Muppets and Spanish Horses

SirenaXVI

SirenaXVI

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Why is it that people think spanish horses are easy????????

Yes, they are very very trainable and they do tend to have fab temperaments but the flip side of the coin is that they are very very sensitive and with that trainability comes an intelligence that learns bad things just as easily as they learn good things.

I have lost count of the times I have seen spanish horses in the hands of people who don't really have a clue about them and the horse gets labelled a 'problem' after they have been unceremoniously dumped.

Argghhhhhhhhh! Have just learned that someone who, by their own admission, is a novice rider has just got a spanish horse, poor poor horse.

Sorry - rant over
 
They are pretty - like arabs and attract the buyers after pretty horses.....
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Not just Spanish Horses unfortunately - you only have to look on Project Horses to see Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds etc who are 'problems' who would be 'good for parelli' as they can't be ridden as they are 'naughty'
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I was on a yard with a novice who had brought one and he was a youngtser!! She had a nightmare with him and it was sad to see as he really wasn't that naughty, she was just apthetic and her knew it!
It's the same for dgos though too isn't it. they see a pretty or fashionable dog and think oooh, i have to have one then it all goes wrong. Thats how I ended up with my springer because at 8months old they decided he was too boistrous.. He's a springer!!!! thats what they do!!
you should have to take a test to prove you understand what you are taking on!!
 
Oh dear - sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I assume she has all it's history and has tried it out quite a bit beforehand??

A girl I know bought a 'beach donkey' well that's what I called it, it was seen jumping on the beach one night and someone saw it and brought it back to the UK, worked with it a little while and sold it to this girl. Luckily the horse was ok to be ridden- when not lame but she was a complete cow to handle, a chifney didn't work and if she wasn't dragging people around she was kicking and biting. Well it's retired now as been lame for years and she's just bought a 4 year old hanovarian £25k later and a broken collar bone
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LOL this always makes me chuckle its because they are pwetty wif long hair..

TBH the same goes for natives and cobs and how many cobs do we kow that have attitude?
 
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Oh dear - sounds like an accident waiting to happen. I assume she has all it's history and has tried it out quite a bit beforehand??

A girl I know bought a 'beach donkey' well that's what I called it, it was seen jumping on the beach one night and someone saw it and brought it back to the UK, worked with it a little while and sold it to this girl. Luckily the horse was ok to be ridden- when not lame but she was a complete cow to handle, a chifney didn't work and if she wasn't dragging people around she was kicking and biting. Well it's retired now as been lame for years and she's just bought a 4 year old hanovarian £25k later and a broken collar bone
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No LP she has not tried it at all, and her existing horse is a large heavy who just plods along, she is in for one short sharp surprise.

Shocked at the 4yo hano, not surprised about the collar bone tbh! Someone came up to me at a show last year, she had bought a 4yo stally from Spain, funnily enough she had a broken collar bone and asked me if spanish horses were known for bucking, apparently she had had it one day, took it into the school and because he would not stand to be mounted, jumped on off the fence, cue broncing and broken collar bone - idiot!
 
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I love these horses, and would love one myself, BUT I won't get one as 1) they are way out of my £££ range, and 2) I don't think I could handle one, as although I am a good rider, I;m certainly no "professional"

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Oh don't get me wrong, you don't have to be a pro, you just have to be able to ride sensitively and to a level.
 
I do have a half spanish horse (other half is TB), and although I am not exactly novice (ok, so not exactly pro either
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) I have to say I went to see him based on the fact that I liked the breed. I did get him 5 years ago though, so before they became uber-fashionable
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Although I have to say he is VERY easy going, although in fairness he does have his moment (not sure if thats the spanish or the TB!!) that probably a nervous rider (like my mum) would not cope with. My mum is banned from riding him as she is tense and she freaks him out
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Have you seen the amount of poorly conformed freisians about!? Everyone wants a fairytale horse, and in the case of friesians this means all legs and necks set on top of withers. Can they say back and leg problems!?
 
a very good 'doggie' friend bought a Friesian filly (6 months) via inter -she saw a photo of a black foal and decided she wanted it. The filly, with trip from Holland , cost 4,000 euros and only later did she discover that the 'top blood lines' were a mistake-the dealer had mixed up the papers
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.My friend had never touched a horse before and was/is quite nervous of her youngster but, she had always liked them from when she saw 'Ladyhawke' at the cinema
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. I could write a book on the problems and scares that both have had and I dont need a crystal ball to foresee the problems to come. I did my best to dissuade her and my heart goes out to the filly.What future awaits her?
Mind you, if someone were to give me a Spanish horse (or 2) I could be bribed into doing ALMOST anything
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Horses for courses and all that stuff
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It's worrying that this person doesn't even know what it's like - I guess it's just like buying a horse off the internet!!
 
