I fell down a youtube hole on Spanish horses and found this fascinating to watch. That’s some serious training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia6Ow84LWPk
Yes, this!
I think they can still do quite decent in the dressage ring. They may not be so big, lofty, or extravagant, but can still put down and correct test (geometry, accuracy, collected movements, etc.). I still compete mine even though I’m in a sea of Warmbloods. If you want to do it, go for it.
I really don’t want to see the breed become anything other then what it is and what it is supposed to be. The ANCCE (the only PRE registry I have experience with) still has certain guidelines for inspection and registration. Mostly conformation related. I’m fine with there being a variation in movement, some a bit more flat, some a hit more knee, some a bit of suspension, that’s fine, but don’t lose the true attributes of the breed.
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Nothing new here…this is a traditional demonstration of an exhibition of the garrocha.
Take a look at Jesus Morales, considered one of the masters of the garrocha
[video=youtube_share;7IiAMUy0y98]https://youtu.be/7IiAMUy0y98[/video]
I rode in a clinic with him…which goes to point to the fact that you can find good dressage training outside the confines of anything USDF offers.
If you are interested in “non-competitive dressage”…take a look at what Bartabas did in NYC with his Chimere and Eclipse performances…I was there. At the base on the Twin Towers.
Chimere…
[video=youtube_share;c8yELc07ebo]https://youtu.be/c8yELc07ebo[/video]
Eclipse…
[video=youtube_share;lUyHPfwsjw0]https://youtu.be/lUyHPfwsjw0[/video]
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That’s one I’d definitely like to audit.
Thru a stroke of luck I rode and ultimately bought my first Lusi about 5 years ago. He is a compact 15.3 hands, so not a big mover, but he is forward thinking and quite elegant when I keep him balanced. I have learned a amazing amount from this horse because he is so responsive. I feel things I never felt on my WB because she was on the laid back, unmotivated side. I have my eye on another if this virus thing ever settles down.
These horses are so wonderful, I truly hope that their good qualities, brain and size, temperment etc are not sacrificed for for WB size and movement. Note to all - I have regularly had judge comments that indicate they like the horse and his abilities. He is hindered only by his ammy senior citizen pilot, lol.
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A lot of what people are seeing is also the American bred PREs and then the Spanish bred. We currently have one imported mare, with three stallions on the way from Spain, as well as two stallions born and bred here and a few mares. Our stallions and mares that are from a few generations here while still being very obviously PRE, cannot be compared if you’re looking for that classic baroque look of PREs. I was completely blown out of the water seeing our three year old here compared to the three year olds in Spain. It’s a completely different world.
We breed for true “Spanish” style PREs. Horses that meet that definition in movement, conformation and quality are sold for much more than horses we have that are perhaps conformationally not what we want to promote, but are still kind and beautiful. Unfortunately, there are always going to be “breeders” that pollute the gene pool with horses that do not meet the true standards for the breed.
The stud books for PRE horses are very discriminating for a reason but people will breed what the want to breed. Certain ethnic groups that are prevalent in the breed will continue to breed anything capable of reproduction and slap an andalusian sticker on whatever comes out, regardless of quality
For what its worth, our stallion that is pretty but maybe not the most ideal mover is by far more the favorite in the barn compared to our stallion that is a fantastic mover but really not much of an A+ personality
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I never really thought about this. I only have experiences with PRE’s directly from Spain. I was never involved with them in America when I lived there. Are American PRE registeries as strict as ANCCE? Usually at the inspections or morphological competitions in Spain I see good examples of the breed being promoted. My 8 year old is a good example of the breed by their standards/his inspection report.
If you look up a horse registered with ANCCE you can see all sorts of stats about them on a chart/graph. What they may pass on, what their physical features are like, it’s quite detailed and cool, IMO.
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In America, we register with ANCCE, PRE and IALHA, but what is commonly seen in California especially is a lot of horses that have papered parents but don’t meet the expectations to pass revision to be registered and then are sold very cheap, often un-gelded and then are used to produce charro horses for dancing.
With the buy out of ANCEE and PRE, a few of our horses that were going to go for revision to complete their registration now cannot go, and can only be registered with IALHA if anything. These horses were sold off as we really only deal with registered horses and I know they have already been bred, to subpar studs.
I loooove being able to look the horses up on the ANCEE app and see their bloodlines, color and all info, it is a lot of fun for me! We’re big Paco Martin fans, a few of ours are Paco horses and I like to see who is who and be able to pick out the characteristics of the lines.
