Pure Raza Hispano-Arabe' UK

First Inscriptions at Last.

2011-11-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

ON THE HOME FRONT

Now that DNA validation is sorted Hispano-Árabe UK has been busy finally getting our two beautiful 2011 foals inscription documents completed for the UEGHá. We had hoped that a recent imported filly would likewise be eligible for inscription. She is the offspring of an Auxiliary Registered Hispano-Árabe mare imported from Spain, but her sire is Pure Arabian. Unfortunately any horses entered in the Hispano-Árabe Auxiliary Registry can only breed with Hispano-Árabe horses (not PRE or Pure Arabian) to have their foals eligible for inscription in the Stud Book.

Fortunately the lovely ‘Hispano-Árabe’ foal is not ‘lost’ to us as we have now established an affiliation with the Sports Horse Association for issue of their Identification Documents for Part Bred Hispano-Árabes and Anglo Hispano-Árabes/Tres Sangre. These horses can now through Hispano-Árabe UK be registered with the Sports Horses Association; as they are in Spain and Portugal, but with documents that carry our company registration and pedigree record (including DNA data) specifically identifying them as either Part Bred Hispano-Árabes or Anglo Hispano-Árabe/Tres sangre.

It means these horses hold Internationally recognised identification for inclusion into the Sports Horse Association abroad should they leave the UK, and can be submitted to the Sports Horse grading on maturity to become fully accredited within the Sports Horse Association. The Hispano-Árabe filly from the Auxiliary mare while not approved to be inscribed or used to breed Hispano-Árabes within this Breed will be registered as a Part Bred Hispano-Árabe (with full pedigree) and can be graded as a Sports Horse and used to breed Tres sangre horses for sport.

Apart from safely incorporating our Part Breds and Anglo stock into the Sports Horse Association we should not forget that while our Pure Bred Hispano-Árabe does have its own Stud Book for inscription the breed is also recognised as a top Sports Horse in Spain. It would therefore be more prestigious and sensible for anyone owning a registered Pure Bred Hispano-Árabe to consider dual inscribing their horse as a Sports Horse rather than as a ‘part bred’ to some other breed society that does not acknowledge the importance of these horses as a breed in their own right.

OVERSEAS UPDATE

On the International front we have been working with several other countries planning their future Hispano-Árabe breeding programmes within the regulations of the Spanish Stud Book in order to inscribe their horses. For anyone looking at breeding Hispano-Árabe horses using a PRE parent, please ensure that the PRE horse is approved for breeding under the regulations of the Spanish Stud Book held by ANCCE. You can validate this by checking the data held on the web stud records http://www.lgancce.com/web2/?lang=en

Then, most important: PLEASE ensure that if you use a PRE stallion you receive the ANCCE issued covering certificate for PRE approved stallions. On this note I urge PRE associations around the world to comply with their Stud Book regulations and issue the correct covering certificate when PRE stallions serve Pure Arabian or Pure Hispano-Árabe mares. The stallion returns that are sent through to ANCCE mean that the PRE Stud Book can notify the UEGHá of expected Hispano-Árabe births; and owners of resulting foals can send in their part of the covering certificate to the UEGHá when requesting inscription of the foals.

We have had a long few months working with breeders in the USA to help facilitate the inscription of the first USA born Hispano-Árabe to be inscribed as a Pure Bred with the Spanish State Stud Book. Hispano-Árabe UK will be forwarding the completed service request and supporting documents shortly.

Until an agent co-ordinating inscription requests for the USA is established and fully operational, Hispano-Árabe UK will continue to work with USA and Canadian horse Breeders to collate and submit service requests to the UEGHá to ensure inscription of their Hispano-Árabe horses.

Onwards and Upwards

2011-10-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

After the disgraceful conduct of two breed societies here in the UK to prevent the inscription of Hispano-Arabe foals into the Purebred Stud Book we are at last moving forwards thanks to the work of the UEGHa to bypass the block these two societies put on the use of DNA for parentage validation. Quite simply the breed expansion of the Hispano-Arabe will go ahead but BAPSH is now excluded from involvement with this breed while the Spanish Arabian Stud Book will furnish the required validation data for the Arabian side of our UK breeding.

The UEGHa has also gone to great trouble to establish laboratories in Spain prepared to carry out the DNA tests using hair samples rather than blood thus making it a lot easier for meeting the postage/shipment regulations regarding tissue samples as well as easing concerns of breeder/owners not comfortable with blood extraction from youngstock.

As part of working with the UEGHa to role out the International breed expansion service we are at the moment working on translations of forms and supporting information for the various services required to inscribe Hispano-Arabe stock. To facilitate speedy turn-around of passports there is a necessity for veterinarians completing inscription documentation to provide signature samples; for use on the UEGHa software to produce the final passport. As soon as this particular translation and updated form is approved for use we will be seeing our first inscriptions from the UK since 2006.

The only unfortunate news update is that after long consideration the UEGHa has declined opening the Auxiliary Registry of the Hispano-Arabe Stud Book to horses outside of Spain. We submitted to them a test case application of a very beautiful Spanish breed Hispano-Arabe (UK imported mare) that had not been inscribed to the Stud Book when she was in Spain. Despite producing stunning Hispano-Arabe foals, that we had hoped to subsequently see inscribed to the Principle Registry, it is now not possible for her and other Hispano-Arabe equine expats of Spain to be considered for inclusion in the breed programme. A great pity and loss as there are across Europe some exceptional performance Hispano-Arabes (http://www.epona.hu/index.php?pg=23) that do credit to the breed. Our thanks to the UEGHa for taking time to seriously consider our request.

The UEGHa is, as previously stated, working on setting up an International section to their website to meet the needs of the countries around the world enquiring about breeding and inscribing Hispano-Arabe stock produced in their own countries while working to facilitate immediate requests for inscriptions. To help facilitate correct submissions and thus speedy inscription the services of Hispano-Arabe UK are at the disposal of countries other than the UK until such time as those countries can establish a permanent liaison of their own.

STUD BOOK FOAL INSCRIPTIONS

2011-07-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

A breed registry also known as a STUD BOOK or register is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeders when they are young. ...... I know many of you reading this are thinking I'm insulting your intelligence!

Unfortunately here in the UK two organisations the AHS and BAPSH seem to have problems with the idea of what a STUD BOOK is. They are still confusing the special concession of PIO (passport issuing office) that defra handed out all to easily in the past with what defines a Stud Book, specifically in the case of these two organisations they only recognise the UK defra authority which sadly seems Stud Books and equine passport authorities in other countries apparently do not exist!

