The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE (Pura Raza Española), is a horse breed that was developed in the Iberian Peninsula. It is similar to the closely related Lusitano breed. Andalusians are strongly built, compact yet elegant horses with long, thick manes and tails. Their most common coat color is gray, although they can be found in many other colors. They are known for their intelligence, sensitivity and docility.

The ancestors of the Andalusian have been present on the Iberian Peninsula for thousands of years, but they became recognized as an individual breed beginning in the 15th century. Throughout its history, the Andalusian has been known for its prowess as a war horse and was prized by nobles. Andalusians were restricted from exportation from Spain until the 1960s, but they have since spread throughout the world. There are currently less than 20,000 Andalusians in the world today, including around 4,500 in the United States. There are several competing registries that keep records on the Andalusian/PRE. These registries differ on their definition of the Andalusian and PRE, the purity of various strains of the breed, and the legalities of stud book ownership.

Today, Andalusians are used for many equestrian activities, including dressage, show jumping and driving. They have influenced several other breeds, including the Lipizzan and the Alter Real. The breed is also used extensively in movies, especially historical movies and fantasy epics, and one serves as the current mascot for the University of Southern California.

HISTORY

The Andalusian horse is descended from the Iberian horses of Spain and Portugal, and take their name from their place of origin, the Spanish province of Andalusia. Horses, including the ancestors of the Andalusian, have been shown by cave paintings to have been present on the Iberian Peninsula as far back as 20,000 to 30,000 BC. Throughout history, the Iberian breeds have been influenced by many different people and cultures who occupied Spain, including the Celts, the Carthaginians, the Romans, various Germanic tribes and the Moors. The Iberian horse was identified as a talented war horse by 450 BCE.

Mitochondrial DNA studies of the modern Andalusian horse of the Iberian peninsula and Barb horse of North Africa, present convincing evidence that both breeds crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and were used for breeding with each other, influencing one another's bloodlines. Some of the earliest written pedigrees in recorded European history were kept by Carthusian monks, beginning in the 13th century. The Carthusians bred powerful, weight-bearing horses in Andalusia for the Crown of Castile, using the finest Spanish Jennets as foundation bloodstock. Because they could read and write, and were thus able to maintain careful records, monastics were given the responsibility for horse breeding by certain members of the nobility, particularly in Spain. Andalusian stud farms for breeding were formed in the late 1400s in Carthusian monasteries in Jerez, Seville and Cazalla. By the 15th century, the Andalusian had become a distinct breed, and was being used to influence the development of other breeds. They were also noted for their use as cavalry horses. While Portuguese historian Ruy d'Andrade hypothesized that the ancient Sorraia breed was an ancestor of the Southern Iberian breeds, including the Andalusian, genetic studies using mitochondrial DNA show that the Sorraia is part of a genetic cluster that is largely separated from most Iberian breeds.

The Iberian horse breeds were known as the "royal horse of Europe" and were present at many royal courts and in many riding academies, including countries such as Austria, Italy, France and Germany. As early as the 15th century, the Spanish horse had been widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean, and were known in northern European countries, despite being rare and expensive there. Even in their native country they were owned mainly by the wealthy, due to the expense involved in buying one. The Andalusian may have been the first European warmblood, being a mixture of heavy European horses and lighter Oriental horses. By 1642, the Spanish horse had spread to Moldovia, where they resided in the stables of Transylvanian prince George Rakoczi. The Conquistadors of the 16th century rode Spanish horses, particularly animals that came from Andalusia, and the modern Andalusian descended from similar bloodstock. During the 16th century, inflation and an increased demand for harness and cavalry horses drove the price of horses extremely high. The always expensive Andalusian became even more so, and oftentimes it was impossible to find a member of the breed to purchase at any price. In the late 16th century During the reigns of Charles V (1500–1558) and Phillip II (1556–1581), Spanish horses were considered the finest in the world. These horses were a blend of Jennet and warmblood breeding, taller and more powerfully built than the original Jennet. The Spanish horses of the 16th and 17th centuries had not yet reached the final form of the modern Andalusian. However, by 1667, William Cavendish, the Duke of Newcastle, called the Spanish horse of Andalusia:

"...the noblest horse in the world, the most beautiful that can be. He is of great spirit and of great courage and docile; hath the proudest trot and the best action in his trot, the loftiest gallop, and is the lovingest and gentlest horse, and fittest of all for a king in his day of triumph."

