The Andalusian Horse

With breeding that goes back to Spanish and North African bloodlines, the Andalusian horse is not a very fast animal, but has excellent gaits. Andalusian horses have long, wavy manes and tails and are usually bay, light grey or dappled grey in colour. The heart of the Pure Spanish Horse world is in Andalucia, southern Spain, and 'Andalusian horse' is a term that is generally used to describe a spanish type equine.

They also come in an odd grayish purplish colour called mulberry. The Andalusian horses is a very quiet and reliable equine which has made them very popular throughout the world. In America there is a registry for 'Andalusian' horses, which includes spanish-portuguese crosses, or those which can show spanish or portuguese blood. In Europe and elsewhere in the world there is no such register, and 'Andalusian' is not recognised as a breed.

The Andalusian horse ia a good all rounder, but are especially good at a special form of dressage called the High School or haute ecole. They aren’t the tallest of horses but they have very compact and muscular bodies. They stand from about 15 to 15.2 hands. Andalusian horses had to survive some pretty tough times to still be living as a breed today. Their survival is mainly credited to the Carthusians who became very good at horse breeding and keeping the breed pure.

This purity of the breed is probably why the Andalusian horse has been used to influence so many other breeds in the world. The amazing dancing Lipizzaner is direct descendant of the Andalusian horse and the Frederiksborg horse, the Friesian horse, the Oldenburg horse, the Holstein horse and the Connemara horse are all heavily influenced by this great Spanish equine.

The photograph on this page is used with kind permission from www.pure-spanish-horse-spain.com which is a website well worth the visit if you would like to find out more on Andalusian and Lusitano horse breeds.