Spanish horses?

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AGAGE

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My boy is getting older now and will probably be retired in the not too distant future. I have started to think about saving up for a new steed (I don't have ,much disposable income as it all goes on Ted, so will take me a long time!).

I have always loved spanish horses ever since I started riding as a young girl and as a teenager nearly got one, but yard owners put my parents off. I saw a Lusitano at YHL breeds parade a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love with the breed again. I like the fact that they are relatively small and compact (I'm only 5'3 and prefer smaller/compact horses). I'm used to riding TB's and Irish horses. Have ridden sisters KWPN DWB, but not a fan.

I don't know much about the breed, other than they are suited to dressage, would appear difficult to buy in UK, and are quiet expensive.

Have any of you owned one? What are they like?
Would you recommend them as a breed/type?

I would want a gelding/mare for hacking, dressage, and riding club events and generally to have fun with. Is the breed suitable for this type of work?

Any info would be greatly received!
 
I can only go by my little lad (see photo in above post about fat youngsters!). He is 3/4 Andalusian and 1/4 welsh b. He is exceptionally intelligent and feisty, but with a great brain when you can get it to focus (i.e. at the moment he is very reactive, if something scares him he will panic without thinking, but once he understands the problem he is fearless). He is similar to many TBs in the way he reacts to life.

His paces are stunning, he has a little extra 'extension' to them possibly added by the welsh B side, and holds himself easily on his hocks and in self carriage, so for dressage he is perfect.

He is exceptionally friendly, curious and fun to be around. I am like you, I wanted a friend and horse to have fun with and he is perfect for that. Good luck in your search - I had always wanted a spanish horse and he is my dream come true!
 
I have a Lusitano x TB and would thoroughly recommend. He is incredibly laid back, a trait of the breed I'm led to believe and has a great attitude to life.

I do everything with him, have done BE, do BSJA and do RC stuff too and imho they can and are suitable for anything really.

I never set out to buy a Spanish horse, mine was advertised in the local paper and I bought him as a slightly wonky legged 4 year old for £2500. He needed a couple of years to grow into himself, and now has normal straight legs
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Do it!
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Lusitanos are lovely, they don't have the same 'film star' looks that some PREs have - they can be very Roman nosed - but, in my limited experience of them, seem to have very nice natures.

My lad is a unpapered PRE cross. He is 15.1hh and very rounded in shape - I don't mean fat, he's very compact. He has the sweetest nature and is very quick to learn new things (especially if you offer him food!) He has lovely paces and I ride him bitless.
 
Well, he was sold as a Lusitano/Andalusian x TB - I have no actual proof!
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But he does fit the bill, has the same face/build and temperament and defintely does have film star quality imo
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I recommend you try a few Iberians before you decide to go saving up for one. Sensible, IMO, because they aren't everyone's cup of tea... but I absolutely love them and I would say that yes, they are suitable as lovely all-rounders
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IME the PREs/Spanish types are generally less talented as jumpers, though there are some that break the mould.
At the yard where I work, we have three - a Lusitano stallion, works to a high level in dressage, is a lovely type, fantastic to sit on, very comfortable, very responsive; a PRE x Arab who is getting on in years now but started out working cattle on the mountains, and has been used for Le Trec and a little bit of dressage by his current owner; and a PRE mare who I absolutely adore, she is the sweetest thing, absolutely lovely to sit on (she reads your every move - I know I don't sit very straight as she tends to just go sideways for the first ten minutes I'm on her!) and has a very active brain.
I also worked, very briefly, for Meadows PRE in Wiltshire (was North Farm Andalusians). I rode a few fantastic horses there, all the PREs were fairly young but the majority of them were very sensible and sane - as someone else said, they can be sharp if something scares them, but once they've worked it out in their heads they are fearless. Very intelligent things! They also had a Hispano Arab (PRE x Arab) mare while I was there, in for sale - she was a little baby mare-ish sometimes, but I absolutely fell in love with her - she was such fun to ride, and made me grin every time I sat on her! I've shared two Anglo Arabs before and vowed I'd never even consider anything with too much Arab breeding, but this mare made me change my mind about Hispano Arabs.
If there's any way you could get yourself down to Wiltshire, Meadows PRE do "introduction days" to introduce people to the PRE - they are lovely people, especially Sheila who owns the place, and she'd be more than happy I'm sure to either book you up on one of those days or even just to talk to you about PREs
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Long and short, I love them - especially PREs - and would recommend them if you can find the right one for you. I am saving up for my dream PRE (I have a LONG way to go!)
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Love them they are itelligent and fantastic natured.
I have a part bred and i love him too bits, he is the kindest gentlest horse ive ever known.
If you do decide to get one youll need to do your homework because they are not like English horses and can easily be misunderstood.
Have PMd you
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I've just bought a weanling andalusian colt so I'll tell you in a few years what he's like to ride!

