The Andalusian breed has been used for a variety of purposes, such as Dressage, trail riding, Western riding, English riding, Domo Vaccaro and even cattle work. Discover the versatility of this horse with information from an Andalusian breeder in this helpful video on horse breeds.
Hi, my name is Carla Shown. I'm the owner of Moonstruck Meadows in La Center, Washington. I'm a small breeder of Andalusian horses. I'm here to talk to you today about the uses of the Andalusian horse, and as someone that has been in other breeds in past years, I specifically went to find a breed that was a horse that could do a lot of everything and that is really what I found in the Andalusian horses. And additionally, you have a horse that is really people-oriented, so that's a great bonus. The uses of the Andalusian horse, originally, I would say was in the Royal courts of Europe when they did Dressage, the beginnings of Dressage, and the heirs above the ground. They continue to be a really wonderful Dressage horse. They excel at the upper levels with their collection work and find it quite easy to do the pirouettes and the passage and the Piaffe. But on the other hand, I have, not my show mare behind me, but I have a mare that I bought as a two year old and she has continued to be one of my best riding horses. We trail ride, which is still one of my favorite things to do, and we have done all kinds of breed shows and she doesn't do just one event. She does Western, she does English Pleasure, including saddle seat. She is a halter horse and she does a class called Domo Vaccaro, which is Spanish Dressage, which is done in the Spanish attire and is much more collected work then the Dressage we have here in the United States, more like a reigning pattern with sliding stops and roll backs. These horses also excel in cattle work because they have, they were breed for the bulls in Spain. They were bull fighting horses originally, along with the work that they did in, as war horses and calvary horses, so they're very, very good with cattle. I have done some teen pinning on my horses over the years, and additionally, I have a horse that drives. They're wonderful driving horses because they're very steady in the harness and don't tend to be spooky or flighty when things come up. And also, if they get themselves in a spot, they will wait and let their person get them out of that. So the Andalusian's, I couldn't recommend them higher for anybody that's looking for a horse that is, it can do any number of events and be a part of the family at the same time.
Specialty: Andalusian Breed
