One of those "quiet" Iberian horses

j1ffy

j1ffy

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A thread on here recently about the great hat debate had a comment or two about Iberians being quieter than others and a counter-comment that they can explode in quite a major way. Well, I was in Spain and got a video yesterday of a horse doing just that, I thought it may be interesting (no hat on the rider though):

[youtube]e-tea8-qYxw[/youtube]

FYI, after the rear, the trainer pushed him into a medium trot then a transition to walk and pat. I was impressed by his composure - throughout the rears he was talking to the horse's owner giving commentary on why he was rearing and how to train him through it!

ETA: On the hat debate, I'd never get on a horse without one but you almost never see the old-school Andalusian trainers in one.
 
j1ffy said:
A thread on here recently about the great hat debate had a comment or two about Iberians being quieter than others and a counter-comment that they can explode in quite a major way.
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it's utter bollox that they are quieter, alot depends on the bloodlines. My luso can be very quiet but when he's hot forget it, they are super athletic and I wouldnt dream of getting on him without a hat.

Iberians are very trainable it's true, but they can sort of be the collies of the horse-world with all the stressing, faux dominance etc that can come with it ;)
 
Iberian horses defy the laws of gravity. FACT.

Did anyone see the letter from an Iberian owner in the BHS magazine a few months ago, she was on cloud cookoo land!
 
Dizzle - no, what did it say?? I'll have to dig it out and take a look!

peteralfred - agreed. They are very intelligent and can do just about anything but they need to respect you first. Mine is always testing me in small ways, it keeps me on my toes and I love it! I'm glad he doesn't defy gravity quite like that though...
 
I think they're the only breed that can play up.bronc/rear/etc and still look gracefull and so beautiful!

I'd be lethal with a Spanish I'd think. I've always been so smitten with them it would get away with blue murder and be treated like royalty :o Haha.
 
I am not a big fan of generalisations about breed, because they are just that, generalisations, but I also find it quite odd that people describe Iberians as quiet. All the ones I have known (OK not many!) have been quite nervy horses that could get quite wound up.
 
Seeing the results of someone novice taking on a lovely young andalusian - they aren't saints like people seem to think! He's a lovely little horse, and compared to the others on the yard (especially the other youngsters like mine :p) he is wonderfully behaved - but his owners are very novice (couldn't put a headcollar on when they got him sort of novice :o) and he quickly had them figured out!

Interesting too see how quickly the horse in the video seems to switch from behaving to throwing a complete fit, and by the sounds of it came back to behaving well fairly quickly. Crazy horses! :p
 
bay_beasty said:
wow that horsey is lush, Are you sure he is not asking him to do that?? I dunno at one point it just looked that it was meant!
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He is a beautiful horse, but he has a rep for being a bit nuts. Antonio trained him for the owner a year or two ago and recommended that the owner have him gelded. However he's fully papered so the owner kept him entire and had a bad accident in May, at which point he did geld him and sent him to Antonio for re-training a few days ago.

He's only 5 so definitely not trained up to "airs above the ground" yet!!
 
hmmm no I would not describe my Iberian x as 'quiet' either... He CAN be quiet, especially on a hot day when he's just been on a 3 hr hack! :) And when he is eating, he is quiet then. However he is also very good at exploding, prancing, leaping, spooking, spinning, half-passing at tractors, levading at carrier bags, and generally making a spectacle of himself. He particularly loves to do this in front of as many people as possible. He LOVES it when they tut at me for not being unable to control my fiery Spanish beast!
However, I also get loads of comments about how gorgeous he is :) Shame he turns into a giraffe in a dressage comp :(
 
they are uber sensitive and when things start to go wrong they can escalate quickly-I've lost count of the people I know who buy lusos in Portugal and then the horse loses it when over here-it can be a big culture shock for them (the horses). I love mine to bits though, they are lovely characters :)
 
Snigger who said Iberians are quiet come on fess up.
Although I admit their tendency to spook spin and run does seem to be a pretty well kept secret.
Yes i have one , 3 years in and I'm still learning to ride the little monkey and no I will never ever get on him without a hat on my head.
They aren't nasty horses and don't have a bad bone in their bodies (at least none of them that I've come across) but that doesn't mean they behave like saints either.
Upside is they get over what ever upset them just as quickly as they got upset in the first place.
 
j1ffy said:
Peteralfred - what has happened to those horses? Sounds pretty awful...
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I don't know about Spain/Portugal, but I imagine it would be very similar to Greece where the weather is really hot and there is almost no grass so they are all fed dry, low quality hay...bring them to the UK with the wind, rain, cool weather and lush grass and some lose the plot altogether!
 