I have been for lessons in portugal on a couple of stallions and loved them.

So far my young colt is very calm and placid although there is a twinkle in his eye that tells me he could be a handful if he wanted to be.

I am keeping him entire for the time being and may breed from him at a later date if everything is going well - I intend to use him for dressage and hunting although if he can jump well we may well do some low level jumping too
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I totally adore him already BTW - he has awesome paces although at the moment he obviously has a lot of growing to do!
 
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arent Lusitanos a Portugese horse rather than a Spanish horse?

i always thought Andalucians and Lippizzaners were Spanish and Lusitanos were Portugese
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Yes that's right - lusitanos are portugese and andalusians are spanish. both breeds are very similar though & are often referred to as 'iberian' as a term to incorporate both breeds.
 
Your right Pixxie. Lusitanos are Portugese and not Spanish. I have had an Andalusian for for years now and he's a horse of a lifetime. He is completely fearless and jumps like a stag, has won and been placed in SJ and HT. We dont do dressage. A good one will not be cheap to buy. If you look at a purebred for under £5000 I'd be incredibly suspicious. Lusitanos are a slightly different kettle of fish than Andalusians and are generally much sharper but there will be a few that break the mould. My chap is very low maintenance, has awesome feet (I took his shoes off last Feb and the farrier hasnt touched him since). He is as fat as a pig and gets very little food so although yes they may be expensive to buy if you get a good one like mine their low maintence keeps costs down.

Good luck, I thoroughly recommend Andalusians.
 
Lusitanos are Portuguese, not Spanish - However the studbooks of the breed were the same until the 70's when the APSL was formed and the studbooks split into seperate Spanish and Portuguese ones...there are usually mixed bloodlines in the past.

Lippizzaners are Eastern European but bred from Iberian stock originally

I've owned, loaned and worked with Lusitanos since the 1990's...and like any other breed of horse you get all sorts of temperaments across the board. I've currently got an incredibly good natured purebred mare with a fantastically trainable but very lively personality, soon to be joined by a totally placid, fabulously friendly and unflappable little partbred filly. My last mare was very aloof with both horses and humans unless she wanted to be with you. Very hot and spooky definitely not for a novice rider and handler - she was by the same sire as my current mare so even with siblings there can be personality differences.

My last purebred Luso mare hunted, jumped, did dressage (and won at both of them), hacked...a true allrounder
Contact the LBSGB or visit the website to find UK studs, otherwise I can put you in touch with repputable importers and horse finders.

I think they are definitely a try before you buy breed, but if you like them, you will LOVE them
 
I have a half Lusitano and he's basically a dream horse. He's the one in my sig. He's competing to CIC* and 1.20 BSJA no problem. So Iberians aren't only good for dressage
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My next horse will definately be Iberian. Probably a half bred though as for eventing and SJ I find that they are best bred with TB etc. I've heard of a Luso x Arab locally for sale which I can't stop thinking about...!!

Pure breds are very overpriced IMO because they are still a bit of a novelty. Hence, why part breds can be more of a bargain. I've seen a few part breds around the £2,500 mark but pure breds I dont think I've seen for less than £6k.
 
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arent Lusitanos a Portugese horse rather than a Spanish horse?

i always thought Andalucians and Lippizzaners were Spanish and Lusitanos were Portugese
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Lusitanos and Andalucians are Iberian breeds. The Luso IS Portuguese, and the Andy IS Spanish, but Lipizzaners are not originally Spanish although the do descend from Spanish stock. They are in fact from what is today Slovenia.

