Saturday 21 November 2009

Stefanie & the horse of her dreams

Nr 405


Today Stefanie from Germany found her horse! We saw half pass, passage, piaffe, flying changes, levadas ridden and from floor, posadas and spanish walk ridden and long rein. There is alot of engery needed to do the high school movements and Stefanie looked at us with BIG eyes. Up she went and communication emerged little by litte, it was very beautiful to see as they were both trying real hard to understand each other. And they did.


Tuesday 17 November 2009

Hello from Christina in Nebraska!


Christina bought this beautiful black stud stallion from us last christmas, the photos were taken at the National PRE championships in California!
See more here 313

Saturday 14 November 2009

Some helpful links

http://www.gescabonline.com/ - PRE Andalusian Studbook
http://www.certamenesecuestres.com/ - MELPI - you can find results from morfological PRE competions here
http://www.lgancce.com/ - PRE Andalusian studbook
http://www.cavalo-lusitano.com/ PSL Lusitano studbook/ Association

Friday 13 November 2009

Dressage/ stud PRE Nr 387


Nr 387
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njYV1KeWqVQ
PRE ANDALUSIAN DRESSAGE TALENT nr 387 - WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Spanish horses selected for breeding and sport. andalusian horse, PRE horse, spanish horse, carthusian horse, lusitano horse, PSL horse, CDE caballo de deporte español, CDL caballo de deporte lusitano, spanish horses for sale WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Madrid, Spain, Viktoria Sandberg, Javier Villard Email; info@horsespre.com, Tel; 0034 695882925. All rights reserved http://www.horsespre.com/

Wednesday 11 November 2009

The development of the PRE/PSL - modern or traditional?

We would like to do a comparison of movements, conformation and temperament again using the PRE modell versus Moorlands Totilas. We are interested in the future of the Iberian race and why not learn from a good example. No matter what race of horse we are talking about what is wanted is a functional horse that transmits beauty and expression!

Just like the PRE, the composition of Totilas is square. His neck is not long and downhill, it is medium long and uphill, the qualities of the traditional type of PRE, see above. The movements of Totilas are elevated, expressive with a high knee action, like the traditional type of PRE/PSL. The hindlegs are well tucked-in underneath the body and he maintains the suspension, flexion and power in all movements. He is a electric horse, turned on. The back is not totally straight, it is slightly concave which is not a perfect back however, performing the movements he does could not be possible if his his back was a weak one. Same goes for the Iberian. The talent for piaffe y passage are extraordinary in Tootilas case and these are also the natural qualities of the classy PRE/PSL.
                                  Traditional type of PRE





We see a radical change of direction in the breeding of the PRE/PSL. We see a division of a 'traditional' and a 'modern' PRE. In morfological competitions we have observed how the modern type of PRE, with the longer lower neck is qualifying and is awarded with high scores for movement and composition. The traditional PRE with a higher, uphill neck we no longer see around the PRE/PSL shows, and if we do they do not get the scores. The modern PRE/PSL has a different movement, the high knee action is exchanged for a more straight movement. We see that suspension in both cases, although more in the traditional type. We see lenght of stride in walk and trot in both types aswell as a good engine. Good flexion of hooks seems to be a trait of the traditional type. The traditonal has a electric temperament, I have so far not seen this in the modern type, they seem more turned off and serious. Our observation is that the traditional PRE/PSL type is not seen as frequently anymore, anywhere, and we find this alarming as the good qualities of this breed has to be maintained. What we see below is a PRE that has 3 gold medals, one silver, he has participated in the spanish championships, SICAB twice, where he was placed 10th and 19th - a excellent result considering there are hundereds of participants.
                                  Modern type of PRE

The Iberian horses have all the qualities necessary to achíeve what we want to see in a excellent horse and the possibilities are there. With the right breeding program, training and determination we have to be clear about what qualites we want and focus on these. The contemporary dressage world also has to open their eyes, be fair and and recognize the qualities of a PRE/PSL. This will give us good guidance for our Iberian breeding.
                                  Soto Gil stud stallion

