ASTURCONES
the Astur horse:
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The Quaternary mainly is showed with
three types of horses in Asturies: 1/ The first type; small, sub-concave
profile, short and strong limbs, and very massive. 2/ The second type; this is bigger than
the first, straight profile, long and stylize limbs. 3/ The third type; this had a erect mane, this had lines in its body and it was a
medium size, It was a smaller than first and it was bigger than second. The reconstruction of this horses was
through the process of palaeontologist discover in Prehistoric Ástures
archaeological site, and a lot of cave pictures that are representation the
horses. |
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A thousand years more later,
Romans arrived, the Hispanian tribes was subjugate for
Roma, but, the Romans had a bloody war with the native people, the Ástures
was subjugate bay Roma in 19 AD. The classic fonts speak of Ástures
horses: There are two horse types: a horse was
smalls, in a forehead had a black fleck, not to look well bat it was very
hard and resistant, the Ástures called it "asturcones",
and other bigger than this that it was called "thieldones".
Also there was a third type, but this type wasn’t a domestic animal, and it
lived in wood, for Ástures was a hunting animal. The Romans called "disex", and he said that it was distribute by
the Llion wood. Asturcon, in
the name for the Ástures horse. Creation of asturcon
thoroughbred at present: Probably was from the quaternary
Asturian horses, in adding of following Indo-Europeans wave in this zone. The
Celt horses was a similarly ancestral, the Solutré
horse, this could have a great influence that reinforce the characteristics
of indigenous horses. The asturcon
name is a good term, because this horses are
direct descendant of Ástures horses. And actuality this horse maintain the characteristic that the Romans
said. Today there are two different type of
their horse in Asturies: One is in the Sueve
mountains; in the north of Asturies, between Colunga
and Ribesella, this horses can be seen in Ponga and Campu Casu too. The other type is in the west, the hores have a brown hair, black muzzle, and concave face.
The number of horses is unknown and very scattered. The new are said
that is more numerous than east horses. If the description given for the
veterinary Pérez García
is true, and this is confirmed by rigorous investigation. This
without a doubt will be the more primitive and authentic type of asturcon horses.
It is of interest because this exceed the historical and cultural
limits and it appear other scientific and zoo-technical, but it is necessary
the investigation. Of three types of Asturian horses in
quaternary of Asturian, one two are extinguishing and one is on the point of estinguish The strange and mysterious "disex" or woodland horse, surely it would
disappear of our soil during the High Middle Ages, being able to come even to
the Low Middle Ages, during this time owed principally to the disappearance
of the habitat for the massive felling of the forests cabbage, with object of
occupying lands for the agriculture and ranching. The form of great step of the Asturian
horses, the "thieldón" mentioned by the
geographers and Greek and Roman historians, must have been a horse which
principal utility would be the mount, and its disappearance, according to García Dory's opinion, it would be very recent. In the villages
of Onís, Cabrales, Cangües d'Onís, Ponga and Campu Casu, it had still of the "big horses of the Ports",
of which still specimens existed in the forties, (of the XXth
century), that is to say, on having finished the Spanish civil war. According to García
Dory, some countryman of the above mentioned councils they described it as a
big horse, of long openings and dry, (want to express with last its shortage
of meats), this is opposite to the forms Breton for meat and percheron,
that so much abound now for the Asturian Ports. This horse was used to
ride for the Asturies's dificult
ways, and possibly its regime and maintenance would be different well from
that of the current small asturcón. Without
doubting that it would feed with fodder during a good part of the year; at
least while the winter, receiving a supplementary dose of cereals that would
help to support its proportions in a better line. Jannini, in
the classic text so the equine autochthonous races of Spain, published in the
20s, (XXth century), reproduces an interesting
photo, which later was gathered and published by Ferrera,
(1935), and Aparicio, (1960), where there appears a
horse of long line, of straight profile, which the above mentioned author
names of the "Asturian type" and which in little they look alike
with the current asturcones of the mountain. For García Dory, this horse if it is not a "thieldón" is a form that should be very similar. The
head, perfected, straight profile, thin neck and long members and stylized,
us remember equally the horse big and identical with the stone of the According to García
Dory, a neighbor of Sobrefoz
(Ponga), who showed him a photo
done in 1940, where there appears such a way a horse that remembres
what might be the thieldón. Though with the most
compact head. Possibly because of the crossings already introduced for then
in these mountains, the horse is such a way of long line and dry. The owner of the photo, Casto Martínez, says that this
class of horse that before, and from always he knew in the village. The horse already belong to his father, who simultaneously
raised it of a mare of his grandfather. In these villages of Ponga, the army who began to serve them local mares for
the years of the civil war, it influenced decisively the caste and form of
the autochthonous horses of stable until to make them disappear totally. Really it is that the race of horse
"thieldón", already this horse is not
between us. Undoubtedly as its size and adjustment to the way it might today
have a great success. For the rational utilization of
thousands of hectares of coppice that nowadays in Asturies they find undereused and in fallow. Finally, the third one of the forms of
autochthonous Asturian horses, the small asturcón
still locates in a little places of our mountains.
The disappearance in a short period of a few generations will be a serious damage
and in whose responsibility will relapse directly on the current cattle
authorities of the region, as well as on the average Asturian, who neither
wants it cannot even be required of those its suitable performance. Controversy of classic cites: One of the more controversy is: Plinio (8.166), this does referent to thieldones
and asturcones: The translate of Roldán
Hervás: "In the same Hispania was the Gallaecian and Ástures tribes; raised a breed of horses
(it called thieldones and asturcones
the smaller) doesn't trot but they have a easy gait that comes form moving the
legs from each side simultaneously; and for this was breaking for to guard of
territory." The translate of "A History of
British Native Ponies" (Dent y Goodall, 1960)
said: "...The Gallaecian and Ástures tribes
from the North of Hispania raised a breed of horses called celdones ( in their language ),
this small breed, that (we, romans) we call asturcones, doesn't trot but they have a easy gait that
comes form moving the legs from each side simultaneously... Plinio (8.166) " Roldán Hervás said that it was a two variation of the same race,
but the Britannic said that it was a only race with
two different names. |
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Search by the origin of "asturcón" and "thieldón
- celdon": For the german
A. Schulten, asturco,
meaningful "in Asturies" or "Astur",
this can be a -co Celtic genitive plural or adjective, as the Basque
"co" in "Baiona-co zaldi" or "Bayona
horse". The Plinio
codex keep thieldo, tieldo
and celdo forms. The "celdo"
word is similarly of Welsh 'cel', Scottish
'sheltie', Basque 'zaldi' and medieval german 'zelter', all word have
the same meaning. It’s more logical to think that the true
is the British translation, because this is more approximate. As far as horse
is concerned was called "celdones" by
Ástures people, this was horse meaning, and the Roman authors called 'asturcones' to this nation horses. But Dory said of
existence of tree different horse types, and he said that two horses survived
up until recent time, and this give the reason to Roldán
Hervás. |
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Bibliography:
"Asturcón, caballo de los astures", Miguel Ángel García Dory.
"Asturcones", Juan Álvarez-Llana,
Antón Álvarez-Sevilla, Jorge Jáuregui-Campos 1995.
Links:
Other
Asturian races:
