Ins Outsand of Crossing Iberians
The Iberian influence on breeding yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s sport horses.
by J.P. Giacomini
A BACKGROUND OF THE BREEDS he Iberian horses (also called the “baroque horses” due to their dominance of the equestrian fashion of the Baroque period), were developed since Antiquity and remained important through the 18th century. Their apogee coincides with the glory of the School of Versailles, which was the horsemanship school that started
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in France with the reign of Louis XIV and lasted in earnest until the French Revolution. The emergence of Classical Dressage is largely due to the talent and fame of the Iberian horses. After 150 years spent in oblivion following the French Revolution and after the growth of all forms of racing due to the Anglomania of the 19th century, Iberians reappeared in the 20th century, in great part because of their charm and their rideability for amateurs interested in Classical Dressage. Since Colonel Podhajsky led the revival of the Spanish Riding School and travelled with his white stallions all over the world, since Nuno Oliveira began to present his high school trained Lusitanos in Europe in the late 1960s and since Alvaro Domecq started the Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in 1973, the Iberian breeds enjoyed a revival that has been growing ever since. In the last 20 years, we have seen PREs (Andalusians) and Lusitanos in the Olympic dressage classes and new associations of Iberian horse owners have developed from Sweden to New Zealand. The PRE (or Andalusian) originated from Spain and has
been noted for its riding qualities since Roman times. The breed was consolidated by the Spanish King Philip the Second at the end of the 16th century into the modern Spanish horse. His “creation” was made using animals of different Iberian bloodlines from Spain and Portugal (Philip the Second was also king of Portugal and forcefully imported Portuguese horses into Spain for political reasons). Later on, Andalusians were mixed with Barb, Arabian and some draught breeds for either military or agricultural purposes. The Bocado brand is the central
All photos courtesy J.P. Giacomini unless otherwise noted.
genetic line of the PRE. It was also known as Cartujano (Cartusian) and Terry. Before returning to the Spanish state, it was owned by different Spanish families and supposedly represents the purest PRE line that was started in the royal farms of Cordoba and Aranjuez. The Lusitano from Portugal has a number of female
lines (recognized by mitochondrial DNA) that are unique to the breed. Though the type is ancient, according to some cave paintings, the breed was occasionally mixed with Arabian and Barb horses and absorbed a heavy amount of Spanish blood. In the Lusitano breed, we find several bloodlines that
Dom Jose Athayde, former equestrian director of the Portuguese National stud of Alter Real, where JP was his assistant for four years. He is here riding Aoto, a pure Alter Real Lusitano by Omisio.
were developed during the 19th and 20th centuries. The Portuguese National Stud (“CN”), the Andrade and the Alter Real bloodlines are all based on Spanish origin imported at different times. The Veiga bloodline is unique to Portugal and was influenced by Arabian blood as well as the Alter Real. The Lusitano breed was consolidated by the creation of a National
Hipogrifo trained to Grand Prix by JP Giacomini, seen here in passage, by Maravilha out of Pergula is one of the last 100% Veiga Lusitano stallions.
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