Here is the revelation: other countries do have passport issuing authority for their equines and there is a little matter of international law ( yes AHS and BAPSH there is a bigger axe out there that all horse breed organisations and defra have to comply with) that governs who exactly can inscribe what breeds of horses and who legally can complete all sections on the passports for those breeds. Once again for the ever so slow learners that are blissfully ignoring EU law; Pure Breeds of horses are to be inscribed in the appropriate Stud Book and the Hispano-Arabe is ranked as a PURE BREED.

The AHS can ONLY inscribe pure bred Arabians ....... it can not under EU law inscribe pure bred foals of another breed, it can dual register them but has an obligation to ensure that those horses are correctly inscribed to their own pure bred stud book, which in the case of the Hispano-Arabe is held and controlled by UEGHa in Spain (and has at present appointed two agents outside of Spain; Anja Manthey in Germany and myself here in the UK, to promote and facilitate inscription of Hispano-Arabe horses outside of Spain) .

BAPSH in fact contrary to misconception is not a Stud Book but an agent acting for ANCCE to help inscribe into the Spanish held Stud Book all PRE horses born in the UK. The defra issued PIO status is nothing to do with the pure bred horses but a means of provinding passports for the partbreds produced by PRE horses. Ironic that it is another agent for a pure bred Spanish horse breed who is obstructing the opperation of UEGHa in this country and to date failing to comply with any requests conected with the UK Hispano-Arabe horses?

To date regardless of Spains requests for 2011 expected foal returns resulting from coverings involving either PRE or Arabian horses these organisations have not responseded and despite being fully aware of EU directives for pure breeds to be inscribed correctly may already have inscribed this years Hispano-Arabe foals into their own part-bred registers.

But here is the rub... the ultimate arrogant power crazed nonsense is the refusal of official requests to grant exchange of DNA data to validate pure bred Hispano-Arabe foals with parents from either of these two breeds. The owners of pure bred Arabians and PRE horses paid their money for those DNA tests to be carried out and held on a database to help validate foals produced from those pure bred horses. They did this in good faith never realising that their breed society could then execute their own active disrcrimination to refuse access to that data for foals to be appropriately inscribed.

As defra is at present reviewing the PIO status in this country and how it is opperated perhaps it is also time that they look at centralising the DNA data bases under defra control to insure individuals do not abuse their position, as is currently the case whereby registries can deliberately stop foals being legally inscribed into Stud Books and by their actions cause additional costs to owners who have to carry out repeat DNA tests when maliciously discriminated against in this way.

http://www.hispano-arabeuk.com/News_2011.html

To Flourish the Hispano-Árabe Valiantly Battles on

2011-05-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the International Hispano-Árabe Community

First off let me say that Worldwide there has been a massive and positive interest in the Hispano-Árabe Breed and I have been staggered by the extent of interest and the range of countries closely following the progress of our work with UEGHá to open the doors for the expansion of this wonderful breed of horse. To all of you around the World; welcome and hello, I wish you all the best with your various equine endeavours.

In Europe, our sister agent in Germany has started to receive from Spain full passports and registrations for their stock, including back issue passport documentation, and next month will host the UEGHá delegates to grade their horses; thus permitting the continuation of their breeding programmes. http://www.spanisches-sportpferd.de/9-1-Links.html

http://www.hispano-shagya-arabhest.dk/

France has a strong interest in this breed of horse for Le Trec and in that pursuit, keenly watching the establishment of Stud Book agents for UEGHá and the breeding of these horses for the purchase of their own suitable Hispano-Árabe horses. In this respect with an eye to the future breeding in France they are looking at stock which is appropriately Stud Book registered.

A number of other European countries with very small numbers of these horses are presently under the wing of other registries but maintaining or looking to establish Stud Book registration with Spain and in the future hope to establish independent agents for the breed to liaise with UEGHá.

I think the furthest outpost for the breed is dear Anita, valiantly rallying the Australian contingent of Hispano-Árabe horses and likewise seeking direct agent status with UEGHá to facilitate the continued Stud Book registration, grading and breeding of their Hispano-Árabe horses. http://www.ahaa.org.au/hispanoarabe.aspx

We even have a large contingent of followers in America, who have by the very nature of the country’s history been pro-active breeders and supporters of the Hispano-Árabe horse for possibly as long as it has existed. ..... for the uninitiated; since the diversity of breeds of horse in America are founded one way or another upon the early Conquistador horses and subsequent Spanish settlers with their horses, both Pure Spanish and Hispano-Árabe horses have flourished independent of the Stud Books in Spain. Many bloodlines while ‘pure’ have physically evolved in response to the climate and cultural work requirements of America with slight differences to the breed criteria required by Spain. As a result of this America has several registries/Stud Books for both the PRE and Há, recognising this divergence; and at the same time expanding to include registries affiliated to Spain to facilitate those owners/breeders wishing to be Spanish State Stud Book registered. http://www.prhaa.com/

To the Protagonist:

I will state now so there is no misunderstanding; the write up I am about to post is in response to the fact that here in the UK for some unexplained reason there are certain unknown parties, working extremely hard to stop the continued breeding and Stud Book registration of the UK Hispano-Árabe horses.

Whether this is through their total ignorance (I say this because they do not seem to have the ability to read and comprehend anything published so far and apparently are somewhat incapable of directly contacting us to clarify any questions or misunderstanding they have), or they have some personal agenda that necessitates the prevention of Uk breed stock being registered in the only existing Stud Book (this assumption arising due to the fact that they are actively and maliciously trying to insight another organisation; which does not have jurisdiction over Spain’s Stud Books, to prevent the establishment of a UK Breed Society agent for the Hispano-Árabe).

Here in the Uk while we have been breeding Hispano-Árabe horses for 30 years, we do not have the grounds that America has to establish an independent stud book; therefore for any horses of this breed to be classified as Hispano-Arabe and registered as such it has be done through the appropriate Breed Stud Book and that is held in Spain by UEGHá.

As our shameful protagonist is apparently uninformed about what a Stud Book is, I suggest they read Wikipedia, and as they are constantly on the phone to defra seeking help in their attack on the Hispano-Árabe they should be aware that by defra’s own guidelines ‘The rules of the society of the origin of the breed are paramount for that particular breed and is therefore essential for everyone to know which association or organisation maintains the Studbook of the Breed’.

The Studbook for the Hispano-Árabe is maintained by UEGHa http://www.caballohispanoarabe.com/ based in Spain and as such in no way under the jurisdiction of defra( who incidentally have a strange notion that if a breed is not registered with the Rare Breeds Trust then it cannot possibly warrant special consideration for protection…for the uninformed:.The Rare Breeds Survival Trust deals with breeds Native to the British Isles and as they rightly point out they have no jurisdiction or involvement with foreign breeds!)