ETS: Just realised someone else has already said the above. Oops
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Thanks for your responses. I hope I haven't caused any offence by referring to Lusitano's as Spanish- I meant Iberian rather than just spanish horses.

I will definately have a ride on one/talk to owners etc before buying. I'm aware that I live in the same county as Pine Lodge School of Classical riding and will try and book lesson their in future.

I'm used to TB's and Arab's scatty behaviour. I used to own a welsh x arab. She had a pretty arab head and was very hot blooded but she had the body of a welsh. She was very sweet natured if a little highly strung.

My old boy is full bred TB, grandsire Bustino. He can be the laziest horse in the world and then switch to racehorse mode if the wind picks up or he see's a plastic bag! At the moment he's in race horse mode because of the weather.
 
My boy is 1/2 connie, 1/4 andy and 1/4 luso, and he's fab. He eats nothing, has amazing feet and is solid as a rock. He is incredibly intelligent, affectionate, cheeky and can be a swine to handle when he gets his spanish head on! Oh and he's really sharp and when he spins I end up on the deck. I love him dearly and any other horse I sit on now feels like a donkey in comparison!!!

I would recommend you read the book 'Living and Working with the horse of Spain' by Peter Maddison-Greenwell. I found it a huge help with mine, as I didn't know anyone with experience of Iberians. You can get it off amazon and it even shows you how to plait them up correctly so you don't have to keep explaining what breed your stunning horse is!
 
I have a Luso x tiny bit of TB that I bought from Spain, although he was born in Portugal. I would only ever have Lusos now as I just love the breed,. As others have said they are sharp and very intelligent, which you need to watch as they pick up bad habits just as quickly as they learn good, so you absolutely have to be consistent in your training and disciplining of them. The other thing to be aware of is, there is often quite a difference in a horse that was started in Iberia to one started in the UK. It is typically the men who ride in Iberia, not women, as it is here. The men are extremely strict and very black and white with their horses and of course have a physical presence that us little ladies (I'm 5'3" too) don't have. Consequently when my boy arrived, he really tested the boundaries with me, so I really had to be on top of it. They are also very very weight sensitive, particularly the Iberian trained ones, which really makes you think about the use of your body. My lessons are all about how I am sitting on my horse right down to individual muscles, and not about him, because as soon as I get it right, hey presto he goes lovely. Another thing to be aware of is that they generally take much longer to mature then a warmblood, and I have heard it said many times that they shouldn't really be cantering in the school until 6 years old, which was certainly true for my boy. It has not been easy with my boy and I would definitely recommend that you find someone with experience of the breed to help you out, but I have learnt so so much and had a lot of fun with him too - this year we've done several ODEs and often been placed, so they can jump! If you have any questions, by all means PM me. x
 
I have 3 PREs, one british bred, one spanish bred and one I bred myself - would not have anything else now!

They are really not difficult to buy in the UK and there are also more and more geldings around. A good place to start looking is www.bapsh.co.uk and there is now a website for british bred PREs www.preuk.co.uk, that site is full of british breeders. I bought my imported mare from Tarma Rowles at Spanish Horses UK so they are well worth a look too.

As others have said, it would be a good idea to sit on a couple before you take the plunge and buy one. They DO have the most incredible temperaments, BUT if you get a hot one, by God they are hot! I have known several people buy them because they think they are easy, they completely forget that they are in fact hotbloods and very very sensitive, as someone has already said, you need to sit very straight on an Iberian or you will find yourself going sideways!

Good luck in your search and I hope you find the horse of your dreams!
 
I will totally back this up. I too so wanted a Spanish horse but they were just too expensive
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I spent a day at north farm (now meadows as stated) and I could not have been made to feel more welcome. I won't hijack this post by going on how much fun I had there, but do go, you will not regret it.

BTW, I ended up with an Anglo Arab!
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Presume you've seen the add --->
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/marketpla...5000_212676.htm
I have his doppleganger in looks but not papered so cheeper
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They are lovely pocket ponies, but under saddle all that I have come across are capable of the odd moment when scared, so not good for total novices I would say as they are also very sensitive to riders postition and weight aids.
 
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