Different Iberian Breed Standards

[Michelle Clarke]

For interest sake, here is a description of what a Standard is for the Iberian Saddle Horse (as stated by Sylvia Loch):

The Iberian horse should be of noble proportions constituting a spectacle of beauty combined with efficacy of performance as a suitable mount for work with the bulls and cattle, manege work and as a versatile, comfortable riding horse.

Height between 15 and 16.2

Color: any true color, including dun and chestnut and a traditional preponderance for darkly dappled grey

Head: of noble aspect, with a slightly rounded forehead; alert, vivid eyes inclined to be almond-shaped; generous well-shaped ears; a straight or sub-convex profile lengthening into a finely tapering muzzle. The cheek is normally deep and well rounded.

Mane and forelock is heavy and luxurious

Neck: is well proportioned, deep and muscular with a pronounced arch on the upper line, set into a powerful, sloping shoulder. The wither is long and high allowing excellent forward and upward movement from the forelimbs.

Back: short, with strong, broad loins; the ribcage is deep and inclined to be flat at the sides thus enabling good elevated movements.

Hindquarters: rounded on top with a sloping croup and low-set tail which is heavy and held tightly with movement

Legs: slender but muscular with excellent dense bone

Cannon bones and hocks are somewhat longer in relation to the forearm than is normal in other breeds, and the stifles have a slightly elbowed appearance. The pasterns are sloping and elastic giving spring to the gaits especially over hard ground. The second thigh is often well developed.

The hooves are neat, round and high.

The gaits are powerful, rounded and lively and the horse is noted particularly for this excellent trotting ability which stems from his energetic forward-going hock action. The horse is famed for his acceleration over a given distance and hi ability to collect and gather himself into a position of supreme balance. It is this athletic control of his compact frame which has led to his success as a fighting horse and enables him to enjoy the demands of school work.

Strong and hardy of constitution he survives well on relatively modest feeding, and the adult horse should give an overall impression of roundness, particularly in the back and quarters when ridden.

His outstandingly fine temperament makes him easy to school and train; he is sweet and gentle in the stable, and combines gaiety with courage and obedience in all his work.

Stallions and mares tend to build up a very strong relationship of trust and fidelity with their owners.

Interestingly, Sylvia Loch also states: “All these characteristics form the basic genetic inheritance of the Iberian Saddle Horse. As with all breeds, however, different studs (meaning breeding programs) have over the centuries selectively bred for different purposes. This in some Iberian horses we find a heavier or lighter strain, depending on the purpose for which they have been bred.”

The basic definition of an “Iberian Saddle Horse” is a horse of two-fold: phenotypically, it resembles the Iberian type. Genetically, it is decendent from the horses that originate from the Iberian Peninsula.

[Michelle Clarke]

Pura Raza Espanola (PRE - those horses revised and accepted into the Spanish Stud Book)

Sources: Boletin Oficial del Estado (Legislation Database of Spain) Spanish Royal Decree 21338 1133/ October 31, 2002 Stipulates the legal regulations of the breed registries, breeders' associations, basic breed zootechnical characteristics, the definition of racial prototype, evaluation of breeding animals.
Ministerial Order 25418 APA/3319/December 31, 2002; Article 3. Stipulates the Racial Prototype of the Pura Raza Espanol:

Head:
Well Proportioned, of medium length, thin with straight or subconvex frontal nasal profile.
Ears of average proportions, very mobile, well placed and parallel.
Forehead slightly wide and slightly round.
Lively eyes, triangular in shape and with an expressive gaze, orbital arches which do not protrude from the profile.
Face long and moderately narrow (more so on females), subconvex or straight and lean.
Nose that narrows gradually, of soft and curved projection from the face.
Almond shaped nostrils and not protruding.
Full jaw, lean and with long and discreetly arched jaw line.

Penalties:
Head excessively large or too small.
Frontal nasal profile concave in any gradations or ultra-convex are considered grave faults; the convex profile is objectionable.
Ears large, fallen, convergent, and/or move abnormally.
Forehead too wide or flat
Protruding orbital arches.
Eyes round, bulging, or surrounding area dispigmented.
Nose square and wide
Nostrils round and/or dispigmented
Jaw thick and closed angle.
Overbite, lips thick, fallen or dispigmented
_________

Neck:
Of medium size and length, lightly arched and muscular (less in females).
Well inserted at head and back.
Silky and abundant mane

Penalties:
Neck too short or excessively thick, ewe necked, unstable or with a tendancy to fall, bad insertion with the body or too thick
at its union with the head.
Disqualification: Presence of "Gato" or "Gatillo" (excessive accumulation of fat), resulting in fallen neck or crest, inverted neck, ewe neck.
_________

Trunk:
Well proportioned and robust.
Withers should be discreetly wide and distinguished and in a smooth prolongation to the back line.
The back solid, muscular and close to straight.
Loin short, wide muscular, and somewhat arched; well connected to the back and to the croup.
Croup of medium length and width, rounded and slightly inclined downward.
Tail set low and flush against buttocks, thick, long and often wavy hair.
Chest of good fullness and deep.
Ribs arched, long and deep.
Flanks extended and abdomen correct.