In acknowledgement of the fact that the authority for Studbook registration of this breed is UEGHá, Defra has already in writing notified us that they have no requirement or necessity to be involved in our role in establishing an agent for UEGHa here in the UK to facilitate the Studbook registration of the Hispano-Árabe and negotiate representation for the breed in the UK.

Any horse breeding venture is a huge commitment and not something one should take on if they are not prepared to recognise and accept that breeders who work with purebred animals generally try to breed and raise specimens which adhere to the breed standard as closely as possible and pass grading approval designed to protect the integrity of purebred animals and their heritage by ensuring that only the finest representatives of the breed are identified fit for breeding. The breed standard and grading for the Hispano-Árabe is that established and applied by Spain through UEGHá.

Here in the UK there are breeders and owners who do value their horses and the investment they put into them. To that end they do want their Hispano-Árabes to be Stud Book registered carrying the appropriate documentation and not placed on some other organisations register as a partbred (other than possibly for dual registration purposes).

For the benefit of the dissenters: you are free to choose how and where you register your horse whether it is as a Purebred with the appropriate Stud Book (which I reiterate is held by UEGHá in Spain under the authority of MAPA, The Spanish Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs who at International level have established the Hispano-Árabe as in need of special protection; hence the concern that this breed is properly managed and Stud Book registered) or you may list your horse as a partbred in any society registry that accepts non pedigreed horses. You do not have the right to endeavour to prevent owners and breeders with integrity from having their horses entered in the Pure Breed Stud Book. Nor do you have the right to falsely sell unregistered stock as being Stud Book registered when in fact it is not on a Stud Book but simply a register denoting it as a partbred of an organisation.

(I have no idea why on earth this blog site changes the print size !!!!! )

2011 NEWS

2011-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

New Start and Steady Progress Forward

PASSPORTS

UEGHá is now looking at what needs to be done to sort out the UK stock born since 2006 that are not Stud Book registered. The passports issued by BAPSH in the interim years, while valid under UK regulations and providing a safe record of data, are not valid EU Stud Book documentation for Pure Bred Hispano-Árabe horses, and if retained only identify those horses as BAPSH part bred stock.

ANCCE already had to recall temporary UK passports issued by BAPSH for PRE horses bred in the interim period of the PRE Stud Book being transferred.

UEGHá is starting similar procedures to recall the UK Hispano-Árabe passports and inscribe owners stock into the State Stud Book and re-issue correct Internationally recognised Pure Bred passports appropriate to the breed.

If there are any UK Hispano-Árabe young stock registered with other organisations since 2006 holding part-bred passports, ie; Sports Horse or AHS registered, then please get in touch with me now to arrange for inscription of your horse/s into the Pure Bred Stud Book for this breed and provision of appropriate passport.

GRADING

UEGHá is visiting our sister Stud Book representative in Germany to grade their stock in June 2011. They have offered to then come here to the UK to grade our Hispano-Árabe horses.

If your Hispano-Árabe regardless of temporary passport status) is approaching breeding maturity
ie; 3 to 4 years plus, I do need you to let me know if you wish to apply to have your horse/s graded this year.

There are a few horses that are already being bred from without having been graded. These horses need to be submitted for grading, once approved, any existing Hispano-Árabe offspring can be submitted for consideration to be inscribed into the Stud Book retrospectively.

FOAL BIRTHS for 2011

Please can any owners with Hispano-Árabe, Arabian or PRE mares expecting Hispano-Árabe foals this year, 2011 births, please contact me now. UEGHá needs to have an indication of the number of foals expected in order to be ready with the appropriate microchip and inscription documentation.

Regarding approved vets for completing passport silhouette and information forms, we are not tied in the same situation as the PRE regarding use of only specified vets. UEGHá has taken into consideration the problems this can cause for owners and are doing everything they can to work with us to provide access for State Stud Book registration.

You may use your own vet for the completion of passport identification papers, insertion of microchip and extraction of DNA sample. I would however, urge you to ensure your vet is more than fleetingly experienced with completing passport identification papers and that you impress upon him/her that the documents are for an International Passport and State Stud Book records, not a UK identification passport.

2010-10-25T03:48:00.000-07:00

Our website http://www.hispano-arabeuk.com/index.htm has been up and running for a month and receiving a high volume of visitors.....

The curious thing is that the UK Hispano-Árabe owners who have for so many years complained that they wanted independent representation have as predicted by BAPSH they wanted independent representation have as predicted by BAPSH continued to sit back and not respond!

We have had enquiries from owners of recently imported horse which despite coming from Spain had not been registered with UEGHá.

That is not an obstacle because in 2006 when the Studbook was being transferred there were a number of ranches in Spain that had not stepped into the registration system. To deal with all the horses that are about that are without question Hispano-Árabe but whose papers/documentation had anomalies on them, UEGHá created an Auxiliary Registry...effectively a current open equivalent to the original Foundation Studbook that the Cria originally entered the foundation horses onto 30 years ago and then closed.

Now the significant thing about this Auxiliary Registry is that not just the recent imports here have the opportunity of being inscribed and assessed for breeding stock eligible for the Main Registry, BUT all of you here in the UK owning horses that in the past were registered as partbred Arab or whatever due to personal politics or choices in the past, can now enter your horses to this registry for incorporation as Hispano-Árabe stock and be graded at the time for approval to breed registered stock just as Piyayo was assessed years ago.

AND...... this registry allows the correction of errors that have been made in the past regarding the % Arabian blood in stock. There are horses that have been bred in the UK and registered as partbred on the grounds that the ratio of Arabian : PRE blood was outside the 25:75% banding. These horses should not have been precluded from registration and grading, the % ratio is only a marker to help give flexibility in the grading assessment while the breed is being regenerated. So any horses here in the UK falling into that category, likewise should be put forward for the Auxiliary registry.

We are working towards UEGHá coming over next year to carry out any grading, inscriptions etc to bring our stock back into the mother Studbook system. It is no good sitting back and waiting till they are here to decide to turn up wanting your horse registered, they need returns this year to indicate the extent of our situation and plan exactly what we want from them. Many of the existing horses that have full breeding details, blood typing, etc but simply not registered with Spain may only need documentation transfers and in most cases will go straight onto the Main Registry. BUT it needs starting NOW.

On a slight tangent; we have had enquiries coming through with interest about the fact that we have included the Tres sangres into our set up. In Spain this Anglo of the Hispano-Árabe is registered with the CDE Spanish Sports Horse Association; however, it is the Anglo of our breed and while owners may elect to register it where they like, we felt that it should somewhere have the space to be recognised for what it is just as the Arabian acknowledges its Anglo!

Like its parent breed the tres sangres/AngloHispano-Árabe has been the subject of much confusion and curiously in this country the odd parties believing they invented them! Since Spain started out with the original horses to create this cocktail they obviously got there first and have years of experience mixing it up and testing which combinations work!

