gant looks and regal presence.
During the Renaissance, Iberians became prized for their ability to perform high school dressage, becoming common at royal courts and classical riding academies across Europe. Again, due to his noble appearance, the Iberian became the principle mount of royalty and nobility in many countries.
Iberian horses also began to make their way to North and South America aboard Spanish, Portuguese, and French ships between the 15th and 17th centuries. All the horse breeds developed on the American continents are either directly or indirectly descended from Iberian horses. These breeds include the Quarter Horse, Mustang, Appaloosa, Canadian Horse, Mangalarga Marchador, Paso Fino, Peruvian Paso, and many others. In Europe around the same time, the Iberian became the foundation of the Lippizan, Kladruber, and, later, many European Warmbloods.
Until 300 years ago, the Iberian ancestor of PRE and PSL horses was the same. The separation between the Lusitano and Andalusian began primarily in the 18th century, when bullfighting in Spain ceased to be performed on horseback; a man on foot, or matador, became the primary bullfighter in Spain at that time. In Portugal, however, bullfighting on horseback remained, and is still practiced to this day, though the bull is not killed in the ring like in Spain.
Arsenio Raposo Cordeiro explains in his book Cavalo Lusitano (Lusitano Horse): “The end of the bullfight on horseback in Spain forced the introduction of a new selection process in horse breeding… which became focused on the selection of a sporting horse with elevated and exuberant movements. In Portugal however, where bullfighting on horseback continued to be the only accepted form, a more cautious selection was practiced to produce a specialized fighting horse.”
Pura Raza Espanola
The PRE or Pure Spanish Horse is often called the “Horse of Kings” for his noble looks, fine temperament, and history as a mount for nobility.
In North America Andalusians can be registered with the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA), however, the main studbook for the PRE is in Spain, and is managed by the National Association of Purebred Spanish Horse Breeders (ANCCE). To be registered, a foal must have both parents verified in the PRE studbook.
Photo: Carolynn Bunch Photography; Courtesy of Noni Hartvikson.
PRE horses make wonderful dressage mounts. Not only do they have good movement, but their temperament and intelligence makes them easy to train given patience and respect.
This Andalusian (Valioso II) is owned by Spirit Ranch Andalusians.
The vast majority of Andalusians are grey. In the past, grey, bay, and black were the only allowable colours, but today other colours and dilutions are permitted.
Standing 15.2 to 16.2 hands high on average, they should be as long as they are tall. Andalusians are a baroque type horse, with high set, arched necks and well developed, strong bodies. The head should be of medium length, the profile straight or subconvex, and the eyes oblique rather than round. The back should be short to medium length and flat, with a wide chest, deep girth, and strong loins. The legs are sturdy but fine, with upright hooves. The tail is low set, and the mane and tail long and ample. A stallion’s hair is never cut, though traditionally mares are roached for practical reasons.
Mares and stallions tend to have distinctively “feminine” and “masculine” characteristics. Mares are delicate, less muscular, and shorter. Conversely, stallions tend to be very muscular and more typically beautiful. “The emblematic Spanish Horse is a male horse,” said Carlos Lara, President of the Canadian Association of the PRE Horse (CAPREH).
“Their (the PRE horse’s) biggest physical trait is their ability to collect and to bring themselves (under) and transfer their centre of gravity to their hind end,” said Lara, who breeds PRE horses at Cuatro L Andalusian Breeding Centre in Wainwright, Alberta. This ability to shift their weight back makes PRE excel at the collected movements in dressage and Alta Escuela (