Like any horse, I know a 3 year old TB who is a complete plod. Some TB's are idiots. Depends on the horse, the feed, temperment and many other things.
Also so many are stallions, and although you get quiet stallions they are still full of hormones etc.
 
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I have loads of videos of exploding Iberian babies at local dressage competitions, not going to post as they are private friends, these nags are the same as any others.
 
j1ffy said:
Peteralfred - what has happened to those horses? Sounds pretty awful...
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well, in Portugal at least are entire, kept in with no turnout, worked really hard (really hard) and not fussed or petted or treated like favourite children :) They are fed hay that is nutritionally is more like straw and most grazing out there is nothing like our fertilized ex cattle paddocks.

They come over and are either cut here or have already had the stress of being cut there prior to travel, they are turned out on fields of sugar, fed good hay and not worked hard enough :) And with some of them, it flips their lids. They do come round but often after scaring their owners rigid (I include myself in this) and they can move at equal speed in any direction and and have an uncanny ability to duck right behind the bridle when spinning. It can take them more than a year to settle in. The people I know who have had problems have been horse owners before-they are far from novices but they have never had anything as hot as this. Of course there are very quiet ones and there are very hot horses of other breeds but very few (and I've worked with arabs, WBs and racehorses) are as sharp or as sensitive as these can be-the difference is IMO, they tend to have a reason and are supremely honest and genuine horses.

Mine now lives out 24/7 but although keeping him out 24/7 (unclipped but rugged) he is still seriously sharp when the temp drops.He's an extremely good doer and only ever has chaff, pony nuts and a little unmolassed SB in the winter. Alfalfa turns him loopy as does molasses.

He's superb in traffic, bold as anything jumping and much more horse than I will ever need!
 
Oh no..................................................................................


That made me want one even more..........................................

I'm going to start my "Andalusian Fund" - feel free to contribute - willing to do anything for a penny!!! Suggestions in a hat please :D:D:D:D:D:D
 
I too have lost count of the people who buy iberians in the very much mistaken belief that they are 'easy', it is only when they try to ride the poor horses that they find out how sensitive and explosive they can be.

Sadly the breed seems to attract these people, I had one woman (with arm in sling) who asked me if they usually bucked :confused: I replied that ALL horses can buck! Turns out the woman (easily in her late fifties btw) had bought a 4yo entire from Spain, she had a lesson the day after he arrived and when he would not stand for her to get on, her trainer suggested she hop on off the fence, cue broncing and a broken arm. Basically she needed to sack her bloody trainer and sell the poor unfortunate horse to someone who could actually ride him.

Makes me sooooooo mad :mad::mad::mad:
 
It's ok Sirena, I worked at an Andalusian stud for 2 years - and I still want one - love is love and you can't put it out - only wish I could afford one.............. :(:mad::(:mad::(:mad::(
 
My Andalusian was bred in Spain and imported 5 years ago. I bought him xmas 2005 as an almost 5 yr old stallion (had him gelded a year later). He'd hardly done any road work and was quite green, the importer couldnt sell him as he wasnt schooled at all and people that were buying from the importer wanted pretty dapple grey rocking horses with flowing manes etc. I fell in love and bought him, kept him on livery there for some time. I just hacked him out all over Salisbury Plain took him on the main roads, round big roundabouts, coaches let their air brakes off behind him (he didnt notice) and he never flinched a muscle ever. At four yr old he was used to escort much older schooled horses on gentle hacks etc. He passed tanks and other armoured military vehicles without fuss. He never spooks, spins or anything like that. I was very naughty and rode him without a hat when I knew I wasnt going to cross a road. Since then he's done x-country, showjumping and everything else I've ever asked him too. He jumps like a nutter which is great fun never had issues with fillers or spooky fence judges. He's fast agile and nimble.

