(also known as the Eleia
) is a nearly extinct breed of horse
named for the Ilia
region of Greece
in which it was first bred
. Because of its rarity outside of a small area of Greece, there are few resources on it and it remains somewhat of an enigma.
Ilia is a prefecture
in the Peloponnese
in western Greece
. It is well known for its breeding of the Andravida and other horses, and most of this history occurs there.
The first reports of the ancestors
of the Andravida horse
came from Ilia in the fourth century BC
, where they were used by Athenians
. These horses were large, strong, and powerful, and could be used for working
as well as fighting. In particular, they were used in conquest
and on trade routes
to carry goods. The next we know of the Andravida is from the seventh century AD, when Greek
forces took a census
of their cavalry and counted many Andravidas among the horses used.
Throughout the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, the Andravida was bred heavily with Arabian
horses which composed much of the Greek cavalry and also the French
cavalry. There is a legend about the Andravida which states that sometime in the Ottoman
period, a sultan
was presented with a pair of Andravidas by the Turkish
governor. He was so pleased that he granted the residents of Ilia the right to breed these horses exclusively. This is one of the main reasons the horse is so rare today: historically, it has not been bred outside of Greece
, and rarely outside of Ilia.
The Greek army
continued to use the Andravida as cavalry horses until modern times, with a fresh supply of these horses coming regularly from Ilia. More recently, they have also been used as show horses
, particularly in racing
, and showing
. The newest development
in the history of the Andravida may in fact save the breed from extinction. In the early 90s, the Andravida stallion Pegasus
sired nearly fifty healthy colts
, which were sent to breeders
throughout western Greece. This led to the establishment of the official Andravida herdbook
. However, its numbers are still scarce, and the likelihood that the Andravida will pull itself out of extinction is slight.
The most important part of the Andravida's appearance is that it is a large, strong horse. Its height
ranges from fourteen to sixteen hands, with most of the horses at the upper end of the scale
. It has a deep, muscular breast
and powerful legs that make it a useful draft horse
. The head is regular with no remarkable characteristics. The coloration
is generally shades of brown, with red
being slightly less common. Many of the show horses of the breed have white markings on the head or sides, and these are considered perfectly acceptable.
If you would like to know more about the Andravida, be forewarned that most of the available writings are in Greek. A good translation service for Greek is WorldLingo.com.