                                  Pure carthusian PRE

Tuesday 10 November 2009

Breeding the PRE Andalusian




Some general info on the breeding here;
The spanish pure bred horses, the PRE Andalusian, are bred in natural harsh conditions which gives the horses their stamina. When they reach their third year the fillies are transferred to the fields of the mature mares, whilst the colts are taken into the stables. The stallions are prepared with a traditional and professional hand which supports the excellent result of the breeding of this race. As these are horses have much class, they are delicate and slow in their growt development and are given the time necessary to grow. With four years of age the stallions are broken and their training starts.
 The spanish breeders follow a rigorous selection based in beauty, harmony, movements and stong conformation. As a result of this strict selection we have the wonderful horses of this breed. When a studfarm have been breeding for a twenty years of so, you can see a similarity in traits of all offspring, you can recognize a horse bred by this or that studfarm. Some of these breeders also have a line named after them i.e Yeguada Militar, Escalera, Bohorquez etc. The PRE Andalusian are noble, brave and affectionate horses with a great heart and a desire to do whatever is asked of them. They have proven excellent for sport as dressage, driving and Working Equitation.

Saturday 7 November 2009

Selecting the PRE & PSL

What is a good Iberian horse? We we will talk about how we select and what objective qualities we look for when we select horses for our clients (and for ourselves).
The overall quality of the horse within the race standards. This is where 9 out of 10 won't be selected by us, they are not healthy or simply does not fullfill the criteras for correct composition, good temperament and movements, which are the three pillars for the breeding of the PRE Andalusian and the PSL Lusitano. Of course there are horses of more or less quality, this is also reflected in the price, but our general criteria is one of high standard as the horses we select will most likely be sold abroad and be representatives for the race, and for us.                                        

1. Conformation. When we choose looks we want both a correct and a beautiful horse. Beauty is a personal concept, but as we are to represent the horses, we select what we like and we are pedantic. Horses is a passion and it it impossible to represent anything you do not genuinely believe in yourself. I am not going to get into the race standards as they are defined by respective association for each race. As long as the horse has a correct and beautiful conformation, we choose the barock, the sporty and the traditional carthusian type of horses.
                                              PRE Carthusian

PRE Barock Nr 442

                                             PSLusitano Sporty

2. The temperament has to be a healthy one that for sure can vary from hot to quiet but never be complicated and based on some kind of trauma. The eyes and body language says it all. Here it is important to know that a good quality, classy Iberian does express himself with flashy gestures, energy and flair, but only when he is let to do so. It is a fundamental trait that he is naturally cooperative and concentrated, even if he a moment ago was behaving like a wild horse. The breeding has been very strict considering temperament and generally the temperament of the Iberian is gentle, cooperative and sensible.
                                                     PRE Nr 216

3. The movements. Ok. This is where we get interesting discussions with our clients! We do not choose exclusively from the judges point of view, even though they are important guidelines. Taking for granted that the movements are healthy, regular, balanced with the typical expression of elevated in front and tucked-in behind, we can choose from two types;
                                               PRE cartujano line

- The traditional carthusian PRE has a very distinct movement pattern with much expression and high knee action. This is original for the race, for the traditional PRE/carthusian which is now a rare type to find as the breeding tendency has gone through faces of change, and now aspires different qualities. We think it is important to also support the use/breeding of this type of PRE, as it carries the essence of the race. We do select horses with high knee actions and much elevation, but we want suspension and elasticity added to these. Depending on the type of paddling/winging, this is ok or not.
                                           Moorlands Tootilas

