The Spanish and Barb horses owe nothing, absolutely nothing, to the Arabian horse. Since the time of the Romans, 1,000 years before one finds any mention of the Arabian, the Berber War Horses (Barbs) of the North African nomads were famous. Long before the birth of Christ, the Numidians introduced the Greeks to the excellence of Barb horses. The Spanish War Horse owes its renowned excellence to the North African Barb horse re-introduced into Spain by the Moors in 711 AD. During this accelerated development of the Spanish War Horse in Spain, the exchange of horses between Spain and North Africa was so frequent and complete that the North African Barb and the Spanish War Horse were considered one and the same.


Another possibility - they were used by the Italian Cavalry and Francesco Baracca was in the Royal Piedmont Italian Cavalry - he had the prancing horse on his plane and it was his mother who suggested to Enzo to use the prancing horse to bring him good luck . . . .

Even lesser known breeds are the Maremmano or the Tuscan horse originating from the coast of Tuscany. This is a good working horse, once used by the Italian Cavalry, and even nowadays quite suited to police and army work, especially because of its calm but determined temperament.

More on the Lippizan:

Lipizzans are genetically a type of grey. Born dark, black-brown, brown, or mouse-grey, Lipizzans gradually lighten until the white coat for which they are noted is produced somewhere between the ages of 6 and 10. The white hair coat has become dominant in the breed, and only now and then is a black or brown adult produced. As late as two hundred years ago, black, browns, chestnuts, duns, piebalds, and skewbalds were found in the adult herd. Noted for his sturdy body and proud carriage, the Lipizzan's head is remarkable for its large appealing eyes and small alert ears. The body presents a picture of strength with a crested neck, powerful shoulders, muscular hind quarters, and strong legs with well-defined tendons and joints. Not an exceedingly tall horse, the Lipizzan averages between 14.2 to 15.2 hands.

During World War I, the breeding stock was relocated to Laxenburg near Vienna. The foals were placed in the other imperial studfarm, Kladrub. After World War I, central Europe was reorganized. The large Austrain-Hungarian empire was divided into several new republics, and every new state inherited the possessions of the former monarchy. The breeding stock of the imperial studfarm of Lippiza (1580-1916) itself was divided over three different countries. The main part went to Italy, to which the village of Lipizza and its surroundings were also awarded. The 1913-1915 foals remained at Kladrub, which was then owned by the Czechoslovakian state. In 1919, the republic of Austria became the owner of the rest of the breeding stock and the stallions of the Spanish Riding School. Following World War I, in addition to Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Austria, other new states which continued the breeding of the Lipizzan horse were Hungary, Rumania, and Yugoslavia.


The fall of the Austrian House of HABSBURG in 1918 brought about the break up of the old Austrian Empire. Lipizza became a part of Italy. The Italian and Austrian governments divided the Lipizzaner herd equally. The Republic of Austria took their horses to Piber in Steiermark. Piber, a privately owned stud farm, was founded in 1798 to breed calvary mounts for the army. In 1858, it became a government breeding farm and produced Lipizzans of another and lighter strain for stud purposes in the provinces. Check out this photo....black Lipizzaner and you can almost picture the horse on the Ferrari shield.

OR perhaps the horse is a composite of various breeds but somehow I am inclined to think that the horse on Baracca's plane is of particular significance thus being his own calvary horse that he's perhaps paying tribute to him by having him on the plane? this gives me something to try to find the answer to while in Italy for the GP in a couple weeks - not going Saturday - bummer - test day cancelled.

Carol
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My sculptor friend just completed a 14 foot tall bronze prancing horse and knows nothing of Ferraris.
If someone would post, I can e-mail them.

 

circa 1959 Vienna, Austria.
I was USAF based in Germany. Went down to Vienna to visit Swedish girlfriend. She took me to the Spanish Riding School where we toured the elegant stalls and watched the chief of the school work out a Lippizan.

As I recall, he was Polish, elegant, and wearing white leather pants. He was dismounted and called for the horse to come to him. The horse obeyed. He then whispered in the horse's ear and the horse took off running to the other end of the arena and stayed there, until the chief called him to return.

The arena was nearly as fancy as the opera house.

 

Got an email back from a friend who works for Ferrari in Maranello telling me that it's just a drawing - no specific breed.

Carol

 

I was quite surprised that it all didn't go back to my theory of a remberance of a special horse that Francesco had during his time in the calvary ---- well it made perfect sense to me.

(not headed to Italy tomorrow - Test Day was cancelled --- bummer!)

Carol

 

If I print a picture of the Cavallino, then flip it is it still a copyright'd image?

 

Since there is no legend, perhaps we can create one...something to the effect of

"As a youth, Mr. Ferrari worked as a stable boy and used to sneak out with the fastest horse in the scuderia to race across the countryside with a beautiful signorina. Her father owned a nearby estate, and she was forbidden to consort with the him. This particular horse was quite spirited and reared up early one mornning when Enzo was walking him around the barn. The silhouette of the magnificent beast was forever etched in his mind and symbolizes both his passion for competition and lost love."

So much more romance in THAT story

 

I just read an article that said the Cavallino was redrawn and changed from a male to a female in 2002 as an artistic cleanup / smoother lines ...

 

The ultimate equipment change, as they say in horse racing!

T

 

I’d love to see comparison photos.

Matt

 

Clydesdale