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King Philippe II of Spain

Queen Isabella of Bourbon

A demonstration of
Classical Equitation

ABOUT the SPANISH HORSE

The Spanish Horse (previously known as the Andalucian) is one of the oldest breeds in the world and has been highly regarded for centuries.  Spanish horses were used to found several of our more modern breeds, the Cleveland Bay, the Connemara, the Appaloosa, the American Quarter horse, the Lipizzaner and even our own Thoroughbred.

In the middle ages the Spanish Horse was the favoured mount of European noblemen, and were highly prized for their quality and appearance.  Their mild manners, willingness to work, extravagant action and stunning looks make these horses a delight to work with, even the stallions are so gentle and good to handle that a lot of the males are left entire and not routinely castrated as in the majority of the other horse breeds.

The average height of this breed used to be 15.1hh, however due to the demand for taller horses the breeders are now favouring taller stock and many Spanish horses now stand well over 16hh.

Around 85% of Spanish horses are grey, ranging from steel grey through to dapple grey and those of white appearance.  Around 10% are bay and 5% black.  Recently chestnut horses have been accepted into the stud book.  The rarer the colour the more valuable the horse, another feature of this breed is the length and luxuriance of its mane and tail, only the stallions are presented with full manes and tails, the mares and youngstock are kept trimmed.

Monsieur de la Gueriniere praised as one of the supreme masters of classical equitation and whose methods are still practised unaltered at the Spanish riding school of Vienna declared that the Spanish horse is better than any other‚ it is the best of all horses for the menage, by reason of their agility, their strength and the natural cadence of their gait, and for war on the day of battle because of their courage and obedience.

In the beginning of the 17th century La Brune said that the Spanish horse was the most worthy to be mounted by a King because of it's great beauty and calmness, and this is what many kings did, Philippe 11 of Spain, Henry V111 of England and Louis X1V of France.

Left to right: Parading at the Feria!; Jubileo our grey PRE Stallion enjoying his showjumping; Ruach, our bay PRE Stallion carrying Zara and Amy ‘a la groupa’ at a show; Dunamis and Anavah our grey pure bred geldings having a rest from their riding school activities.