                                               PRE Andalusian

- The movements good for dressage but still within the race standards are what we select for our sport-clients. We all love the natural skill for the collective movements of the Iberian and added a good engine/hind that makes the powerful projecction of the movement forward, makes a very talented dressage horse. So far there are not many PRE and PSL that has this set of quality of movement and therefore this horse is a exclusive one. But there are a few talents, see above and compare. Many clients asks for; a beautiful horse, tall, this or that colour, expressive movements for dressage, cooperative, energetic and sweet character and lets say trained level 4. This is a very exclusive PRE! Hard to find, few available and even less reasonably priced. If the horse has merits from dressage/show competitons and/or breeding added to that, this also reduces availability.
                                             PRE Nr Nr 352

The movements we do not want;
- The ones that when pushing with their hindlegs they go back and out, a shuffling movement like the trotting horses. The hindlegs should always tucked-in naturally underneath, not 'behind-outwards'.
- The front and back should be well coordinated, be together, we want to see the same horse in the front as in the hind.
- The 'ticky-tick' with no push from behind and a empty foreleg movment is a typical example (and there are many) of poor quality in movement and not what you want for neither sport nor breeding, however for pleasure riding it would be ok.                                   Classy Delegado Mac

Then there is the subtle concept for 'class' that we look for in the horses we select, as that is fundamental for a Iberian horse. Class is not only elegance, the body can be perfect in angles etc but we want the horse to look like a Iberian in it's expression and have a lot of presence. The Iberian horse is a horse for kings and they have to look it. The coat has to be skinlike-short and shiny. He/she has to have expressive movements, a strong personality, have some fire in temerament yet be gentle.
                                               'Hortelano' CDE

A CDE - Caballo Deporte Español or CDL - Caballo Deporte Lusitano are not purebred Iberians. They are crossbred Iberian horses, or Iberians without full registration documents and therefore purely for sport and the breeding of this kind of sporthorses. When we select these we follow the same criteria as for the PRE and the PSL.
Not all APTO (Approved for breeding) stallions are good enough for breeding, even though they are approved. The stallions/mares we select are quality horses and recommended for breeding. If we think they are not good enough we do say so and why, as the horse can be good for another purpose.
                                                  PSLusitano

To add to this is that we also select the owners/breeders of the horses. There are many serious, professional and correct owners/breeders and these are the ones we choose to work with!

Friday 6 November 2009

Barock & beautiful

See Nr 291
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVGxyQydT30

PSLusitano for sport

See Nr 448

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1mBflv-OLQ
LUSITANO SPORT/BREEDING STALLION NR 448 - Price range; 20000 Eur - 30000 Eur - WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - spanish horses selected for breeding and sport. andalusian horse, PRE horse, spanish horse, carthusian horse, lusitano horse, PSL horse, CDE caballo de deporte español, CDL caballo de deporte lusitano, spanish horses for sale WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Madrid, Spain, Viktoria Sandberg, Javier Villard Email; info@horsespre.com, Tel; 0034 695882925. All rights reserved www.horsespre.com

Pure carthusian andalusian PRE stallion

See Nr 447 Pricerange; 12000 Eur -18000 Eur.













http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOJoQ7hz6gI
WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - spanish horses selected for breeding and sport. andalusian horse, PRE horse, spanish horse, carthusian horse, lusitano horse, PSL horse, CDE caballo de deporte español, CDL caballo de deporte lusitano, spanish horses for sale WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Madrid, Spain, Viktoria Sandberg, Javier Villard Email; info@horsespre.com, Tel; 0034 695882925. All rights reserved www.horsespre.com

Wednesday 4 November 2009

PRE Andalusian - Tall and talented!

Info and photos here Nr 429

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yhlXZwWnrc
SPANISH HORSES SELECTED FOR BREEDING AND SPORT. andalusian horse, PRE horse, spanish horse, carthusian horse, lusitano horse, PSL horse, CDE caballo de deporte español, CDL caballo de deporte lusitano, spanish horses for sale WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Madrid, Spain, Viktoria Sandberg, Javier Villard Email; info@horsespre.com, Tel; 0034 695882925. All rights reserved www.horsespre.com

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Piroplasmosis and a reflection