Penalties:
Wither low or not noticeable.
Disqualification: If the height of the horse at the withers is less than 1.52 meters (59.84 inches) {15 hands} for the males and 1.5 meters (59.06 inches) {14.3 hands} for the females, at the age of three years as measured with a stick.
Back flat, sunken or swayed behind the wither, or ascending toward the croup.
Loin sunken or weak, humped, lack of muscle.
Croup excessively rounded, flat, doubled or divided, uneven, dropped and broken, discontinuous from the front to rear profile.
Tail set high, held away and/or curved up from the buttocks, with melanomas underneath, on the anus or perineum.
Disqualification: Monorchd or cryptorchid.
Chest narrow or sunken.
Ribs flat in the upper third or excessively arched.
_________

Thoracic Limbs or Front Legs:
Shoulder long, muscular, oblique and elastic.
Arm is strong with a good angle.
Forearm powerful and of medium length.
Knees well developed and lean.
Cannons of proportioned length and well defined and ample tendons.
Fetlocks lean, prominent and with scarce feathery hairs.
Pasterns of good conformation, angle and direction.
Hooves strong, of balanced dimensions, well developed.
Legs should be correct.

Penalties:
Pasterns too large, excessively short and upright.
Hooves small or of bad conformation.
Legs incorrect, basically toed in, toed out, back at the knee, cow hocked.
___________

Manifest Characteristics:
Temperament is brave, calm, sensible, honest animals.
They are stoic and docile.
Gift for learning paired with the ability to adapt to diverse services and situations.

Functional characteristics and aptitudes:
Great aptitude to perform diverse functions, easily interprets the rider's aids with a pleasant mouth, obediently, comprehnsively, and with extraordinary comfort.
Their principle service is as a mount, with great ability for training (high school, classical dressage and vaquero), bullfighting, light teams or carriages, range activities and other disciplines.
Movements are agile, high, expressive, harmonious, rhythmic.
Special talent for collection and turns on the haunches.

Penalties:
Poor elevation, little extension, winging.

[Michelle Clarke]

Puro Sangue Lusitano (PSL, those horses revised and included in the Portuguese stud book)

Source: Associacao Portuguesa de Criadores do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano
(APSL): Characteristics of the Breed
_________
Type: Middleweight (weight around 1,100 lbs.)

Medium shape

Subconvex profile throughout the body (with rounded outlines the silhouette of which can be fitted into a square).

Height: Medium, to be measured at the withers with a measuring stick at 6 years of age
Average height females: 1.55 meters {15.1 h.h.}
Average height males: 1.6 meters {15.3 h.h.}

Coat: Preferred colors are grey and bay

Temperament: Noble, generous, ardent, always gentle and able to support
duress.

Movements: Agile, elevated forward, smooth and having a great facility to carry the rider in comfort.

Aptitude: Natural ability for concentration, great disposition for High School work, courage and enthusiasm for the gineta exercises (combat, hunting, bullfighting, cattle work)

Head: Well proportioned, medium length, narrow, dry
Lower Jaw not too pronounced, cheek is inclined to be long.
Profile slightly sub-convex with the forehead in advanced of the orbital arches.
Eyes are almond shaped, big, lively, expressive and confident.
Ears are medium length, fine, narrow, expressive.

Neck: Of medium length, arched with a narrow hairline
Deep in the base and well inserted between the shoulders, rising up from the withers without any convexity.

Withers: well defined and long with a smooth transition from the back to the neck.
Always higher than the croup.

Chest: medium size, deep and muscular

Ribcage: well developed, long and deep with the ribs obliquely arched into the join with the spinal column which promotes a short and full flank.

Shoulders: long, slanting, well muscled.

Back: well defined and tending towards the horizontal making a smooth union between withers and loins.

Loins: short, wide, muscular, slightly convex, well connected with the back and croup with which they form a continuous harmonious line.

Croup: strong and rounded, well balanced, slightly slanting, the length and width should be of identical proportions, the profile convex and harmonious with the point of hip relatively unobtrusive, giving the croup a transverse section of eliptical shape.
Tail emerges from the same line as the croup, being of ong, silky and abundant hair.