Its a terrific blend and without wanting to scupper our expansion of the Hispano-Árabe we do hope that those who like a bit of Thb in the mix will be interested in these horses and somewhere helping to get them recognised with this opportunity for their own register.

To this end I have recently spent a lot of time translating Spanish data and revamping my web info to include expanded information on the tres sangres http://www.eponahispano-arabe.co.uk/

Hispano-Arabe UK : LIVE

2010-09-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long silence: Not due to inactivity I can assure you!

We are LIVE www.hispano-arabeuk.com

So please do come and visit, look into all the web pages and icons, enjoy the wonderful photography of Cathy our official photographer of Hispano-arabe horses.

If you have UK based Hispano-arabe horses,pure, part bred and anglo then please download and print off the membership form and get your horses listed with us. In particular any pure stock that does not have Spanish issued passports, you do need to be included in the census for Spain to formally register your stock. We really do need returns as soon as possible to start planning the logistics of just how many horses need representation and for Spain (UEGHá) to plan to visit next year to inscribe and grade stock.

Census Request

2010-04-29T04:57:00.000-07:00

Update : we are now officially registering Hispano-Arabe UK for the stud book registration of our breed so contact me !

UEGHa' has now requested an official census advising them of the situation regarding our Hispano-Arabe stocks in this country.

I have repeatedly requested compliance from BAPSH regarding the existing data on past and present registrations in order to help trace horses/owners that are no longer in contact or even aware about what is going on. So far this organisation has not responded.

Having said that, thank you to those who have contacted me direct. To those owners still hanging back, now is not the time to sit and wait for events. It is happening now!;

Contact me eponahispano@talktalk.net.... let me have full details about your Hispano-Arabe incl about you, where you are etc, are you wanting your horse inscribed into the stud book, passports overstamped, grading, planning on breeding ...anything and everything please.

Anyone planning on putting Arab mares or Pre mares in foal this year to produce Hispano-Arabe foals for next year...you must let me know so I can advise UEGHa' of the potential stock requiring inscription next year.

Anyone who has horses registered as partbred that are PRE x Arab regardless of % (ignore 25 - 75% bar) or that have questions regarding pedigree due to Ha' import lines..please get in touch with me as now is the time that consideration for these horses to be brought onto the parent stud book; but only if I have your information to give UEGHa' so that they can plan accordingly.

Potential buyers: sorry but I do need to advise that you be cautious as there are unscrupulous sellers jumping on the 'rare' tag to bump prices! Check the papers and if needs be speak to me to cross check and seek advice that the horse is bred from approved parents, may be already registered or one that potentially can be inscribed, it may still need grading ..all factors to consider when buying and more so if you want to consider breeding later on. Above all do not buy for rarity/novelty value.
Use common sense and value the animal for its conformation, temperament and function. These are magnificent horses and it would be appalling if the breeders and owners who have integrity in what they do are tarred with the disgraceful grabbing mentality of a few owners.

Publicity : May issue The Arabian Magazine will be featuring a write up on the Hispano-Arabe to help promote what we are doing, and I will be submitting further write ups so if anyone is doing something of interest with their Hispano-Arabe horses please get in touch for inclusion in future publications.

Bravery, Intelligence and Sense of Humour this wonderful film clip of Jesus Morales Hispano-Arabe Halcion says it all about this wonderful breed, if you read the write up attached to the film it has a link to another film of horse and rider giving an exhibition of Garrocha; note the reins are tied to the Jesus Morales waist.

Commercial Viability or Death by Greed?

2010-03-18T15:15:00.000-07:00

Commercial Viability

At the start of writing about the plight of the Hispano-Arabe and the steps being taken with the breeding expansion plan, I talked about the need for the breed to be bred and produced for the appropriate commercial market according to its functional use as a horse in modern times.

In Spain there has never been any doubt about the abilites of the Hispano-Arabe and the role it has in the agricultural market as a versatile working stock horse. In the same way that equine breed regeneration programmes here in the UK have looked at the modern commercial viability of endangered native equines and targeted their modern market to help perpetuate demand and thus support the survival of the breed, so the Spanish have looked at the adaptability of the Hispano-Arabe to other roles outside of ranching.

Ranching at Alvaro Domecq's Acampo Abierto

by Cathy Spearing

www.equinart.co.uk

Here in the UK unlike the USA and Australia we do not have an agricultural use for the Hispano-Arabe stock herding cattle over vast countryside. Our interest in the Hispano-Arabe is for the versatility of the breed as an all around sports horse in the leisure riding industry. It is from this area of non-professional horse riding that nearly all our successful professional competition riders started out, learning and developing their skills with the assortment of Native breeds and partbreds capable of multi-sport diversity.

Despite the UK having the highest number of horses than any one European country, it lags far behind these countries in the development of the sports horse, which is the role for which the Hispano-Arabe is well suited. Our horse industry is strangling itself by funnelling all its effort into breeding for the tiny minority of competition riders wanting expensive, big, powerful horses designed with high level capability in one specialist area of performance!

There are excellent horses being bred and produced for the specialist competition market, and the stud fees and youngstock selling costs reflect the high performance achievements of the stallions used and the potential or expected career attainment level of the progeny.

The insanity that holds back the development and growth of the non-horse-racing industry is the belief by some stallion owners that all stallions regardless of breed or ability should command the same phenomenal fees as successful proven performance horses.

The Hispano-Arabe is not a high performance 'mono-sport' horse; it is an extremely versatile, intelligent all round riding horse. Outside of horse racing the UK horse industry ranges from professional through to leisure with many semi-professional riders in between. Of the 2.5 million plus horse owners, nearly 80% of these participate as owners and riders interested in the leisure industry side of horse owning; ie they enjoy simply riding, hacking out and attending shows at the non-professional level of competition. Research a few years ago also showed that a quarter of these horse owners annual household income was under £10,000.

While not discounting the fact that it is not cheap to breed and rear horses and the old adage is that it costs the same to breed a good horse as a bad one, breeders and owners do have a responsibility to be realistic about the costs they are expecting when taking into account the capability of their horses and the market into which their horse belongs.

In the case of the Hispano-Arabe, fortunately, there are sensible owners of both Arabian and PRE horses that understand the need for co-operation to negotiate sensible stud fees (taking account of both the type of market these horses are to be produced for and the necessity for expansion of the breed) to aid in the regeneration of the breed through the first generation out-crossing programme.

Mary Parton Wright's Hispano-Arabe mare and foal

In this country we have seen just about every one of our own Native horse breeds at some point teeter on the edge of extinction and in every case the owners and breeders have pulled together constructively to save their horses from extinction. They have not been confronted by the vulture mentality of owners delighting in claiming 'rarity' as a justification to bump production costs up and drive the knife of extinction further into the heart of the breed!

