Try haras dos cavaleiros they are luso breeders north of Houston.
1 Like
Thanks for the additional info everyone.
Sorting through some ads in Spain and also contacted the person I bought my last one from. Prices have certainly gone up, but there are plenty of young horses out there with prices that I feel comfortable with. It helps that I’m purposely looking for young and green, and also open to unstarted.
This Piro thing is a pain in the arse though. I understand why the US doesn’t want to bring more in, but ugh. So many nice Piro positive horses out there…including my own 
I didn’t think about previously, but now with a possible overseas move, it’s important.
1 Like
There was a PRE stud in Longmont, CO when I was a teenager. Someone at my barn had a mare from them. A beautiful mare. Hot as a hot thing (far more so than Hermosa) but kind. Getting one from CO would eliminate the piro risk. If the stud is still there, of course.
I read a bit about it, and it seems endemic in Spain/Portugal. You’d think the rest of Europe would require testing for any horse being imported from countries where it’s everywhere. Those horses will have immunity, but it seems as though there is a risk that it could be transferred via tick to a horse who doesn’t have immunity. Totally sucks.
1 Like
Apparently, there is piro all over Europe, so they don’t test for it. Obviously, it’s more common in tick infested areas. And, yes, any horse can get it. I think one has to be pretty vigilant about keeping ticks off.
Reta ConnEr, owner of Ponderosa Performance Horses in Az, has a VERY nice group of Lusitano stallions and mares. I bought my boy from her three years ago. She has a great sense of producing both dressage and WE horses, and was delightful to work with.
Her stock is high quality, and it’s really fun to see so many stallions, mares and babies all in one spot.
Most of the babies are sold before riding age.
Oh yes, I’ve heard of Ponderosa before, but couldn’t recall the exact name.
I think it’s hard because I have no idea where people are advertising in the USA these days. People are sort of doing it on FB still, but I do miss sales websites where it was all consolidated instead of bouncing around from FB page to FB page. Maybe I’m just getting old 
Will check out warmblood-sales.
I am interested in 2 PRE’s in Spain, one is being Piro tested and the other I may proceed to a vetting with, but anything can happen so I’m open to the possibility that I might be looking for a bit.
I don’t know what part of the country you’re in (sorry if I missed reading that), but in my part of the Midwest the Aztecas could get you what you want. The Mexicans here breed them for what they call Dancing.
I just visited a very much backyard private barn where a senior (14) mare had produced 2 studs - now 2 & 4 - both doing the start of Spanish Walk & “dancing” a credible P&P.
Both under or just at 16h (by eyeball).
2yo now steel gray, 4yo dappled buckskin - both may gray (2yo certainly, but buckskin might keep the color).
Also onsite a younger mare with a striking bright bay coat & 4mo filly at her side (in Baby Bay 
).
Look into this breed if having a full PRE isn’t a necessity.
FWIW, I rode Andalusians on a combined Training & Trail vacay in Spain in 2013.
Loved both my assigned Trail gelding & the Schoolmaster mare I rode in lessons.
1 Like
That just proves the point. All of their sales horses are sold.
2 Likes
The problem with shopping in the U.S. Is the great distances. The really good dressage horses are few and very far between. You can spend half your budget just on travel to see one horse here, a second one on the other coast, etc. In Spain, you can see a dozen horses in a couple of days.
2 Likes
I generally buy my horses sight unseen. So location isn’t a big deal. Sure if the horse isn’t far or I have the time I might go out and see it, but otherwise if I like a yoing horse and the vetting is good, then I’ll buy it. Generally I buy something that’s marketable should I choose to resell if the horse isn’t for me, but I haven’t run into that yet. With such a green horse, or an unstarted horse this is fine for me. My best horses have been my bought sight unseen ones, oddly.
But yes, that’s a very valid point, especially for those that want to see and ride the horse.
3 Likes
Sort of annoys me when a “for sale” page is full of sold horses. Like, ok, that’s cool, but people are coming to your for sale section to see what’s for sale. Not sold. Make another page for that. Petty, I know 
The thing is, I just don’t see a lot of US breeders producing the same quality as the Spanish and I don’t know why. Some are even using imported mares and/or stallions. I know that you have to tack on the import costs and sometimes gelding costs (since most horses are stallions there and the CEM quarantine exemptions for virgin Spanish stallions is sometimes as costly, if not more than just gelding the horse if you have no breeding ambitions…). But still you can almost spend the same amount of money, or a little more, including import and seemingly get a better quality horse. I do have a certain type that I like and there just seems to be more of that in Spain. I just wasn’t sure if it’s because I wasn’t looking in the right places in the US, because I don’t know every place to look.
6 Likes
Valid point about youngsters. And I agree about Spain vs US. I really tried to find a horse here. Twice.
The cost to geld in Spain is only a couple of hundred dollars vs $10k import cost for a nonvirgin stallion.
2 Likes
Yes but I can’t find any horses for sale. Just " call us" or “come see what we have”. Maybe I am missing something? I don’t want to bother somebody because my budget is a lot smaller than what you have going under saddle. I want to see prices ( or price ranges) and some video of horses going under saddle.
2 Likes
Same. But if someone has a good reputation and usually has quality stock, I’ll call.
It is awkward though when you’re budget is x and it’s not even close to their starting prices, I mean, how would you know? I guess you just assume no prices = too expensive/out of your budget, but at the same time you can’t know for sure.
I’ve found a horse in Spain from a reputable seller, who I connected with via an old friend, but man, so hard to find a young Piro free horse, that I like, with x-rays that have no deal breakers. If you take away the Piro element, it’s much, much, easier. The second horse is from a piro free area, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much, and the seller is on holiday, but it’d be great if one of these 2 worked out. They’re very similar to one another.
1 Like
I adore my Lusitano and he is the best purchase I ever made. He is, however, extremely sensitive. He’s much safer than many warmbloods I’ve ridden (most of his tantrums, if he has them, are on the spot), but a beginner wouldn’t have a good time with him. I’ve ridden many Lusitanos since and they are typically quite sensitive compared to warmbloods. I think this is a good thing but it requires a certain baseline of skill and the young ones won’t grab big scores at training level without a tactful rider. Personally, I would always stick with a Lusitano over a PRE. 
Jorge Gabriel (Boston) and Paulo Ferreira (California) both do a lot of sales domestically, for horses US bred and imported. The prices seem higher than two years ago when I bought mine for sure. There are not a lot of nice ones going under saddle for less $20-30K as a baseline, and that’s for just started I think.
I bought mine as a 4 year old from Paulo (started at their farm and originally imported from Caliente in Mexico) and I showed him to 68% at Fourth this year (he’s only 6). He’s been a absolute dream.
2 Likes
I had a Luso from Brazil. And I rode several in Spain. I agree, they are generally hotter, but such wonderful horses. I just didn’t find one that suited and was in my budget. But I will say my PRE can be spicy. In a good way.
2 Likes