Legs: Forelegs are well muscled and harmoniously inclined.
Upper arm straight and muscular
Knees dry and wide
Cannons are long and dry with well defined tendons
Fetlocks are dry, relatively large, with very little hair
Pasterns are long and sloping

Hooves are strong, of good conformation and proportion,
not very wide and the coronet not very visible.

Buttocks short and convex
Thigh is muscular, relatively short, oriented such that the patella is directlty vertical from the point of hip.
Leg is somewhat long, the point of the hock directly vertical from the point of the buttocks.
Hocks are large, strong and dry.
The hind legs have relatively closed angles.

[Michelle Clarke]

USEF/IALHA Standards - the Standards set in America which include any PRE, PSL, PSP or the so called, Andalusian (the "Andalusian" includes any of the above horses, but they do not have to be revised by any other organization. This means any horse, by blood alone, is accepted into the registry without having an inspection or revision...)

General

Penalties: General lack of development, disproportion between the regions and body dimensions, more undesirable the lengthened lines than the shorter lines

Head and Neck

Head of medium length and rectangular, lean, of straight or subconvex frontal-nasal profile, in its different gradations.
Ears of medium proportions, well placed, separated, lightly divergent and very mobile.
Forehead slightly wide and discretely bulging, subconvex or straight in the straight plane.
Eyes alive and of awake appearance, oval, with soft or half-erased orbital arches.
Face straight or softly convex, moderately narrow and lacking in flesh.
Soft nose and curved projection from the face that ends in a slightly narrowing, subtle form.
Wide-open nostrils and no projections.
Ample jaw, muscled, with edge of generous and discrete arch.
Neck lightly arched and of medium length, well inserted into the head and posterior with thick and abundant mane

Penalties:

Rejected are the concave frontal nasal profiles and equally the ultra convex and, objectionable, the convex.
Excessively voluminous head, ears too big, fallen, too closely set and with abnormal movement.
Forehead too wide and flat in transverse (crosswise) direction.
Orbital arches protruding and eyes bulging or round.
___________

Withers, Shoulder and Point of shoulder

Withers discretely wide and emphasized.
Shoulder muscled and oblique.
The height of the horse at the withers which will a minimum of 1.52 meters (59.84 inches) {15.0 h.h.} for the males and 1.5 meters (59.06 inches) {14.3 h.h.} for the females, at the age of three years as measured with a stick

Penalties:

Low withers or not defined.
___________

Chest, Thorax and Abdomen

Trunk proportioned and robust.

Penalties:

Narrow trunk and little heart girth (depth).
Narrow chest and overall collapsing.
Ribs smooth in the upper third or excessively round, horizontal, double or broken, flat as a desk, destroyed or broken of high back or delayed back; of a discontinuous profile.
_________

Back and Loin

Back side muscled and conveniently directed, short wide back, horizontal or somewhat arched, harmonically tied with the back and the croup.


Penalties:

Swayback and inclined to descend forward.
Back tent shaped or poorly muscled.
__________

Croup and Tail

Croup of medium length and width, with
predominance for the former, rounded, and lightly
in descent, with the birth of the tail lower;
however, it lies close to the body. Tail is
populated with abundant and long horsehair.

Penalties:

Tail set too high or too loosely set.
_________

Front Legs and Feet (hooves)

Arm harmoniously inclined and strong, forearm powerful and well-directed.
Knees developed and lean.
Cannon bone of proportioned length and clean tendons, fetlock dry and emphasized, pasterns not too long, well flexioned, but not too angular, hooves compact with balanced dimension.

Penalties:

Extremities with deviations from the plumb
Pasterns too long or excessively short and vertical
_________

Hind Legs and Feet (hooves)

Flanks extended.
Thigh and rump muscled, leg long, hocks strong, ample, clean.
The other regions situated under the tarsal joint have identical characteristics to the same anterior. {legs below the hocks have identical characteristics as legs below the knees}

Penalties:

Extremities with deviations from the plumb and especially in the tarsal region (cow hocked).
________

Overall Impressions

The horse is known for agile movements, elevated, extended harmonious and cadenced.

The horse has great facility to adopt various aptitudes and to conquer difficulties, as if with special predisposition for collection and the turns over the haunches.

The horses have an easy response to the command and the mouth is additionally soft, for a result that is obedient and of extraordinary comfort.
The horses are temperate and hardy, serviceable and energetic, noble and docile.

They learn rapidly and participate intimately with the rider.

Their principle service is as a mount, with great ability for "alta escuela" (dressage and airs), bullfighting, light teams or carriages and with special conditioning for handling cattle running in range conditions

Penalties:

Movements displaying poor elevation, irregular tempo or excessive winging. (Refer to the IALHA rule book for the definition of winging.)