Before a foal is even born the mare owner has to invest in veterinary fees to swab and clear the mare fit for breeding, this can be in the region of £200. There is then the stud fee to the stallion owner, if AI is involved the mare owner is looking at another £200 in insemination and veterinary costs. It is easy to see to see that before a live foal is even produced a mare owner if having to pay out extortionate stud fees is looking at nearly £1,000 outlay. This has still not taken account of any transportation or keep fee costs for the mare.

If you then factor in the cost of maintaining the mare till foaling, any veterinary fees that may arise if there are foaling problems and routine vaccinations for foals. Then there is breed registration with DNA typing, micro-chipping and passports; all of which can add to another £400. It is easy to see how production costs in the breeding industry can mount up, but while certain expenses can not be avoided, the extortionate rates of stud owners for non performance untested stallions can be avoided when breeding for the leisure market.

If the stallion owner takes time to think constructively about the horse industry, they will see that the high money spending market is very limited, so while they may get a few mare owners able to lay out high stud fees for riding horses, the bigger market in the long run is the 80% leisure industry.

Without breeders being sensible young riders..

our potential future competition riders like Lucy,

can never hope to afford good horses to learn and train on.

Or are we in an age where only the elite wealthy may own horses?

The stallion owner has to have the common sense to assess the quality of the mares being sent to stud no matter what level the stud fee is. The decision to turn down unsuitable mares and be selective is far more likely when the stud fee is not prohibitive and the market bigger. Mare owners having the funds to pay high stud fees has no correlation to the quality of their mare, the market is full of horses boasting outstanding paternal pedigrees but the resultant stock exhibiting nothing of that stallion in conformation or abilities!

The intention that we strive for, is the expansion and production of good quality Hispano-Arabe riding horses for the leisure industry; and perhaps one day its influence being seen in the development of the UK sports horse. We are not interested in the production of horses no one can afford to buy and whose production is for the novelty 'rarity' value.

Negotiations

2010-03-12T01:32:00.000-08:00

Status of Negotiations

DEFRA

Officers from DEFRA's equine identification and zootechnique dept have been working with me to facilitate our application for a recognised independent Hispano-Arabe Breed Association.

Previously it had not been bought to their attention that the breed was on the critical endangered list needing special protection. Their experience in this area of supporting the setting up of breed studbooks has in the past dealt with native equine breeds and not a foreign breed daughter stud book.

In the normal EEC regulations there is a requirement for the stud book to be set up with an advised minimum of 50 mares and 17 stallions. In Spain at the start of their recovery programme they were struggling to meet normal requirements...but that is the nature of the definition 'critical to point of extinction'!

DEFRA recognises that there is a precedent for modification of the regulations in these circumstances, taking account that if correctly managed here in the past 30 years there would by now have been more than adequate breeding numbers of Hispano-Arabe horses. The case is further supported by the breed regeneration plan incorporating the outbreeding to use the two parent bloodlines.

Therefore, allowing time to establish relations with Spain for inclusion in the parent stud book, source and assimilate experience in management of Equine Breed associations, and for our UK Hispano-Arabe owners and future interested parties to work together in formulating their future breeding strategies and exactly what direction we want to take our own breed organisation in, DEFRA have advised that they are working towards full independent registration for 2011.

Spain/UEGHa'

In the last few years the Spanish Department for the Environment, and Rural and Marine Affairs have been actively high profiling the importance of the Hispano-Arabe horse in their own country, particularly as the regeneration programme that has been under the control of the Cria Caballar has reached a point where evaluation indicates they have established a sound successful method of breed preservation.

As the system applied has proved viable the Hispano-Arabe Stud Book has been passed to the control of Union Espanola de Ganaderos de Caballos de Raza Hispanoiarabe (UEGHa'). This is the association of cattle ranchers for whom this breed of horse is an integral part of their industry and history. The functionality and development of the breed into the unique horse that it is, is very much intertwined with the working lives of these cattlemen and their need for the breed to continue in that relationship is the strongest natural selection criteria that will ensure the fixing and pre-potence of the Hispano-Arabe as a breed.

The Spanish government has been very helpful in dealing with my request for assistance in re-establishing our contact with the parent stud book for recognition of our status as the official UK daughter stud book.

To that end the Director of UEGHa' Senior D. Javier Fernandez Alvares has confirmed his delight and willingness to continue inclusion of our horses and resume registration and grading of Uk Hispano-Arabe horses. He is prepared to visit the UK to discuss matters as soon as we wish.

UK Hispano-Arabe owners and interested parties

With the two govt bodies now in full support of sustaining our Hispano-Arabe horses it is up to you to start actively voicing what you would like to see happen for the future viable sustainability of these horses here in the UK.

I'm only too well aware of the past in-house personal issues that have fragmented the breed, but it is the hard logistical matters that I need feedback from you about; in order to go the negotiating table at the outset and eliminate the problems before we start.

As a small organisation there are clearly issues about financial sustainability of the breed from the point of documentation costs. In this I'm looking at comparable organisations in order to at the outset negotiate with Spain viable pricing structures as well as looking at sensible fast procedures to process documentation. There are also matters regarding costs and logistics for organisation of grading of our horses that need to be considered.

I'm liaising with several other official organisations to investigate what grants may be available to assist with the financial burden necessitated by the unique conditions of dealing with an endangered breed that requires greater involvement by its parent stud book.

So to all interested parties I now request that you put pen to paper and let me have your constructive input. Obviously at some point that seems to be speeding towards us we will have to organise an informal meeting (suitable sociable pub somewhere central?)

Foundation vs New Generation Hispano-Arabe

2010-03-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

Foundation vs New Generation Hispano-Arabe

The Hispano-Arabe horse is an indigenous Spanish breed that had been “breeding true”for hundreds of years with consistent, replicable and predictable characteristics even when occasional outcrossing occurred to improve the breed.

The regeneration plan that Spain instigated when the Hispano-Arabe was on the critical point of extinction due to its low numbers of breeding horses, required special allowance of “outside” blood to improve the overall health and vigour of the breed.

Historically the Hispano-Arabe has its foundation in two purebred breeds; the Arabian and the Pure Spanish Horse of Andalusia. The regeneration plan for the Hispano-Arabe involves “re-infusing” the breed with new bloodlines from the parent purebreeds.

In a normal breed improvement plan the simple breeding of existing Hispano-Arabe horses with the permitted Arab or Pure Spanish horses would be the system operated. However the Hispano-Arabe breeding stock numbers were so critically low that a more radical recovery programme had to be implemented.

