Hi Brenda. Thanks for this info . I must confess however that t am confused more than ever because it seems to contradict the info I was given in Kentucky? Why would a rep with the foundation say that it is possible to have my mare inspected by the spanish colonels? .I'm obviously missing something here. In the bigger picture however, it really isn't that important. We live in a part of the world where spanish horses are extremely rare and clubs/associations for this breed are non existant. I do hope that changes some day and that all owners can share in their pride and enjoyment of these regal horses. We searched hard to find our Solara and chose her over all the PRE horses we saw when we toured Ontario and the north eastern states 4 yrs ago . It was love at first sight and in the end, that is what is really important to us

Hi Mona,

Ellin Daum, Brenda's friend and teacher. Perhaps I can help clear up the fog about the registries. Start with the simple one first: IALHA, registers all Andalusian and Lusitano horses and their "half" or more crosses as long as both parents are registered with them (for purebreds). Horses with pure Spanish heritage have the suffix "S" in their number, those who are part Lusitano have S/P and the pure Lusitanos have their own, but I don't know what it is. Half-Andalusian registry can be had with one registered (IALHA) parent and it is possible to have the other parent's registration information on the papers if one has it. I breed my stallion, Pavon, to some very nice Paint mares so the foals are eligible to be registered as half-Andalusian with the non-Andy parents registration info on the papers as well.

The Foundation of the Pure Spanish Horse began many years ago when the Cria Caballar and the IALHA were having trouble servicing the breed's owners efficiently. Long waits for papers and mistakes led to the Foundations existence. Initially they hoped to become the North American arm of the Cria Caballar which predated the ANCCE, but when the Spanish government transferred the responsibility for the maintenance of the PRE pedigree to the ANCCE the Foundation was de-barred from acting as a registry. As a result the Foundation developed the PRE Mundial which it is pushing as the international authority to approve and register PRE horses. They do bring some of the old military judges from Spain to do inscriptions and revisions, but these are not recognized by the ANCCE. How this situation is ever going to be resolved is a huge question, but for now I think it best to stick with the tried and true ANCCE.

Hope this helps clear things up.

Ellin

HI Brenda - Please don't think I was ignoring you - for some reason my internet browser doesn't show Barnmice very well and I don't even realize I get comments or questions!
I hope you are still interested in the saddle fitting tips - your question about the asymmetry is a good one and I have written about it in one of my later blogs. I will revisit the topic in the next couple of weeks again, as it is an often recurring issue. There are two schools of thought on this - do you adjust the saddle so it sits straight on the given musculature, or do you try to ride the horse in such a way that you try to counter act the asymmetry? I will go into this in more detail in the blog. Flair is one way of rearranging the panel 'flocking' to allow the saddle to sit straight, but the tree also has to be adjusted to accommodate the unevenness.