He's certainly not a dope but is totally safe. Our only problem is he's too damn clever and learns quickly (good things and bad) so I've had to learn to ride him properly, I started lessons on him six months ago and our flat work is soooo much better now.

I am now at a competition yard where it is widely known already that anyone needs a safe babysitter then my boy is the one.

I know he bucks the trend of the "flighty hot Iberians" and I am very proud of him, he's one in a million!
 
Andalusianlover said:
My Andalusian was bred in Spain and imported 5 years ago. I bought him xmas 2005 as an almost 5 yr old stallion (had him gelded a year later). He'd hardly done any road work and was quite green, the importer couldnt sell him as he wasnt schooled at all and people that were buying from the importer wanted pretty dapple grey rocking horses with flowing manes etc. I fell in love and bought him, kept him on livery there for some time. I just hacked him out all over Salisbury Plain took him on the main roads, round big roundabouts, coaches let their air brakes off behind him (he didnt notice) and he never flinched a muscle ever. At four yr old he was used to escort much older schooled horses on gentle hacks etc. He passed tanks and other armoured military vehicles without fuss. He never spooks, spins or anything like that. I was very naughty and rode him without a hat when I knew I wasnt going to cross a road. Since then he's done x-country, showjumping and everything else I've ever asked him too. He jumps like a nutter which is great fun never had issues with fillers or spooky fence judges. He's fast agile and nimble.

He's certainly not a dope but is totally safe. Our only problem is he's too damn clever and learns quickly (good things and bad) so I've had to learn to ride him properly, I started lessons on him six months ago and our flat work is soooo much better now.

I am now at a competition yard where it is widely known already that anyone needs a safe babysitter then my boy is the one.

I know he bucks the trend of the "flighty hot Iberians" and I am very proud of him, he's one in a million!
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I don't think he 'bucks' the trend tbh, they are incredibly brave and super intelligent, your boy sounds just like my Sirena, she was hacking out alone a week after backing, she went everywhere in passage as she was so excited but was also completely and utterly bombproof, she was also very explosive and sensitive in competition and would perform impromptu capriolles if overexcited!

You hit the nail on the head when you said that they learn bad things just as easily as good ones and what I was trying to say, in a particularly inept manner lol, was that not everyone should have one because not everyone can cope with the sensitivity and intelligence, which is why many end up labelled 'problem' horses.

Personally, I would not have anything else, I started with the breed 17 years ago and now have a little collection - so beware, they are very very addictive :D
 
Personally, I would not have anything else, I started with the breed 17 years ago and now have a little collection - so beware, they are very very addictive :D[/QUOTE]


I agree, I dont think I would have any other breed now.

I do have a massive 3 yr old Spanish-Norman gelding but have decided to sell him and concentrate on my special treasure PRE. He's simply awesome!
 
All this chat about sparky Iberians has got me worried. (not really)

My Spanish horse has been really good since he was backed in March. He doesn't spook at very much, he hacks out alone and has really impressed me with his progress. Only this morning was I starting to think that perhaps there might be more 'under the bonnet' than I can cope with. He can certainly handle more exercise than I'm giving him hacking gently up and down little hills for 30 to 45 minutes.

I took him to a show on Sunday. We stood around and watched. He was tense but curious. We stood for 10 minutes alongside a jumping arena when he suddenly leapt up in the air and then stood still again. I couldn't tell you which way his legs went but I was still on board afterwards so I didn't worry about. Weird though!
 
Peteralfred / Booboos - I was really wondering what had happened after they made a poor transition - were they turned around by the owner or sold on? I am amazed that people bring them over with so little consideration, however I suppose it's similar to people over-horsing themselves with flashy warmbloods.

I think the conclusion of this thread is that Iberians, like all breeds, have individual personalities and should be taken on face value. They are wonderful though ;)
 
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