A responsible crossbreeding process to produce hybrid F1 and F2 Arabian x Pure Spanish horses was agreed upon with the intention that over time these “new” Hispano-Arabe stocks would be bred with each other and with the original Hispano-Arabe bloodlines.

In order not to dilute the influence of the parent bloodlines of these horses a percentage blood ratio of Arabian:Spanish was agreed upon which permitted a minimum of 25% Arab blood and maximum of 75% Arab blood. As a further evaluation strategy all existing original Hispano-Arabe breeding stocks regardless of actual Arabian blood content were graded for entry to a Foundation Stud Book and rated as being a baseline 50% Arab.

For owners breeding first (F1) and second (F2) generation “new” Hispano-Arabe horses by the permitted crossbreeding programme the production of Hispano-Arabe appears to be a very simple endeavour. However as some early owners discovered when the grading stage was involved, their horses failed to meet the standard for approval in the breeding register.

To produce a Hispano-Arabe it is not a simple matter of taking “any” Arabian and breeding it to “any” Pure Spanish horse. Both of these pure breeds within their own acceptable breed standard have a range of phenotype profiles. In the UK we have a far greater diversity of Arabian horses than Spain has had in her history of the breeding of the Hispano-Arabe. The Pure Spanish horse in its recent history has also been selected to diversify into a heavyweight and a lightweight phenotype.

For our UK breeding programme to increase our production of viable Hispano-Arabe young stock that will pass grading we have to be selective in using the heavier profile Pure Spanish horses and Arabians of Spanish, Polish, Russian and old Crabbett type.

The evaluation criteria that Spain has been fine tuning over the last 30 years takes into account a reasonable range of profile diversity with in the new breeding programmes but is ultimately travelling towards a more fixed breed type.

Foundation Stallion PIYAYO

Here in the UK I have the only foundation Hispano-Arabe bloodlines and eventually the progeny descending from Piyayo will be bred across and infused into the new Hispano-Arabe stock just as foundation lines in Spain are being used to fix the breed there.

The arbitrary classification of the original foundation horses as 50% Arab carries with it a loaded dice concept to the breeding programme with respect to the effect or influence these horses will have upon the Hispano-Arabe stock of true quantifiable Arab ratio.

For example Piyayo on paper is listed in the closed Foundation Stud Book as 50% Arab. In reality when the Arab Horse Society was interested in registering him with them for his sports capability they could not trace even the required proven 7% Arab they needed to validate him.

His pedigree www.allbreedpedigree.com/piyayo tells the truth about just how much Arab or Spanish influence he carries. But as his genetic coding is the result of generations of blending it is no longer a simple matter of one or other of the parent breeds having a predictable stamp. To quote the Spanish 'he is Hispano-Arabe. Neither Arab nor Pure Spanish. Just what he is; Hispano-Arabe.'

The predictable stamp that he passes down on the outbreeding programme I have had to operate is the original Hispano-Arabe influence. Thus, his two daughters; one out of a Polish Arabian mare and one out of a PRE mare while registered as respectively 75% and 25% Arab are in phenotype nearer to 50% and 1% Arab. The original Hispano-Arabe fixed geneotype from Piyayo gives all his line a distinctly different profile to other Hispano-Arabe horses of the same documented percentages.

This difference is occurring in Spain even more so given that they have more foundation bloodlines. However the influence of these horses in Spain has already started to be diversified by the foundation bloodlines at various points being breed with the new Hispano-Arabe stock thus steadily producing a leveling off; and as intended fixing of a breed standard.

Failure of this country to expand the breed here and to make full use of the only foundation horse available (Piyayo produced three Hispano-Arabe colts/potential stallions from unrelated Arabian mares; none of them were inscribed onto the Hispano-Arabe stud books due to deliberate actions by the appointed registrar of the time) and to expand its F1 breeding programme, means that we are dealing with breeding programme that will be dominated by outcross bloodlines and take far longer to fix the breed standard.

In Spain the Hispano-Arabe breed is still on the critical register for survival so it is highly unlikely that quality breeding horses will find their way here to help improve our genetic pool. Although with Calificardo grading now opening the door to AI this new avenue of breed improvement is something I'm negotiating with Spain.

In the meantime without implementing a draconian breeding programme I hope that anyone considering breeding Hispano-Arabe horses will make use of our help and advice in order to ensure the production of viable Hispano-Arabe horses. Of course apart from breeding for percentage ratio and phenotype there also has to be consideration about function, the inheritable multi sports ability of the breed.

When naturally breeding from a small gene pool even with the allowed “outside” blood there will be by necessity to fix the breed, a requirement to linebreed or inbreed to prevent dilution while still seeking a balance of breed diversity. To provide advice in this area I have requested the assistance of The Animal Health Trust geneticists who specialise with other rare equine breeds such as the Shire Horse that face the same problem of balancing their breed strategy.

When required Fred Barrelet of Beaufort Cottages has also kindly confirmed his interest in providing assistance on veterinary protocol in dealing with our rare breed future strategies.

2010-02-13T01:39:00.000-08:00

Battle for Survival
of the Hispano-Arabe

The core reference for this is from the translation of an article by
Commander Juan Manuel Lopez
'Los Hispano-Arabes en la Yequada Militar'

The breed Hispano-Arabe receives it's name from the two breeds it originated from; namely the Spanish and the Arab. It's earliest conception as a breed in Andulusia dates back to the Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsular. In 1883 formal deliberate creation or selection for the breed in Spain started, partly as a result of the importation of Arabian horses specifically to upgrade and expand other horse breeding programmes (although there are some archive records showing earlier Hispano-Arabe breeding programmes as far back as 1778). From those early days to today despite its popularity as a working horse for the cattle men and military of Spain its expansion and consolidation as a breed has been slow.

Part of this has been due to lack of quality of the stock produced in some of the earlier breeding lines. Another factor possibly influencing its slow expansion as a breed was the popularity of its own Thoroughbred part-bred; the Tres sangres "Three bloods" (Aha')/Anglo Hispano-Arabe' that was very much in demand by the military both as a Cavalry horse and sports horse and also greatly demanded by cattle breeders for working their livestock.

With these factors and the increase in national and international demand for the Pure Raza Espanola(PRE), the Hispano-Arabe breed of horses were themselves dwindling in number and effectively by the mid 1980's a minority rare breed. Thus in 1986 the Hispano-Arabe(Ha') was officially given consideration as a breed requiring "special protection" and consequently given their own Stud Book.

In 1990 Spain the Cria (Spain's military unit specifically responsible for breeding/rearing young stock) started a number of strategies on military stud farms to conserve several indigenous breeds of equines and to aid the recovery and improvement of the Hispano-Arabe breed.

