Sunday, 23 November 2008
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June 2008 • VOLUME 34 • © HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine 
Saving the Iberian
Can or will ...YOU... SAVE... the Iberian? Politics aside, and there has been much in the recent media, the IALHA elections are coming up and if you have never thought about it before, if you truly love the Iberian and want to save what he is before it is too late, maybe it is time for you to step up and stand up for the Iberian. It can be truly disturbing to go today on a search for an Iberian in the North American market. Not because one cannot find any purebred Iberians, but rather because it is far more difficult to find an Iberian that looks like an Iberian. It is clear that outside influences have begun to take a toll on this ever more popular breed. Shocking, it is far more common to find an Iberian that is already 16 hands as a yearling or a two year old, than not, as the Iberian breeders try to fulfill a market that is demanding more size on a breed that was never that tall. As buyers move in large numbers from the warmblood to the Iberian market, the breeders in turn try to fulfill their demands for a taller horse. Many of these buyers are drawn to the Iberian in the same way that they were drawn to the warmblood, looking for a calm horse, a horse with a good personality that would be easy to ride and train. The Iberian has a reputation for being a thinking horse, a horse that one can count on even in the middle of the ring with an enraged bull hot on his tail. Many of these riders are competition riders that are drawn to competition or the thought of competition. With the increase in the popularity of dressage, riders are looking to find a horse that can compete with the existing warmbloods in the arena. So what they’re looking for is size. And the breeders are accommodating them. Of course, any time breeders breed with an emphasis for one element ahead of all others, the other elements are going to fail. We can see this already happening with the Iberian. Yes, these horses are taller. But do they still look like an Iberian?
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An Equestrian Legacy