Anja Beran:

Anja: The difference between the Spanish and the Portuguese horse. In history they were the same horse. And the history is very old. For example, I have a book here talking about the Iberian horse which was known for more than 4,000 years. So it was before Jesus Christ, and the Iberian horse maybe more. And I think it was the same horse, the Spanish and the Portuguese. Then little by little, the countries separated, Portugal and Spain. And then something happened in Spain because the tradition of the bullfight also very, very old in both countries. And the bullfight always helped to develop the horse because it was a really tough test, and it was only for the best horses, the bullfight. And these horses were put to breeding. So then in Spain something happened in the 1700s - King Philip V. This king didn’t like bullfighting on horseback. So it was forbidden. And in Spain there was no bullfighting on horseback from the 1700s until 1923.

HFL: I didn’t know that.

Anja: Yes. So it’s a long time. From 1700s to 1923 no bullfighting on horseback. But the Spanish continued on foot, but not on horseback. So, the problem now for the horse is because there was no selection anymore and the Spanish horse was suddenly nothing. There was no bullfighting for them, so they had a horse and they only presented the horse in show or in the thing called Feria, or in front of a coach. But the real work for the horse didn’t exist anymore. And so the breed changed, and they tried to make a horse with a big neck and very nice movement of the forehand; a horse for show. So if a Spanish horse arrived, everybody looked at the horse because the neck is big, the head is really nice and all the movements too. So they had horses with the movement called campaneo, where the front legs move a little by side. They liked it because it was spectacular. The back and hindquarters were not so important. And in Portugal, they continued with the bullfight all the time; they never stopped. And they had a very tough selection for the breed. But in Portugal, it didn't matter if the horse was big or small, nor did the color matter. Every horse that was good; they put in the breeding. Good and strong. So the horses bred in Portugal were strong, very brave also and very fast and very, very sensitive. And it was a breed , like a modern horse for competition, of horse that wanted to work always.

HFL: With a work ethic.

Anja: Yes. It was not a horse you can go around for a little walk in the forest two times a week. It was a horse you should ride every day and work because the horse was so full of temperament and sensitive and strong. So it was really a horse for working. And it was not important that the horse was really beautiful. So in Portugal you have the head often with a big nose …

HFL: Roman nose.

Anja: Yes. And for them it’s no problem because it is important that the horse is strong, brave, has good quality for the rider, but if the head is big or not, it's no problem. But in Spain, they started also the selection of the color, they only wanted to have grey, brown or black. They didn’t like the chestnut or palomino; they took all these horses out of the breeding. In Portugal, it was never a problem with the color. They used all which was good. So, the breeding in Portugal and Spain was very, very different because of that.

HFL: Okay. I think that goes back to the entire idea that we see even today I think, that when you have horses that are only fit for breeding based on their looks, there is no check and balance for what the horse can do and what his performance is going to be like. You see that a lot. You see a lot of breeds now that are only judged on how they look, like a halter class or whatever. There’s no check and balance. There’s a big difference even for a race horse: if the horse can’t run, you’re not going to breed from it, for example.

Anja: But sometimes they put a little bit of Arab into the Spanish horse, and you have the heads of the Spanish horse sometimes a little bit with an Arab flare. It looks very nice. It makes the nose straighter, not like the Portuguese horse. And it's more beautiful to look at. And for me, the result is you have in Spain really beautiful, beautiful horses now, with a very good forehand, big neck, all very nice. And the movement now, they get better because now they have changed a little. But the back of the horse is often not very strong, and the hindquarters are not too strong. Often the canter is a little bit heavy. Now it's getting better because they are modernizing the breed a little. But before that, the Spanish horse was like that back then. They were so beautiful and had some big points which are very important for the people of today. For example, the horse is very gentle and is normally very comfortable to ride for a rider with problems with his back or something, it’s a very comfortable horse, very gentle. And if the rider makes a mistake it's not such a big problem for the horse, it doesn’t get crazy, because they are really gentle normally. There are always some horses which are different, but normally the Spanish horse is like that. But the Portuguese horse is different.