As the numbers of Hispano-Arabe mares were very small an urgent breeding strategy was implemented to increase the number of Hispano-Arabe's being produced, using PRE and Pure Raza Arabian(Pra') mares to produce (F1) 50% generation Ha's and to try and obtain further established non military Hispano-Arabe mares of fixed phenotype to add other bloodlines to the programme.

From this beginning of a small established handful of broodmares a designed Plan for the recovery and improvement of the Ha' breed was set up based on two strategies:-
First: selection of stallions to be used; dividing their use between breeding selection stages lasting 4-5 years, revisable every 2yrs; and weighing up which stallions to cover the new mares.
Second: define the aptitude tests that would be applied to the new generation of mares and stallions that allowed for the changes due to different breed types of the mares and stallions being used in the recovery programme, but would also be acceptable to the requirements of the Registration Book and subsequent valuation for grading and approval for breeding.

From 1992 to the present day Spain's Plan for the recovery and improvement of the Hispano-Arabe breed has passed through three stages and currently nearing the end of it's fourth stage.

Stage 1: (1992-1995) - is marked by the use of foundation Ha' stallions being bred with (F1)50% mares bred out of PRE dams x Pra' sires.
Stage 2: (1996-1999)in this second stage five selected Pra' stallions were used to cover the Ha' mares and a PRE stallion selected to cover Pra' mares.

Stage 3: (2000-2005)was dominated by the use of PRE horses for covering more than 80% of the Ha' mares. There was also a dedicated breeding programme to produce Ha' F1 stock from PRE mares being covered by both Pra' stallions and five new generation Ha' stallions of 50% and 75% ratios. (nb. for uninitiated; the %ratio refers to amount of Arab blood).

One military herd of Pra' mares was also being covered by PRE stallions, as in the previous stage not many of this type of crossing had been produced.

Alongside all these controlled breeding strategies some mares had been left to be freely covered by Hispano-Arabe stallions with the aim of producing quality F2 and F3 stock to progress and improve the breed.

Stage 4: (2006-present day) has had to be designed to deal with the matured F2 stock with the percentages of Arab blood that previously was very difficult to find in the Hispano-Arabe horses; such as 62.5% and 37.5%, and is an occurrence of the breeding stages involving foundation lines of Ha's and natural progression of outbreeding 25% and 75% Ha' stock to PRE and Pra'.
(Nb. having the only foundation Ha' breding programme in the UK, I am in the same stage of dealing with this annomaly).
The stock produced from breeding Ha' stallions and Ha' mares of these ratios to each other will be 50:50.

The second strategy of the Military Plan for the breeds recovery and improvement was looking at defining tests to evaluate the qualities in the Hispano-Arabe stock being produced through this programme to ensure that they reflected the breed standard.

In the early years the Military Training Centres applied the same tests to the Hispano-Arabe as they were devising for the Anglo-Arabe(Aa') another breed project they were working on. After several years gaining experience, a different set of tests were devised for the Hispano-Arabe assessing them as they grew, through early training/backing and through a complete range of classical ridden work.

When a young 50% Ha' stallion Ultaje proved himself qualifying and competing in tests for ANCADES (Asociacion Nacional por Caballos Desportes, ie Spanish Sports Horse Association**) testing young horses in a complete test of all around riding skills, and obtained very promising results, the Military modified their initial strategy.

Now future stallions will have a duty to demonstrate that they do pass their traditional quality and qualities on to their offspring in the same way other breeds do, without in principle resigning the horse to any particular equine discipline.

In effect the Hispano-Arabe is to retain the qualities that made it a versatile working horse show apptitude to become an all round sports horse. In this respect the Cria has continued a project they started in about 2006 in collaboration with several military horse farms to compare the Hispano-Arabe stallions in recruitment for sports competition.

Relampago 50% Ha'

At the time that Commander Lopez produced his article on the recovery programme he noted that the Hispano-Arabe stallion Rela'mpago from Jerez was already involved in a career as a competition sports horse.

It is important to note that alongside this strategic Plan for the recovery and improvement of the Hispano-Arabe, exists the premise year after year that all the decisions taken by the Technical advisory Board (Junta) regarding the military stud farm mares is by necessity a "Drastic Selection" process. Apart from helping in the recovery of a breed the studs involved in the programme must determine the Hispano-Arabe model that will be present in any horses of the breed produced elsewhere.

The implication is that, in future the selection of stallions and mares will become far more demanding. The original article Commander Lopez wrote was aimed at and taking consideration of the Spanish Hispano-Arabe breeders; predominantly the ranchers and cattlemen for whom this breed is so vital.

He noted that the requirements of the military for an exceptional sports horse exhibiting beauty and distinction as well as the greater bone development and seriousness for the competition discipline had to coexist with the requirements of the stock men for a horse of great nobility that makes daily handling pleasant, without being sluggish, the requirement for a comfortable ride, a good mouth, endurance/stamina and a great capacity for learning.

His article concluded with a postscript referring to the important changes affecting the Cria Caballar in Spain (this would be in reference to the changes we have seen regarding the PRE) and the importance of cattle ranchers to become pro-active in promoting the reputation of the breed, and to take serious measures to recreate the breeding stages for their Hispano-Arabe mares such as that started by the Cria in its Plan. He exhorts the ranchers to likewise evaluate their resultant stock and do as much as possible to expand the Hispano-Arabe breed.

At the moment in Spain there are many changes occurring affecting the PRE and causing great uncertainty regarding the future registration of those horses here in the UK. The possibility of the same changes coming into play over the Hispano-Arabe when it is still so vulnerable is the reason for the cattle ranchers in Spain taking a more active step towards expanding the conservation plan that was already in progress.

It should also be noted that when the Cria (or any other organisation; should/when the Cria at any time ceases pro-active involvement with the breed) consider that Spain has restored the Hispano-Arabe population and breed type to a secure path of breed development, the measures of introducing permissible PRE and Pra' breeding to improve and expand the Ha' population could well be removed altogether or retained on a controlled basis much like the Lipizzaner studs retain a controlled use of PRE stallions.

The Hispano-Arabe is a breed in it's own right formerly recognised world wide and given special consideration for protection, hence the concerted efforts of Spain to implement an expanded breeding programme involving reintroduction of Pure Spanish and Arabian bloodlines in an effort to drag the breed back from the edge of extinction!

In the years that Spain has worked hard to promote and save this breed, the Cria has tirelessly visited the UK to ensure our Hispano-Arabe horses were not lost from the greater Plan to expand and protect the breed. Sadly many of the horses they approved and graded in the hope of saving the breed have been lost through failure of their owners to help in continuing with constructive breeding of their horses. Even today with the benefit of Calificado approval for AI to help with next generation (F2) breeding, it appears their plea for help in the preservation of the Hispano-Arabe as a breed is falling upon deaf ears.

