New Andalusian Horse Owners Where to start in gaining information about the Andalusian horse breed, some important tips for buying, and why they are so expensive as a breed. Articles include Andalusian Buyer's Guide, Imprinting, Buying Foals, and Pricing.

Andalusian Horse Study Guide

by Donna DeYoung, Pure Spanish (PRE) Andalusian Horse Breeder

Note: Since this was first published, it is also a good idea to check out Skyhorse Kingdom for the latest news on the rift between the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse and Spain

Follow these steps to learn more about the Andalusian horse. Answers are at the bottom of the page.

Step 1.

Contact the IALHA (International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association) www.ialha.org.

Visit their website and read the “About the Breed” information. You may request breed information, association and membership information, and a free copy of the Andalusian magazine online or by phone/mail/fax.

Step 1 questions for review

1. Where did the Andalusian horse originate?
2. Why did the IALHA decide to call the horse breed “Andalusians”?
3. In what year did the Spanish create their Studbook?
4. T or F. The IALHA recognizes that the Pura Raza Espanola and the Lusitano are identical in origin and history until recent times.
5. T or F. It is still possible to register a Pura Raza Espanola in Portugal as a Lusitano and a Lusitano in Spain as a Pura Raza Espanola.
6. Which breed, the barb or the Arabian, influenced the Andalusian horse during the Moorish invasion of Spain?
7. What world events caused the numbers of Andalusians in Spain to drop and who saved them?
8. What does PRE stand for?
9. What breed does APSL refer to?
10. Who is the president of IALHA?
11. Approximately how many horses were revised in 2003? How many purebreds were registered with IALHA?
12. How much does a full membership to IALHA cost?
13. What does the designation “S” on a horse’s papers mean?
14. What does the designation “P” on a horse’s papers mean?
15. What does the designation “SP” on a horse’s papers mean?
16. What form must be filed before a purebred foal can be registered?
17. T or F. All new registrations of IALHA bred purebred Andalusians born on or after January 1, 1995 must be parentage verified either by Blood Typing (until 1/1/2001) or DNA profiling against both parents.
18. T or F. All new registrations of non-IALHA bred purebred Andalusians born on or after January 1, 2000 who are registered with the Cria Caballar of Spain and/or the APSL of Portugal must be and are assumed to have been parentage verified either by blood typing or DNA profiling against both parents.
19. T or F. The IALHA allows the use of artificial insemination using fresh, fresh cooled and frozen transported semen to produce foals for registration.
20. Approximately how many Andalusian Horse Shows are held yearly and where is the National Championship Horse show held?

Step 2.

Contact the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse and visit their website. www.andalusian.org. It’s probably a good idea to order the Breeder’s Book for $40.

Questions for review

1. Name one of the foundation directors.
2. When and by whom was the Andalusian horse formally unified as a breed in Spain?
3. Who judges the Foundation halter classes?
4. T or F. All competitive events of the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse are fully sanctioned by the Jefetura de Cria Caballar in Spain.
5. For a horse to be presented for basic revision, how old must he or she be?

Step 3.

Visit the Spanish Breeder’s Association ANCCE www.ancce.com website.

Step 3 Questions for Review

1. When was ANCCE created?
2. What is the name of the International Horse Fair held every year in Seville in November?
3. What types of activities take place at SICAB?

Step 4.

Visit the ELPRE website. www.elpre.com Go to morphology and study the interactive anatomy. Then go to breed standards and defects. Review its movements. Then study some of the horses for sale.

Step 4 Questions for Review

1. What is the number one fault (defect) of an Andalusian horse’s head?
2. What are the number one and two faults of an Andalusian neck?
3. T or F. Excessively high and sharp withers are atypical of the breed.
4. What is a “gothic” chest?
5. T or F. The back should be straight and of medium length with a descent from the withers of about 5-6 cm.
6. Name one characteristic of the Andalusian’s loin.
7. Name a fault of the Andalusian croup.
8. T or F. A horse with very short legs will have little extension in its strides.
9. Which is considered worse, a mare with long legs compared to body or a stallion with long legs compared to body?
10. What three breeds and their characteristics are singled out when talking about “infidelity” to the Andalusian breed type?
11. In which gait is the Andalusian most easily identified and why?
12. Can you pick out several breed traits and/or faults of some of the horses for sale?
13. Can you pre-determine how a horse will move based on his conformation?

Answers

Part 1. Contact the IALHA

1. Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal)
2. IALHA chooses to use the oldest definition which encompasses the breed that originated in the area including both Spain and Portugal since at the earliest documented times of the breed's origin and use of that name neither Spain nor Portugal existed as they are now. Andalucia is believed to have come from one of the peoples, the Vandals, who lived for a while in the Iberian Peninsula. Vandalus means Land of the Vandals.
3. 1912
4. T
5. F
6. Barb
7. War and famine caused numbers to drop. Dedicated families and Carthusian Monks worked to save the breed.
8. Pura Raza Espanola
9. Lusitano
10. Terri Meador
11. 450; 5000
12. $150 per year
13. An “S” means horses which have registry documents issued by the Jefetura de Cria Caballar y Remonta listing them as Pura Raza Española and which have the required documentation and proof of identity and parentage and/or any horse proven through documentation, parentage verification and proof of identity to be descended in whole from horses registered with the Cria Caballar as Pura Raza Español and which meets all other requirements of the IALHA Registry.
14. A “P” means horses which have registry documents issued by the Associação Portuguesa de Criadores Do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano of Portugal as Puro Sangue Lusitano and which have the required documentation and proof of identity and parentage and/or Any horse proven through documentation, parentage verification and proof of identity that it is descended in whole from horses registered with the Associação Portuguesa de Criadores Do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano of Portugal as Puro Sangue Lusitano and which meets all other requirements of this registry.
15. An “SP” means any horse who can prove through documentation, parentage verification and identity to be descended in whole from horses registered with the Cria Caballar as Pura Raza Español AND horses registered with the Associação Portuguesa de Criadores Do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano of Portugal as Raça Lusitana and which meets all other requirements of this registry.
16. Purebred stallion report
17. T
18. T
19. T
20. 20; Fort Worth, Texas

Answers Part 2

1. Michael Connelly, Barbara Currie, Lanys Kaye-Eddie, Vaughan Smith, or Janne Rumbough
2. The Pure Spanish Horse was unified as breed in the sixteenth century (between 1567 and 1593) by the Spanish King Felipe II.
3. Judges from Spain
4. As of 2007, the Foundation shows are no longer sponsored by ANCCE (Spain)
5. 3 years old

Step 3 Answers

1. 1972
2. SICAB
3. Conformation contests, dressage, exhibitions, trade fair, etc.

Step 4 Answers

1. Arabic trait head
2. Ewe neck (inverted), fallen crest.
3. T
4. Gothic is a chest that when seen from the front, has a pointed shape or arch.
5. T
6. Forms a soft curve with the croup, is short, wide, has well developed muscles.
7. Writing desk croup, detached tail, divided croup, high set tail, low set tail, etc.
8. T
9. A mare with long legs compared to body is considered worse.
10. Arabian, Thoroughbred, Draft
11. Trot, because the Andalusian shows his best expression, his particular stride and spectacular elevations.
12. Many of the sale horses are faulty and poor specimens. Some are better. Compare prices of several that you think are nice looking to those that are not so nice looking.
13. Watch for the angle of the shoulder (how steep) and whether or not the horse looks like he will have an overstep. If his body is too long, he won’t be able to overstep.