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Spanish Andalusian
Horse Articles > Buying and Selling Andalusian Horses
What You Need to Know about the Registrations
There are only TWO Basic Breeds! The Lusitano (pure Portuguese horse) OR the Andalusian (pure Spanish
horse). The third breed is the Spanish/Portuguese blend (SP). But there are FIVE or more registries!
It's important to know which registry your horse will qualify for before you
purchase. Otherwise you could be taken advantage of by unscrupulous or unknowing
sellers.
Listen, folks. It happens all the time! People set out to buy an "Andalusian"
for alot of money and they don't always end up with the right papers.
Some people consider the Pure Spanish Horse (PRE) or Pura Raza Espanola as
inspected/approved by the Country of Spain (ie, ANCCE-LG) to be the top of the
heap. Unfortunately, there is more than one way to "name" a horse or breed.
There is also the PRE Mundial (based out of California, USA) registry that
claims to inspect and register PRE horses. You MUST know the difference!!!!
Spain (the country) has had a program in place for many many years that
inspects breeding age animals and allows those that pass the minimum
requirements to be considered "apto" or apt for breeding. Only those animals
with a carta FROM SPAIN are allowed to breed and have their foals registered (or
inscribed) in Spain. If you live in the U.S., you CAN follow this program. The
current contact has an office in Miami, Florida and is hosted by the USPRE group
(Alex Zilo and others).
Once an inspected horse has a foal, the foal then grows up and is inspected and graded. The grading
process has 3 levels, the most basic is called basico. A more advanced grading
is called calificado or qualified. Up until the past few years, the Cria
Caballar branch of the military of Spain conducted the inspections by sending a
team to the U.S. once a year. That process has been handed over to the breeders
group in Spain known as ANCCE. The studbook for ANCCE (Spain) is known as ANCCE-LG. A
horse that has been inspected and approved by Spain (ANCCE) will have a carta
from ANCCE. If a horse was inspected prior to ANCCE takeover, it will have a
stamped carta (or passport) from the
Cria Caballar (of Spain).
Recently, the U.S. revision process for Spain was assisted by a group from California
called the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse (the Foundation). This
group had a falling out with Spain and decided to start their own registry. It's
called PRE Mundial. A PRE Mundial horse gets inspected by one of the FORMER Cria
Caballar people and will get a "Carta". Be warned, however, these cartas and
inspections are not approved by SPAIN!!! The PRE Mundial allows broken lineage
horses (see my other articles).
Revision by Spain or the Foundation is totally optional. You don't have to
play the game. In fact, many people since the 1970s and 1980s and even to
present day don't play the revision game. As a result, there are many pure
Spanish horses on the market that will produce foals that CANNOT BE REGISTERED
in Spain.
The Lusitano horse of Portugal has it's own parent book and a horse of that
pedigree can be inspected and approved by Portugal.
If you own an Andalusian, Spanish horse, Lusitano, or a blend of the
Spanish/Lusitano horse, you can register your horse in the U.S. with an
organization known as the IALHA. The IALHA was started long ago here and accepts
horses of pure Spanish or Portuguese lines (based on DNA). It also registers
Half Andalusians and Spanish/Portuguese horses (considered purebred by IALHA).
At times, IALHA has offered to support Spanish revision by hosting it at their shows or
supplying information. They have also offered "speciality" classes for the
Lusitano, Spanish horse, and SP. However, IALHA has done a poor job of
explaining the registry and breed differences. This leaves many people confused.
You should know that the IALHA has had some problems in the past two years.
Their membership has dropped and they have had some internal bickering brought
upon by outside forces. Rumor has it that another group will be formed to
replace the problematic IALHA. I don't know how this will affect U.S.
Registrations.
Most people register their horses with both IALHA and with the appropriate
mother country. Some people even "triple register" their horses with IALHA,
Spain, and PRE Mundial. If you have a triple registered horse with cartas from
both Spain and PRE Mundial in hand (that's important), you have all your bases
covered pretty much. If you have an Andalusian and the papers are lost, or the
parent was never revised, or the horse is PRE Mundial but not PRE Spain, you may
have a problem depending on what you want to do with your investment.
You MUST ASK, if you care, if your horse has "SPANISH PAPERS" from "SPAIN."
If you are buying a Spanish/Portuguese horse, you will have papers from IALHA. If
you are buying a Pure Spanish horse, it may or may not have Spanish papers (a
carta) from the Cria Caballar or ANCCE. Some people's horses don't qualify for
Spanish Papers from Spain, but DO qualify for PRE Mundial papers (less
stringent). Be aware of what you want and ask the right questions. Get it in
writing.
Note: Many of our articles are now available in "blog"
format. The blog allows you to leave comments and share articles. To visit our
blog (a work in progress), go to
Skyhorse Ranch
Blog - Your Source for the Spanish Horse.
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