It is sincerely hoped that with this article bringing home the plight of the Hispano-Arabe breed and the desperate work that the Cria embarked upon to save it from extinction that those of you in this country involved as owners or breeders will come to appreciate that what you do now will significantly impact upon the future of the breed as a whole.

** As I finish translation and interpretation of Commander Lopez manuscript events in Spain have already led to changes regarding the Hispano-Arabe. The Hispano-Arabe has officially been designated to ANCADES the Spanish Sports Horse Association as a Sports Horse and UEGHa' (The Spanish Union of Cattle Dealers of PRHa')has officially taken over from the Cria Caballar the control of the Hispano-Arabe Stud Book. Future assessment of our Hispano-Arabe horses will be very similar to that of the UK sports horse.

Please contact me if you are interested in the formation of an independent UK breed society for your Hispano-Arabe .

Calling ALL Hispano-Arabe' s

2010-02-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

Calling ALL Hispano-Arabe's

Do you Own or Breed a Hispano-Arabe ?

Are you interested in the protection and promotion

of this rare/minority breed?

I am in the process of working with the BAPSH

to provide a registrar and liaison

for the independent representation

of the Pure Raza Hispano-Arabe in Britain.

Doma Vaquera
the traditional work of the Hispano-Arabe'
Copywrite of
Cathy Spearing

www.equinart.co.uk

www.equinart.blogspot.com

Closure to Move Forward!

Before venturing down the road to unite the Hispano-Arabe fraternity to work for the good of the breed there are many issues festering in the background, and while it is not appropriate or constructive to catalogue them it is perhaps important that the existence of grievances be acknowledged in order for the past to be laid to rest.

As its title states the British Association for the Pure Bred Spanish Horse was set up in the early 1980's for the Pure Bred Spanish Horse. The members who struggled and worked to forge the links with Spanish and British officialdom in order to bring about the organisation that exists today were doing so for the breed of horse they felt passionately about.

They were not in those early days expecting to have another breed of Spanish horse quite literally thrust into their midst. When I came onto the scene in 1985 with Piyayo a Hispano-Arabe stallion from Spain, the fledgling society did not know what he was. Other than defining him as 'just another part-bred' they had no reason to believe that the Hispano-Arabe would become another equine requiring as much commitment from them as their own much loved PRE.

Unbeknown to them, Spain was in the very process of taking action to officially set in motion its own agenda for the protection and promotion of the Hispano-Arabe. The Spanish Government Ministry of Environment for Rural and Marine Affairs registered the Hispano-Arabe in its official records of livestock in the group of National Breeds in Danger of Extinction.

In the USA where the Hispano-Arabe has for generations been in working use as a cattle stock horse, the plea for help in protecting the breed was headed and wholeheartedly responded to with the establishment of PRHa' Association to meet the requirements of the Cria.

In 1986 the BAPSH rose to the occasion of trying to take under its wing the Hispano-Arabe and all the added demands of juggling extra paperwork and officialdom that came as part of the trappings of handling a foreign breed. Sadly from the outset whether by failure of understanding and communication problems it was never truly grasped by the association committee of that time that the Hispano-Arabe was in fact a breed in its own right with special breeding concessions being put in place as part of a bigger National programme to save the breed. Any search of the inter-net will show the repeated misconception by both PRE and Ha' studs here that this is nothing more than a cross-bred or part bred of the PRE.

That error and perhaps a shadow of discontent at the demands for assistance from the Hispano-Arabe members has as much as anything over the years been a constant knife of disharmony and it is, unfortunately, the horse or more specifically the breed protection and recovery programme that has suffered.

Over the years I have received many phone calls from Hispano-Arabe owners frustrated at perceived and/or actual slights to their breed or failures by the society to 'do what it says on the bottle'! The fact is the society has fulfilled its obligations to the breed for which it was founded; the PRE, and gone beyond that in stretching itself albeit with the wrong conception to provide for what it has believed was simply a cross breed aspiring to new status as a breed.

For their part the Hispano-Arabe members even when misinformed about what exactly they were breeding (ie it is a breed in its own right and not a part-bred/cross-bred) needed to have the sense to understand the Hispano-Arabe is not in any way a PRE, it has a totally different commercial and financial value and should be trained and bred and sold with consideration for what the Hispano-Arabe can do and not as in so many cases be produced with a belief that it will train and 'retail' in the high end market on a par with the PRE.

In short, yes, there has been horrendous unnecessary problems all around in the management and representation of the Hispano-Arabe in this country. I point this fact out simply so that we can move forward without bitterness or recrimination.

The BAPSH has grown significantly since its beginnings and the members that work to maintain this society do so rightly for the PRE. Apart from the successful promotion and expansion of these horses here, changes in Spain regarding the registration and management of the PRE have already resulted in added work for the committee. The impact to the Hispano-Arabe owners is the question of future assessment and grading now that the society has had to transfer its links to new organisations in Spain for the PRE.

However at this point in time the Cria is still very much involved in continuing the conservation Plan they have committed themselves to, which means in the interest of the breed they will endeavour to continue assessing and grading our horses and the BAPSH will work to assist in facilitating this requirement despite it being a logistic burden impacting on their commitment to the PRE members. But, are we, the Hispano-Arabe owners/breeders for our part prepared to seriously work for the preservation and expansion of the breed through a concerted effort to co-operate in constructively promoting and expanding the breed.

Taking account of the fact that management of the two breeds for registration and grading in Spain has now more than ever before diversified into very different 'camps', it is only to be expected that the logistics for the society has reached a point where it must seriously consider the viability of continuing to tie the two breeds in one association.

For now I am looking at working with and within the BAPSH structure to provide an independent registrar and liaison for the Hispano-Arabe horses. If there is a serious interest from the Hispano-Arabe members to now join Spain fully in its commitment to preserve and promote the breed and to promote its breeding and use in the present day to ensure the long term health of the breed, we can with the the guidance and experience of the BAPSH take the steady steps to establish our own association for the Hispano-Arabe.

Over the next months I will be producing articles aimed at facilitating a better understanding of the Hispano-Arabe as a Breed in order to help potential breeders and owners. In some cases these will be derived from translations of articles produced in Spain in their official promotion for the protection and expansion of the Hispano-Arabe breed.

As I go to 'press' with the opening of this blog changes I suspected to happen, have. The Cria Caballar no longer manages the Hispano-Arabe Stud Book. This breed has now been designated as a Sports Horse under the rules of ANCADES the Spanish Sports Horse Association and the Stud Book handed to the custody of UEGHa' The Spanish Union of Cattle Dealers of PRHa'.

Contact:me