Marion Hacker is the largest Majorcan horse breeder in the world. He has lived in Algaida for 21 years. He came to Mallorca from his native Austria and fell in love with the native horses, such was his crush that he has since accumulated a good number distributed across nine breeding lines.
«It is an extraordinary horse because it is very versatile and functional; You can ride it, harness it, jump, work and do all kinds of dressage”, explains the farmer. Marion adds that “basically it’s a working animal ; It was used for all kinds of agricultural work; plough, thresh, mow, but also to join the Sunday car to go collectively to the owner of the estate ». It is well known that a mule in the fields Better than a horse to work, therefore, according to Marion, it was used “essentially to cross it with the Mallorcan donkey and obtain powerful hybrid animals”.
This is one of the breeds that are on the Red List, endangered. “It is estimated that there are about 360 specimens worldwide,” explains Guillem Raines, breeder of Selva horses and owner of Roquerei Stud Farm. The Ses Pastores ranch owned by Marion has 38 horses. Marion says, “There is no other breeder in the whole world who has so many horses at once.”
Both breeders believe that the Mallorcan horse has reached this state because the local population has stopped breeding due to the loss of the animal’s usefulness on the farm. “It is much later, when its good character and nobility has been demonstrated, when it has begun to recover, that it is an excellent mount for children, for example,” says Raines.
Marion has nine breeding lines and “every day I’m trying to adapt my animals to a standard as close to perfection as possible,” he says.
The Mallorcan horse must be black and cannot have booties or large white spots. Marion has excellent stallions of great size and height. “An animal like this can be worth whatever you want, he explains. A normal horse for riding can be sold from 2,000 to 10,000 euros. Dressage obviously makes the animal more expensive ». Food Counting vets, vaccinations and other expenses, Marion says that each horse costs about 3,800 euros a year. A curiosity that adds more value is that currently, at Ses Pastores, horses with disabilities Bred for therapy for children. The breeder states that “It is such a calm and docile horse that it is very suitable. It has smooth movements, it usually does not change ».
The Mallorcan breed has sparked the interest of some foreign fans, so Marion reports that she has sold native horses in Germany, Switzerland and Austria with great acceptance. The farmer sadly admits that “at the moment there is very little institutional interest in promoting this native breed. There is no support, no competitions are organized ». Both he and Rennes are about to establish a new breeders’ association. Talking in. A unit that studies the potential tourist attraction of this horse in order to promote its breeding and thus avoid the disappearance of one of the original breeds of the Balearic Islands.
