Andalusian Breeders - Colt Antics question

[FatCatFarm]

I just acquired my first ever Andalusian. I’ve wanted one for ages. My colt is 18 mos old and has already hit puberty. The breeder had quite a few horses so he has not had a great deal of handling and is rather sensitive and dodgy/suspicious. He has a castration appt. set for Thursday this week. I am really hoping that “brain surgery” will seriously take the edge off. It has for other colts I’ve owned, but as this is my first Andy, I thought I would ask.

He’s generally sweet and sensible; not an idiot; but I think a lack of much or consistent handling, plus testosterone poisoning, has him feeling rather punchy so I’ve handled him fairly but cautiously. I’ve only had him going on 3 weeks, so he’s still settling in. I thought he was further along with that (the settling in part) as he was really very good about getting his hooves done on Saturday and I took his halter off when I turned him out. Then had the devil of a time getting it back on him on Sunday. So he is going to remain in that breakaway halter until after his hormones recede a bit.

[Scribbler]

Gelding and proper groundwork make a big difference to all breeds.

Have you had other hot breeds of colts before?

IME Andies on the ground can be like Arabs. Very handy, given to little spins and stops and catering in tight circles. Head tossing and play. The enjoy their natural agility.

But like Arabs they are also very people centered once you get that groundwork foundation on them.

Really different from how a TB gets hot on the ground.

He’s a baby so I hope he has lots of turnout and an opportunity to run and play with other horses. I find that Iberian have less runaround stamina than Arabs or TB. They will get it out of their system and calm down. Whereas Arabs and TB can get fixated on running and wear themselves into a lather evrn heat exhaustion.

[FatCatFarm]

Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever read specifically that the Andalusians were considered a “hot” breed. Sensitive, yes; but not hot. Hoping that gelding him will definitely tone him down. Yes, I’ve had Arabians and Thoroughbreds previously; used to breed Arabians years ago.

Yes, he is turned out on 5 acres 24/7 with a yearling colt. He comes in twice a day to eat and so I can handle him and get my hands on him. He has been rather silly about haltering since he arrived. He gets fed Triple Crown Sr., so while 14% protein, is low starch and high fat. Right now he has free choice grass hay (bermuda) available via a hay hut. There is early grass also.

[Scribbler]

Andalusians can be hot. They have the physicality to be very sproingy when they are excited or playful. They are reactive as well. They are not “born broke” like many stock horse breeds seem to be. I would never call them a quiet breed of horse. But like Arabs, much of it is for show.

[FatCatFarm]

Hot to me usually means to me how Scribbler describes Arabs and TBs, go, go, go; sensitive; reactive; nervous, flighty, and/or fidgety. And I fully realize they are not all that way, but a lot of them.

This colt is not that. He settles and will quiet, calm himself, if reassured. Stands tied nicely to be groomed. While yes, he can be sensitive and a bit reactive. He is not fidgety, flighty or nervous; nor particularly spooky. He just lacks life experience. I really think a lot of it is testosterone driven and he’s distracted and unfocused, then objects when he gets corrected when he forgets how to act; mostly due to the fact he hasn’t been handled a lot. He wants to please.

I’ve owned several stallions over the years. The ones I kept all eventually became geldings; and the rest were sold to breeding homes. I just prefer geldings and don’t have the time or situation to deal with stallion antics. They take special consideration.

Anyway, we’ll see. Thanks for the insight.

[CM17]

I haven’t had a colt, but I started a PRE filly who has now been my partner for 16 years. I’ve never described her as hot or reactive, just sensitive, smart and sane (and a dream to ride😊). I believe lots of handling - ground school and lunging until she was 6 or so - was pretty key. Still, I usually have one ride during the spring season where we can’t work off the beans unless it’s safe to let her go top speed. I would chalk your colt’s behavior up to time of year, natural playfulness in turnout and hormones. The upside of sensitivity is you will know right away if there is something wrong physically or in relationship to others (horses and humans). Enjoy him!!

[FatCatFarm]

Happy to report my Andie colt, now gelding is 6 weeks post brain surgery and is such a better horse for it. He still has youngster moments of course, but the jitters and reactiveness have definitely dissipated. Looking forward to see how he matures from here. He turns 2 in July and is just under 15hds currently, but wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 15hds by his birthday. Thinking he will be 15.3 to 16hds at maturity.

He still has tons of personality, has definite opinions about his stable management and is super food motivated. Gets quite hangry if not fed according to schedule or if not let into the barn as quickly as he wishes to be if the flies are bad. Also much more up if the weather is chilly. Very sweet though. Has not offered to be at all ugly, even when still a colt. Just difficult due to the testosterone poisoning.

[Caol_Ila]

I have a 3 year old PRE filly (who is about to have a BOGOF foal!!! Holy f**cking shit!), and she can be extremely calm and sane about many things, but sharp and reactive towards others. She thinks about scary things more than my Shire-TBX did, and she doesn’t try as hard to just get out of dodge. She wasn’t well handled until I bought her in March. I basically halter broke her, trained her to catch, tie, etc., but she took to it pretty easily. Picking up her back feet remains a work in progress.

