The Tuway Potro, meaning ("spinning horse"), is a dark wekufe from post-colonial Mapuche folklore - its legend emerging only after the introduction of horses to southern Chile.
It is said to resemble a horse, yet its form is never fully stable. The creature manifests as a howling swirl of wind or water, tearing across open plains or riverbanks. The Tuway Potro doesn’t simply ride the wind - it is the wind, a living storm that spins with malevolent intent.
Known for creating violent remolinos (whirlwinds or whirlpools), the Tuway Potro preys on both humans and horses. It feeds not only on flesh but also on energy and memory, leaving victims dazed, numb, and hollow-eyed. It especially targets foals, stealing them away with sudden gusts, disappearing before their mothers can react.
When found near water, the Tuway Potro can form spinning whirlpools that drag animals to the depths. It is said to drown the horses it catches, storing their bodies to consume later. Though often confused with the Meuler, another wind-related wekufe, the Tuway Potro is distinct in both origin and behavior. The Meuler is more spectral and described as a lizard - while the Tuway Potro is violent, and described as a horse.
Huasos, upon seeing the whirlwind rest or stop spinning, may try to strike it. Blades and lassos can injure it in this dormant state - but the Tuway Potro always revives. After even the briefest rest, it returns to its spinning form, faster and fiercer.
Theories about its origin:[]
The Tuway Potro likely emerged after the arrival of horses with the Spanish, which introduced entirely new animals, symbols, and fears into indigenous cosmology. Horses, once alien to the Mapuche worldview, became both tools of colonization and powerful mythical symbols. The Tuway Potro reflects this tension - blending admiration, fear, and resistance toward a creature tied to colonial power. It can be seen as a mythical corruption of the horse: no longer a tool, but a predatory force of nature. Following colonization, the Mapuche belief system absorbed and reinterpreted foreign ideas, including Christian demonology and Spanish ghost stories. The Tuway Potro bears a resemblance to European spectral horses, like the Celtic kelpie or Germanic nightmares, but is reimagined within a Mapuche framework - connected to wind, rivers, and the wekufe concept. It may be part of a broader cultural synthesis, where local mythologies evolved in response to new symbolic materials.