Mallorquín
The Mallorquín or Caballo Mallorquín,, is a rare Spanish breed of horse indigenous to the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, from which it takes its name. Identification of the breed was begun in 1981 by the i=no. The Mallorquín is listed in the i=no in the group of autochthonous breeds in danger of extinction.
History
The origins of the Mallorquín are obscure. The Mallorquín and Menorquín are genetically closer to each other and to the now-extinct Catalan breed – itself the result of introgression of populations with strong African genetic influence into an original population of Celtic horses introduced to the Iberian peninsula by the Celts in about the eighth century BC – than they are to the five "Atlantic" Celtic breeds of northern Spain, the Asturcón, Gallego, Jaca Navarra, Losino and Pottok.Identification of the breed was begun in 1981 by the i=no. A stud-book was opened in 1988 by the i=no of the Spanish ministry of defence, and a breed association – the i=no – was established in 1992. The official breed standard was approved in 2003.
The Mallorquín is listed in the i=no in the group of autochthonous breeds in danger of extinction. Its status was listed as "critical-maintained" by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2000 and in 2007. In about 2005 the number of Mallorquín horses recorded in the stud-book was 247, but a census conducted by the Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Medio Rural y Marino in 2003 had identified only 172. In 2010 a population of 146 was reported, which by 2018 had risen to 320.