That all said, a few days before a vet told me she was very, very pregnant and due, well, now(!), she became a little more reactive and tricky to catch. Like she would walk away from me in the field, and I would have to do a couple wee steps of join-up to catch her. How weird, I thought. Must be baby stuff. Now I wonder if it was her hormones starting to go a little bit wild. Oy.

[FatCatFarm]

I definitely did not appreciate how sensitive and somewhat reactive or dramatic, the Iberians can be. The breeder calls them “emotional”. After reading quite a few articles on how ammie friendly they can be, and having admired how beautiful they are for years, I decided to get one. And well, it’s been a bit of a challenge.

This guy will be fabulous about fly spray and new things in the barn aisle, and what not; then the next day, act like he’s never been fly sprayed and that the garbage can is out to get him. He is mostly good about his feet for me, but I suspect will go all stranger-danger! again when my farrier comes back out and we’ll likely have to resort to a twitch to get his feet done. Not exactly the experience I was hoping for at almost 55 yrs old.

But he is very sweet and again, never ugly or aggressive. Hoping he will mature out of some of these antics given he didn’t have the benefit of early consistent handling. But I am now reading that the sensitivity and melodramatics are pretty common in the breed. While I didn’t expect him to be as chill as my draft crosses, he is definitely a bit extra. As another poster observed, there are a lot of similarities between them and Arabians, just with less energy but lots of the same shenanigans.

[CanteringCarrot]

The key, for me, is being cool as a cucumber and having a sense of humor. Mine has begun to mature more at age 9.

Today he stood in the barn aisle, snorting at this and that as usual, gave a sideways glance to an oddly placed bucket next to the barn, thought that the Ardennes in their other field could be aliens and not horses, but rode like an old school master and was so relaxed during our ride. Kept his cool when horses took off in the neighboring fields. Basically, when it really matters, he’s good.

Take him somewhere new and he’s so chill.

He’s totally a drama queen and he’s the best horse I’ve ever had. He’s sensitive, so sensitive, and I love it. He responds to my body language, to any shift in my balance, he’s the ultimate dressage horse for me. I don’t want anything other than an Iberian …aside from maybe a Connemara and he tries, boy does he try, sometimes too hard! He’s also a bit lazy, hard to explain, but the connection with an Iberian is like no other. I’ve become so thoughtful (and better!) with my riding.

I never cared for them previously. The hair, the movement, they don’t jump well (they do!), and so on. I’m so glad I took the ride on a PRE stallion years ago that led me down this path. If they’re not for you, that’s also fine! I accept they’re not everyone’s flavor.

[FatCatFarm]

Thank you for the reply CC: The shenanigans are exasperating at times, but not that big of a deal. As long as he will be safe under saddle, I’ll deal. I am busted up enough without dealing with an unpredictable nature, and this has been what I’ve been trying to sort out since this is my first Andie. I happen to love Arabians, just not some of their antics, namely their spookiness and reactivity.

As I was telling his breeder yesterday, he’s such a contradiction in terms. Saturday, fly spray was a big damn deal; the trash can was going to eat him and because of it, he couldn’t walk into the barn (all because I had moved it 2ft forward). Yesterday though, fly spray wasn’t a problem; he couldn’t care less about the trash can and he played chicken in the pasture with my husband on the tractor bushhogging the field! He even let me bring a plastic bag into the field and crinkle it at him without him losing his shit; eventually coming over to inspect it in my hand.

But yeah, that is now his nickname: Drama Queen. I do love his sweet nature. He never holds anything against me and is never hard to catch.

[CanteringCarrot]

Yep, sometimes I have to tell him “Stop being a queen” when he’s gotten himself into a tizzy about something…and often he stops. I think it’s just for show or entertainment sometimes. They’re highly intelligent…and sometimes it does make me laugh. Mine would probably do the same with the trash can. It does get better with age and as you have them longer. They are so sweet and people oriented though.

For mine his spooks are easy to sit and short lived (he doesn’t take off or anything, just shuffles his feet quickly but goes nowhere). He’s gotten more confident now, and talking to him helps. Have to stroke his ego a bit. I’m surprised my eyes don’t get sore from rolling them so much!

I hope you have fun with yours and the dramatics aren’t…too dramatic

[Amberlea]

In my experience, Andys can get hot on very little grain. Thankfully, they can also live very well on no grain. Consider cutting out the concentrates to see if that has any effect. With mine it absolutely does. I’ve always been able to tell if a BO tweaked their grain even a little because their personalities changed. Eliminate the grain and it’s like flipping a switch.

[2tempe]

Ditto this. My older Lusitano is not impacted by grain feed. That said, I bought a 7 yr old Lusi cross about 7 months ago; all was well for a while, then we thought he looked like he’d dropped a bit of weight. Given his workload, the feed was reassessed and he was put on Ultium. The simple version of a more complicated story is that he began to get very looky and reactive and not so focused on the idea of work. We went back to the ration balancer and more hay, which brought him back to earth. he has gotten to understand his routine and who his people are, also helpful. Working to build his confidence at shows, as he had never been to one and was a tad overwhelmed by the warm up.