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Spanish Andalusian
Horse Articles > Breeding
Breeding the Hispano Arab
The Hispano Arab is a cross between an Andalusian (or Lusitano or Spanish horse)
and an Arabian horse. The Hispano Arab can be registered as a Half Andalusian
with the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA). Check
with the Arabian Horse Association for information on registering half-Arabians.
Should You Breed Hispano Arabs?
Even though your Hispano Arab might be well conformed and beautiful, in most
cases the return on investment is not as great as for a purebred Andalusian
horse. The Arabian market is strong, however, and offers many activities
and shows for Arabians and half-Arabians. This may provide an outlet for selling
and showing the Hispano Arabian.
In Spain, the Hispano Arab is fairly popular and is also crossed with
Thoroughbreds to make a nice ranch horse with additional stamina and speed for
working the fighting bulls.
I think that the Hispano Arab is a nice cross, but in certain cases the Arab type and Andalusian
type you might be using could cancel out each other's positives - be VERY choosy
in the stallion you use. Personally, I prefer the QH crosses with Arabs as they
add the good "behind". I also like the National Show Horse (Saddlebred crossed
with Arabian).
I'm not totally convinced on this cross. The Spaniards have worked along time to
breed OUT any Arabian characteristics of their pure Spanish horses.
What Happens with Movement and Conformation When Crossing the Two
Breeds?
Some Arabians have beautiful floaty trots that are ground covering and some
Andalusians have choppy, knee lifting gaits. If you breed the two together, you
might get something that can't move at all. I've seen it happen. Of course, the
horse may have come from sub-standard parents.
Arabian horses have lovely dished faces and Andalusians have straight, sometimes
roman nosed profiles - sometimes mixing the two doesn't work. The crossbred may
have a face that dishes in one place and bulges in another!
When selecting Andalusians for breeding Hispano Arabs, you will probably
choose an Andalusian that displays more Arabian characteristics. Unfortunately,
this type of horse isn't
the true type of Spanish horse and you might not get all the benefits of the
breed as a result. The same thing happens when new buyers who are familiar with
Arabians and prefer the Arabian type of horse go shopping for an Andalusian.
They tend to prefer the prettier, more refined type of Andalusian.
Andalusians don't always have the best driving engine. Your Arab may be built
better - result - you decrease this aspect. Some Andalusians have bad necks,
Arabs better.
Arabs are built with high croups at times, better ones I believe had nice
rounded butts. Hard to find Andalusians with good croups. (See article
Croup High, Imperfect or Not)
An Andalusian could probably put some bone and a little substance on your
Arabian, as long as he doesn't add any faults, I've seen some gorgeous Arab
crosses but probably from showy/fancy stock on both sides of the pedigree. So it
IS possible to produce nice horses that are cross breds if you start with the
absolute best parents.
What Would It Take To Produce A Great Hispano Arab and What are the
Drawbacks?
To produce a really good Hispano Arab out of an Arabian mare, you would need a
really nice Andalusian stud. The better Andalusian stallions often cost more,
although you should be getting a discount for breeding to a non-Andalsuian. The
better Andalsuian stallions can cost $2,500 to over $4,000 when breeding to
purebreds. The cost for breeding to non-purebreds is usually less.
However, it is still a substantial investment and mmay make the profit margin
less than if you were breeding purebred Andalusians.
Questions from a Reader
I received the following questionnaire from someone interested in breeding
HispanoArabs. My responses are in italic.
Question:
What would you consider a fair price for a well-conformed, quadruple or
quintuple registered, buckskin or palomino hispano Arabe weanling or yearling?
Answer: Around 2k to 4K depending on size and exceptional beauty. As for color,
remember that most Andalusians are grey and you wouldn't want to use them to get
color. Your dilute gene would have to come from your Arab or from the Lusitano
type (having even worse faults in some cases than the Andalusians in my opinion
because there are so FEW of them avail - might work - if you've seen it work
before try that - but be cautious without examples).
Question:
How about a 2 yr. old?
Answer: 4 - 8K
Question:
Green broke 3 yr. old?
Answer: You rarely get money back on training
Question:
4 yr. old with some show experience?
Answer: You can make some good money, but the market is smaller
Question:
If you were shopping for such a horse, would you consider a horse outside of
your state or region?
Answer: yes
Question:
Would you pay more for a buckskin, palomino, or
black horse than for a gray,
bay, or chestnut one?
Answer: It's a personal thing. Yes for buckskin, palomino...not that fond of
black
Question:
Assuming the stallion had a successful show record, would it matter to you if
the mother had a show history or not, as long as she was of good quality and
temperament?
Answer: Should not matter if bred to top show stallion
Question:
Are you personally in the market for a horse like this?
Answer: No
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