This is Beth and me studying one of the horse's she decided for but couldn't have. He was piro-positive. Beth came twice from the states. In a skirt. Full of humor, serious and a excellent rider. This was 8 am in the morning, we dragged Beth around Spain and Portugal, 2000 km, we were determined to get her the best horse. In the end she did not get any horse the disheartening reason being piroplasmose. She selected four horses (my Start was first) but none could fly her way. USA requires that the horses are negative for Piroplasmose. When the horse is positive it means he/she has been bitten by a tick and the horse has antibodies for this particular insect. Piroplasmose is not serious for the horse. However certain countries have a severe restriction protocol which includes being determined not getting foreign bugs into their countries. Or, politically, they are making trading difficult as it is more interesting for respective country keeping the business to themselves. There are no restrictions for 'piro' in Europe, free trading protocol exempt from piroplasmose. What is true is that once the horse has got the antibodies he will always be piro-positive, but is not contaigious and very few develop symptoms which are fever that is treated with antibiotica. Anyway, Beth, Javier and me had alot of fun testriding, discussing and we are now very good friends. Beth is a excellent rider and competes dressage with her PSLusitiano, being the protagonist making space for the Iberian race in dressage arena, which is one of our incentives. We consider the Iberian (PRE/CDE/PSL/CDL) an asset for dressage. The characteristics of a quality PRE or PSL are good balance, excellent rideability, wonderful temperament, rhythm, balanced movement,and the conformation is made for making the difficult movements easy. We all know what race is 'Moorlands Totilas' is and all respect to this race. But I am saying the quality of movement in front and front conformation is that of a Iberian. May the PRE & PSL develop the powerful engine of his and we will have more ultimate horses! That is my obervation, for whatever it is worth. Here 'Moorlands Totilas'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvUDAlsLo20

Monday 2 November 2009

Video PRE Andalusian Nr 436

Nr 436
See video Youtube here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPgFIIhBeM&layer_token=c6f0bb51a4d73ebb
SPANISH HORSES SELECTED FOR BREEDING AND SPORT. andalusian horse, PRE horse, spanish horse, carthusian horse, lusitano horse, PSL horse, CDE caballo de deporte español, CDL caballo de deporte lusitano, spanish horses for sale WWW.HORSESPRE.COM - Madrid, Spain, Viktoria Sandberg, Javier Villard Email; info@horsespre.com, Tel; 0034 695882925. All rights reserved www.horsespre.com

Sunday 1 November 2009

Outline of the prepurchase exam

'Malve' that was with us in training for 1,5 years, was sold to England, here having his vetcheck done by our vet. See here

Flexion test

Digital xray of 'Codicioso II', was also in training before he was sold to Norway, See here

The vetcheck can normally be done with one days notice. Present are the owner of the horse (or trainer) and in some occasions we are too. The vet starts to check the horse's identity, i.e the microchip and passport id outline. Then the clinical exam. In the general clinical exam covers; the breath at rest/work, lymph nodes, pulse, eyes, skin, mouth and teeth, gastrointestinal system, nervoussystem. Then follows the clinical respiratory check up; coughing, nasal discharge, syrgery. After that the heart/circulatory check up; heart, heart rate at rest, after work and time for recovery of normal heart rate. The the inspection and palpation; head, neck, spine, spinous processes, back, pelvis, left front leg, right front leg, left hind, righ hind leg, hoof quality, hoof test, sixe/form hoof, shoeing. Follows does the check up of locomotion system; walk on hard ground, trot on hard ground, trot on soft ground and canter in a circle. Sometimes there is a examination of the horse ridden and compulsory are the flexion tests. At last digital radiology/x-rays that are classified in degrees; 1 = perfect  2 = good  3 = ok if no clinical signs of problem  4 = insufficient, not acceptable. According to the vet there is no perfect xray/ horse so a 1 = perfect, is never given. There is also a opinion and a general comment by the vet. Time for exam; 2,5 hours. The client recieves the clinical report and xrays by email. There is always the possibility for the client or clients veterinarian to consult any issue to the vet by phone and yes they speak english!