“Note to Self” my (so far happy) experience buying (a yearling! 🤦🏻‍♀️) from Bowie Livestock

What’s with all the “Andalusian” auction horses?

I can count on my fingers the number of Andalusians I have known IRL. Yet every internet auction or feed lot dealer with social media presence always seems to have at least one. I’ve always suspected they are just mustang/mustang crosses with a lot of hair. :woman_shrugging:

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I think your suspicions are probably right. I bet that there is the odd Andalusian and/or cross, but I don’t think they’re as plentiful as these places are making them out to be. I understand sometimes they’re just relaying info they were given though.

In some cases, I think it’s to drive the price and/or potential value of the horse up.

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These places know they can get more money by pulling on the heartstrings of certain breed groups. That’s why everything in the 13-15 hand range with an even slightly high tail set becomes an “Arabian” when it is VERY clearly no such thing. And then people who follow those pages will scream about “overbreeding” because of the ads they are constantly seeing… :roll_eyes:

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That one doesn’t look that mustangy to me. I don’t see the draft influence that you see in so many mustangs. When I look at Dreamhorse and some other low end sales sites I see a bunch of Andalusians for sale in Texas and California. Mostly unregistered and of the “dancing horse” persuasion. This one supposedly came from the herd of Andalusians they got in. Probably unregistered and a stallion running with a bunch of mares.

I don’t know the horse scene very well in south Texas, Mexico and California. Maybe the unregistered Andies are like the low end DHH’s for sale in the Midwest. And the grade QH’s and TWH’s for sale in the Southeast. Backyard breeders or a stallion running with a bunch of mares. Maybe they are the prevalent grade horse in that area. They may be purebred but nobody is carefully looking at pedigrees to make breeding decisions. Maybe somebody that lives in that area can chime in.

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Oh I wasn’t talking about that particular one/Horse in that particular post. Just generally speaking.

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None of the three “Andalusians” they currently have look like anything other than a non-descript horse. You could tell me they were QH, TB, solid paints, morgans, STBs… all more believable than Andalusian.

As for the Dreamhorse ads, Texas and California also have pretty easy access to mustang herds. Just saying…

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Grade Aztecas (AndieXQH) are very prevalent in California. Many, as you suggest, are of the dancing horse/Craigslist variety. They tend to be good minded horses but anything goes with the breeding.

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I feel like it is the same way you’ll see a big scruffy lab mix become an Irish wolfhound cross or the chonky DSH that becomes a British shorthair mix. It’s all about the marketing and creating a sense of value. It’s so silly to me.

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The twenty years I did in vet clinic… I can guarantee most of those cats are “this breed or that breed”… Its really just saying type. Maine Coons were an uncommon breed. The number of big hairy tabbies I’ve seen called Norwegian Forest and Maine Coon. Every gray cat is a Russian Blue .
:roll_eyes:

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Around here they are all pitties who become “lab crosses.”

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When I lived in my part of SoCal, there were quite a few backyard Andalusian stallions, primarily of the charro persuasion. As a result there were numerous Andalusian QH crosses that were living in more backyards. So I wouldn’t be surprised to find some at Bowie or other auctions. Of course, there might not be any documentation proving the Andy/QH lineage, but I don’t know if it’s that important.

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Y’all get me excited for DNA results when I pop on after dinner and see 11 responses, but it’s all about Andalusians. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :rofl:

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I am watching the mailbox every day!!!

#whotheheckareyou

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Around here (I’m relatively close to Bowie) and also on the West Coast where I lived previously, many of the Hispanics have Andalusian Stallions that they will breed to ANYTHING with a pulse, to create “Aztecas”, as they call them, for their Dancing Horses. You can go on Craigslist & FB in my area and find multiple for sale any given day.

Not saying these ones at Bowie are actually Andalusian crosses, but it would not surprise me if many crossed through the Bowie trail.

Also - back on topic - STILL no DNA results? :sob: How did the Przewalski Horses get theirs back so fast?

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Agree with @Texarkana and @hoopoe about the breed profiles of vet clinic clients often being fiction. A friend coworker and I used to quiz each other on the dogs we had in for boarding when we had downtime just for entertainment. People will put anything down to avoid saying their dog is a pit, even though we were one of the few places who would board them. My two favorites were a “Weimaraner” that was anything but (I think he was probably chocolate lab x redbone hound based on his coat and build/movement) and the day I checked in a “beagle cross” and was looking at a Cardigan Corgi (never figured that one out).

Add me to the “waiting for the Pony Express” club!

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I got my pitties in college, while living in student housing. The front desk guy (a resident) said “no pit bulls, no German shepherds, no aggressive breeds” etc while his CLEARLY full-blooded GSD laid at his feet :thinking:. Needless to say, all my dogs and fosters were “lab mixes” on paper - even the bull terrier. :woman_shrugging:t3:

My vet tech friend takes a certain pleasure in taking down every new “pure-bred Labradoodle” client as a “mixed breed”. Clients don’t see the charts so it’s harmless, and funny.

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I think I love your friend!

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Around here they’re “boxer mixes”.

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being a different species they have a different chromosome count, Pretty straight forward compared to running computer data set matches for familial matching

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Oh yes, especially when they are brindle or fawn. :rofl:

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