History
The San Fratellano comes from San Fratello, in the Nebrodi mountains in the province of Messina in Sicily. The horses developed and were bred in a native habitat that resulted in a strong, powerful type known for their endurance.
A Lombard princess, Adelaide del Vasto, married Roger I of Sicily, a Norman noble, in the 11th century AD. Sicily was ruled by Norman warlords at the time, and Princess Adelaide del Vasto brought to Sicily her retinue, including a number of knights and their horses. To this day the people of San Fratello speak a Lombard dialect, different from the Sicilian dialect of surrounding areas. The San Fratellano horse is said to have descended from the horses of the Lombard knights.
The breed has received infusions of Anglo-Arab, Spanish Anglo-Arab, Salerno and Nonius blood, and has remained quite true to type. It resembles its fellow Italian breed, the Maremmano. Breeding stock is carefully selected for propagation, and most colts are trained young as pack horses.
Read more about this topic: San Fratello Horse
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is a history in all men’s lives,
Figuring the natures of the times deceased,
The which observed, a man may prophesy,
With a near aim, of the main chance of things
As yet not come to life.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)