Spanish Andalusian Horse Articles > Buying and Selling Andalusian Horses

How To Read the Andalusian Horse Classifieds

by Donna DeYoung, breeder of Pure Spanish Andalusian Horses for sale

Are you new to reading Andalusian horse advertisements? The following information will help you decipher those ads.

Andalusian Terms A to Z

Alot of bone - minimum suggested is 18 cm around the cannon bone just below the knee. Average can be 16 to 17 cm. A horse with 20 - 22 cm cannon bone would be considered having more than the minimum. A young horse (yearling or two -three year old) can expect to put on about 1 cm a year as he grows.

Azteca - crossbred with quarter horse or paint. The better Aztecas and National horses of Mexico are considered to have predominately Andalusian blood which you only get after breeding back 4 times to an Andalusian.  There are differing registries and requirements. Some accept pintos and others don't. Some require the Spanish parent to be revised by Spain.

Baroque - a term used to describe the classic horse bred for royalty - i.e., convex head, long mane and tail, rounded body, rounded movements, beauty, elevation in movements.

Beautiful eye - nice, large and round eye. If eyes are protruding, this is an Arabian characteristic (not desired) but lends towards a "prettier" head.

Big moving -  excessive knee lift and engagement of hocks is evident or else length of stride and amount of ground covered is great. Hard to get both. The excessive knee lift is very desirable movement for show or parade horses, slightly less desirable for dressage. The longer stride is more desirable for dressage but tends to be less flashy. Its up to your personal taste.

Black gene - the horse can be a grey or bay but has at least one parent that is black or has close relatives that are black. Has nothing to do with the chestnut gene. Blacks are rare.

Brave and intelligent - strong tempered! watch out. Colts tend to be braver than mares.

Breeding stallion potential - just about every colt, since so few are gelded.

Combines the best of Spain and Portugal - this is an "SP" or "PSP" - considered a crossbred in both mother countries but a purebred in the U.S.

Complemented by the Cria Caballar - take a closer look, horse probably looks very Spanish and would be a complement to your breeding program. The Cria Caballar of Spain used to conduct all inspections. Currently inspections are performed via ANCCE in Spain. PRE Mundial (a California based registry) also conducts inspections and uses former Cria Caballar personnel. These papers are not the same as the ones issued by Spain.

Correct conformation - see well-bred

Cria approved - same as revised. Depending on who you talk to. Be sure to ask if the papers are from Spain or California!

Cria caballero - a misspelling of the correct term "cria caballar"

Double registered - has both USA (IALHA) and Spain (Cria caballar) papers. Triple registered includes PRE Mundial papers from California.

Dressage prospect -longer legs in proportion to the body, good length of stride with legs reaching out in front, flatter type movements - OR just about every advertised Andalusian.

Floating movement - all four feet appear to come off the ground, as opposed to the western jog trot where all four feet appear to stay on the ground.

Foundation sire - the first horse they bought.

Full mane and tail - a nice mane can cover up plenty of faults.

Going to be huge - over 16 hands, maybe.

Gold medal best movement - the horse in the conformation class (IALHA) with the best score for walk/trot (conformation is not a part of the score and the horse could be really ugly).

Grey, can throw color - a grey horse with one bay parent. The bay is recessive, so a bay parent will always pass on his or her bay gene. A grey from a grey and bay is heterozygous for color and has a 50% chance of throwing a grey gene and 50% chance of throwing a bay gene (or black or chestnut) when bred.

Greying - horse looks dark bay or black but will eventually grey.

Hierro de Bocado breeding - the old lines that are still preserved in Spain today by the State, similar to Cartujano, Terry bred, Carthusian, etc. .

IALHA - International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association registry (in the U.S.). Also known as the "American" registry for Americanized horses.

Imported bloodlines - for pure Spanish horses this is most often from Spain. Can also be from Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, etc.

In your pocket - slightly spoiled and pushy.

Inscribed - the horse has been written into the Spanish studbook as a youngster. Still needs to be approved for breeding as a mature horse.

Lost the papers - you can forget about ever seeing them, seriously!!! I've heard all the horror stories. PLEASE don't fall for this trick.

Lots of push from behind - correct moving horse with large hindquarters that are able to propel the back legs well under the body for "drive".

Loving personality - typical easy-to-get-along with disposition which is the breed standard for the Andalusian and Lusitano although there are exceptions

Mainly used as a breeding stallion - strong sex drive. Owner lacks skills to ride.

Micro-chipped - required identification for an inscribed filly or colt. The microchip is implanted in the fatty tissue of the neck crest.

National Champion - the horse has won a champion title in USA competition. Sometimes there are as few as 2 or as many as 20 horses in a national championship class. To qualify for a championship class, the horse only has to win one ribbon for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place in a qualifying class against any number of horses. A typical USA championship show has 200 entries or more total.

Nationals quality - refined and pretty enough for US judge's taste.

Owner does not have time - wants the cash for this nice horse.

Pasture raised - no previous handling, you're going to have your hands full.

PRE - Pura Raza Espanola - the real thing from Spain OR it could mean the real thing from the U.S. - please ask.

Price will increase with training - very few trained Andalusians are offered for sale anyways and if you're looking for one be ready to pay big bucks ($20,000 or more).

Price goes up after weaning - hurry up and buy him while he still looks cute.

Purebred - anything that is Spanish, Portuguese or a blend of Spanish/Portuguese.

Rare - as in color. The most common color is grey for Pure Spanish horses. Bay follows. Black is considered "rare" as is chestnut. The Lusitano horse is often grey, bay, or chestnut and also occurs as palomino and buckskin due to the presence of the dilution gene.

Revised - the horse has been approved by Spain for breeding. Or it has been inspected by the PRE Mundial (USA) for those papers.

S/P - Spanish/Portuguese horse with parents from either studbook. Can be 50% Spanish and 50% Portuguese or any other combination.

Senior Stallion - over 5 years of age.

Should reach 16 hands - might be that tall at 6 years of age or could be less.

Spanish commission - see Cria caballar.

Spanish judge - a judge imported from Spain to give his opinion on our horses.

Special - all Andalusians are special!

Sport horse - horse shows inclinations for flatter, long movements. There is no test for sport horses in this breed and very few, if any, are competing on a National level in jumping or eventing. Buyer beware. Enough said.

Straight moving - opposite of winging. Some straight moving horses lack elevation. 

Subconvex - slightly more bowed out than straight but not "roman-nosed" which would be truly convex.

Talented - see special.

Top breeder in Spain - usually has won multiple ribbons of national recognition. Most Spanish breeders are known to have "two herds"  -  the one the sell from and the ones they keep. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to get the best horses out of the country. Even if someone says they've got one, its hard to prove it since they can't take the horse back to Spain and show it, and the shows here in the US are judged by Americans. In other words, you've got alot to learn if you don't know who is who or what is what.

Top Five - horse placed among 5 other top horses at championship level in USA. First place is National champion and second is reserve. No minimum number of horses is required. If four horses enter, all four receive top 5 honors.

Unlimited potential - for the amount of money you're about to spend, it better have.

Very quiet - lazy.

Warlander - crossbred with Friesian.

Well-bred - anything goes.

Willing mind - will do much better with some training. 

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