Also in 1667, in his work New Method and Extraordinary Invention of Dressing Horses, Cavendish called Spanish horses the "princes" of the horse world, and reported that they were "unnervingly intelligent". During the 1800s, the Andalusian breed was threatened when many horses were stolen by Napoleon’s invading army; however, one herd of Andalusians was hidden from the invaders and subsequently used to renew the breed. Later, an epidemic of disease in 1832 seriously affected Spain’s horse population, from which only one small herd survived at a stud at the monastery in Cartuja. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, European breeders, especially the Germans, changed from an emphasis on Andalusian and Neapolitan horses (an emphasis that had been in place since the decline of chivalry), to an emphasis on the breeding of Thoroughbreds and warmbloods.

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

Andalusian horses generally stand between 15.2 and 16.2 hands (62 to 66 inches, 157 to 168 cm) high. They both elegant and strongly built. Members of the breed have heads of medium length, with a straight or slightly convex profile. Ultra convex and concave profiles are discouraged in the breed, and are penalized in breed shows. Necks are long and broad, running to well-defined withers; massive chests; short backs; broad, strong hindquarters and well-rounded croups. The breed tends to have clean legs with no propensity for malformation, and energetic gaits. The mane and tail are thick and long, though the legs do not have excess feathering. Andalusians tend to be docile, but also intelligent and sensitive. When treated with respect, they are quick to learn, responsive and cooperative. The movement of Andalusian horses is extended, elevated, cadenced and harmonious, with a balance of roundness and forward movement. Poor elevation, irregular tempo, and excessive winging (sideways movement of the legs from the knee down) are discouraged. Andalusians are known for their agility and their ability to learn difficult moves quickly, such as advanced collection and turns on the haunches.

When the breed was first developed, most coat colors were found, including spotted patterns. Today, around 80% of all Andalusians are gray. Of the remaining horses, approximately 15% are bay and 5% are black, dun or palomino or chestnut. Other colors, such as buckskin, pearl, and cremello, are rare, but are recognized as allowed colors by the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association.

There are two additional, unique characteristics found in the Carthusian strain, believed to trace to the foundation stallion Esclavo. The first is warts under the tail, a trait which Esclavo passed to his offspring, and a trait which some breeders felt was necessary to prove that a horse was a member of the Esclavo bloodline. The second characteristic is the occasional presence of "horns", which are actually frontal bosses, possibly inherited from Asian ancestors. The physical description of the bosses vary, ranging from calcium-like deposits at the temple to small horn-like protrubences near or behind the ear. However, these "horns" are not considered proof of Esclavo descent, unlike the tail warts.

The name Pura Raza Española (PRE), translated as Purebred Spanish Horse, is the term utilized by the ANCCE and the Ministry of Agriculture of Spain. The ANCCE uses neither the term "Andalusian" or "Lusitano" and only registers horses that have certain recognized bloodlines. In addition, all breeding stock must undergo an evaluation process. The ANCCE was founded in 1972. Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture recognizes ANCCE as the representing entity for PRE breeders and owners across the globe, as well as the administrator of the breed studbook.[38] ANCCE functions as the international parent association for PRE breeders. For example, the United States PRE registry is affiliated with ANCCE, follows ANCCE rules, and wholly separate from the IALHA.

However, a second group, the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE Mundial, has begun a second PRE registry in Spain, called the PRE Mundial registry, to compete with ANCCE. This new registry claims that all of their registered horses trace back to the original stud book maintained by the Cria Caballar, a branch of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, for 100 years, making their registry the most authentic, purest PRE registry functioning today.

As of 2009, there is a lawsuit in progress to determine the true holder of the PRE studbook. The Unión de Criadores de Caballos Españoles (UCCE) has brought a case to the highest European Union courts in Brussels, charging that the Ministry of Spain’s transfer of the PRE Libro de Origen to ANCCE is illegal, and in early 2009, the courts decided on behalf of UCCE. The Cria Caballar formed the Libro de Origin, or stud book. Due to its formation by a government entity, it is against European Union law for the stud book to be transferred to a private entity, a law that was broken by the transfer of the book to ANCCE, a non-governmental organization. By giving ANCCE sole control of the stud book, Spain’s Ministry of Defense was acting in a discriminatory manner, according to the court. Spain must give permission to maintain a breed stud book (called a Libro Genealógico) to any international association or Spanish national association which requests it. Based on the Brussels court decision, an application has been made by the Foundation for the Pure Spanish Horse to maintain the United States studbook for the PRE.