Sadly we had a Spanish import at are yard and he was sold for 'meat money' and quite possibly for meat when he became 'naughty'. My sister who speaks spanish reckoned that the poor animal had been schooled in the spanish language and all these idiots waving arms in front of him and yelling in English just confused him. I do think she had a point as she would sit and talk to him and he was chilled.
She would have loved to of bought him but didn't have the time. Poor Little Lance...hope you are ok but fear you are gone. x
 
I think its just because they look "pretty", they look so very fairytale like that people expect them to be just that - fairytale horses (nice, easy etc.).

I'm possibly buying a certain pure Andalusian however I've got a part bred Luso so sort of have an idea of Iberians. I also dont mind a challenge, its done nothing more than hacking for the past few years and I intend to get it out show jumping etc.!
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quote ' all these idiots waving arms in front of him and yelling in English just confused him.'


That's how they train horses here in the local way, except the English bit.
 
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quote ' all these idiots waving arms in front of him and yelling in English just confused him.'


That's how they train horses here in the local way, except the English bit.

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*snorts* So true, that and the longe whip, spurs and smashing them over the head and face if they show any sign of resistance.
 
Gosh you two know some dodgy characters
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Spanish horses are the best in the world because of their sensitivitiy, but you HAVE to understand they psyche, they are sooooo quick to pick up on emotion and one clench of a butt cheek will have you side stepping and, if not ready for it, out the side door!

Having had many, many Spanish horses through my hands, a lot ARE very even tempered and lovely in every way, but the ones people tend to buy to bring over here are the flashier type who live up to the fact that they are hotbloods...a fact many people do not realise. Also, take a serraton off a lot of them and they think their luck is in
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They need consistent handling and then need to know their boundaries, and if you can do that, they are the best horses in the world
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If you want a Spanish horse but are not 100% sure of your abilities, then buy a Spanish riding horse, plenty about, good mix of blood, you just lose the rocking horse characteristics, but keep your bones intact
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Argghhhhhhhhh! Have just learned that someone who, by their own admission, is a novice rider has just got a spanish horse, poor poor horse.


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Oooo interesting post. I've just learnt that my old instructor has recently imported a Spanish horse from Spain (funnily enough). She's been riding across the country form many years - but has decided to hang up her jumping boots and so was looking for a new equine adventure. Cue the Spanish horse.

It has caused some upheavel and a move from her large livery yard to a much smaller and quieter one. I know she was concerened that she may have bitten off more than she can chew with the purchase.

I must try and catch up with her to see how she's getting on.
 
I rode a Spanish Andalusian stallion in my late teens which belonged to the famous Gerard Naprous. As it happened both the horse I was riding and the one my friend was on had been in the movies and on TV too. We were not novices but neither were we pros. However the horses were incredibly well schooled and had manners to die for. That ride is quite possibly the best ride I have had in my entire life so far. Their presence and paces were quite amazing and that is not including their stunning looks. We rode western style on them and these horses were in fact part of a hacking sideline. We had to be assessed in an indoor school by the man himself before we were allowed out on them. Needless to say at the time ( was 19) I had no idea who Mr Naprous was. But I do now and I believe I may have seen his son there too, although he would have been much younger back then.
So you don't have to be a pro to ride these horses. You just need to be able to understand horses well both in and out of the saddle. Unfortunately there are people that fall into one category or the other and in some cases none at all. They are incredibly sensitive horses and I whole heartedly agree that who ever takes these horses on ( especially as youngsters, or with little schooling) needs to have their wits and common sense about them.
If I had the money I would seriously think of owing one of these beauties but only if I was considering doing something of importance with them as I believe they are far to elegant too just become a good old fashioned hack.
 
I'm in absolute agreement with the OP. There are far too many people who don't seem to understand the difference between trainable and easy.

I think the Andalucian is mostly wonderfully trainable, they are intelligent animals.

However in the hands of those whose opinion of their abilities far outweighs their competence, it saddens me to see nice horses spoiled.
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i agree, having worked with andalucians for the past 4 years, people need to know how to manage them, handle them and train them, for example many are sugar intolent and we feed all feed that is molasse free, as it sends them off their head!!

If managed correctly, they are the best horses ever, and can teach every one some thing new!
 
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It's worrying that this person doesn't even know what it's like - I guess it's just like buying a horse off the internet!!

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LP he did originally come from an internet ad and was bought without being seen in the flesh - go figure
 
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If you want a Spanish horse but are not 100% sure of your abilities, then buy a Spanish riding horse, plenty about, good mix of blood, you just lose the rocking horse characteristics, but keep your bones intact
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At the risk of sounding thick - What exactly is classed as a "Spanish riding horse"?
 
i agree that people buy them because they are so pretty- especially the stallions with their huge necks and long flowing manes. i used to ride a spanish stallion and he was one of the nicest, easist horses i've ever had the pleasure to ride, even during stud season. but then my then instructor got a lunatic one in from spain. he was really nice to ride but uber sensitive.
lady near me runs a PRE stud (i used to stable with her) and she is clueless. she just has a lot of money and keeps going out buying really nice stallions. they never get ridden and are brutes to handle because she doesn't know what she's doing and neither do her staff so a lot of the boys behave like brutes. its so depressing
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