Cuatro Caballos Spanish Horses

30/07/2023

If you've ever thought about owning a Spanish Barb or breeding a mare to Coronado the time is now. Reach out to [email protected]

23/06/2023

I am thinking of archiving this page, but I want the information to still be viewable.

17/05/2023

Cascadian Dreams, "Cade" is a rising three year old stud c**t by RE Coronado di Catalano (SMR foundation) out of Wakiya (HOA x SSMA foundation). Cade is a dark buckskin roan with one copy of sabino (SB1). Located in Southern Oregon and ready to start. He would make a flashy gelding or a well mannered stallion to further the breed. In your pocket personality, he needs HIS person. If you're looking for a partner, this breed bonds with their humans like no other.

Allbreedpedigree.com/4+Cascadian+Dreams

09/05/2023

This little dude is coming three now and will be looking for his own person. Updated pictures to follow. He's like a little buckskin version of Coronado right down to the sabino markings. He is intact, but could make a flashy gelding to promote the breed. Lots of potential. He was going to be my keeper, but life has other plans. My loss is someone else's gain.

Allbreedpedigree.com/4+Cascadian+Dreams/

29/03/2023

This is almost certainly behavior due to isolation he is sparring with a stallion that isn't there. He is mutilating himself. It's more dramatic, but not dissimilar to stall walking, weaving or cribbing.

15/03/2023

This breed attracts a lot of different types of people with their own ideas. I admit, I was first intrigued by the idea of a "natural breed" that hadn't been "tinkered by man." I quickly fell in love with the subset of horses displaying the old Iberian traits seen in bullfighting horses, the traits unique to horses with a rapidly vanishing conformation(in all breeds not just this one). The kind that can make quick stops and turns and work cows by pivoting on the hind end rather than leaning down onto the forehand.

There are two very different ethos in the same breed: those that want to protect the hardiness, the wildness, and preserve every variation as a true landrace and those that want to cull and select from that landrace into a breed. Neither idea is wrong and they could co-exist. There could be different books within the same registry and breeders could decide what traits they want to conserve. Instead there's infighting and declarations, self proclaimed experts and everyone else's way of thinking is wrong. It has to stop.

We're long past due for a unified registry. The HOA is probably the best chance. The time to collaborate is right now or this breed is already extinct. No more arbitrary declarations of purity based on color or strain. If you don't like that strain or bloodline don't breed to it.

07/03/2023

When I started this page I had a lot of hope for what this breed could be. I see that vision very clearly now, but one person alone cannot save a breed. It has to be a united vision or it will not be able to take root. I don't see a way forward with the splintered registries, the infighting, and the disagreements on things as basic as the breed standard, color, conformation and type. It is time to give up the hope of what could be. There are just not enough people to make that dream a reality.

20/06/2022

Happy Father's Day! Coronado loves all his foals, but I think Cade (Cascadian Dreams) may be his favorite.

11/04/2022

A beautiful stallion at the Windcross Conservancy!

He's so pretty. Mato a chameleon who changes color in the seasons.

09/04/2022

It's important to learn the form and function of breed traits both innate and foreign to your breed so they can be seen and understood. Without artificial selection by man, natural selection does a good job of shaping animals to suit their environments. Horses bred in cold climates acquire the traits necessary to survive.

07/04/2022

There seems to be some recent confusion over what a Spanish Barb is. Let me clarify:

The Spanish Barb is also a Spanish Mustang. Seed stock from the Spanish Mustang Registry was used to create the Spanish Barb Breeders Association in 1972. It was an offshoot of the original registry the Spanish Mustang Registry (founded in 1957). Though the registries have different goals they are fundamentally the same breed.

The Spanish Mustang/Barb horses are descendants from long gone isolated feral herds, indigenous breeding programs, and old ranch stock. They were selected by phenotype by those who wanted to preserve them for future generations.

The Spanish Barb is not the same as the Barb horses of Morocco, Algeria, or Tunisia. If you ask fanciers of the Barb they will say the Barb influenced the horse of Spain. If you talk to fanciers of the Spanish horse they will tell you it was the Spanish horse that influenced the Barb. It's a bit like the chicken and the egg.

To further complicate matters nearly every horse imported into America from the Middle East was referred to as an Arabian even if they were actually a Barb or a Turkoman. Genetic studies have confirmed this in the thoroughbred gene pool.

For that reason, it is this page's belief that the Arabian did not significantly influence the Spanish Barb Horse and furthermost, horses that display Arabian characteristics (flat croup, long pin bone, high tailset, dished head, etc.) should not be bred.

The three horses below represent the Arabian, Barb and Iberian Jennet or classic Spanish horse. The third horse is what we strive for.

Photo Copyright Deb Bennett

25/03/2022

Why learning color genetics are important.

A good horse is never a bad color. That's absolutely true, but some colors do hide some terrible secrets. Most experienced equestrians know about the deadly effects of LWO, but did you know that LP and the silver gene are linked to hereditary eye defects? Grey is also linked to an increased incidence of melanoma.

Knowing what color the sire and dam of your foal is on a genetic level can prevent an embarrassing blunder of registering a foal from the wrong sire, sometimes even the wrong breed! Luckily, most registries now require parentage DNA for this very reason. But someone with a discerning eye can find a few follies in the pedigree of horse registered before DNA.

We can also use color to trace things like domestication events, migration, selective breeding and cultural shifts. It's more than aesthetic!

07/12/2021

Pleased to see how Cade is maturing. Shown are Cade, his sire, Coronado, and dam, Wakiya. Cade and Coronado have a lower tail set where the pin bone doesn't protrude past the tail dock, they also have a better stifle alignment to the point of the hip. Wakiya's faults aren't foreign to the breed and are largely due to her lineage: breeding for endurance racing. She shared the steeper hip angle, flatter croup, and longer pin bone of horses built for speed and distance. Coronado and Cade retain the classical Spanish outline of horses bred for collected movements, quick agile turns and stops.

14/08/2021

Cochise, foundation SMR stallion by Buckshot out of Queenie sired a lot of greats. Most of my favorite horses can trace their way back to Cochise. He was bred to a wide variety of stellar mares, many of the of the McKinley-Romero strain. I'll list as many as I can here in the comments.

20/07/2021

This is so extremely important for preservation breeders to understand. We thread a difficult line between genetic diversity and genetic preservation. It's so very important not to fall into the trap of breeding one strain to the death of another. We need to preserve ALL the genetics we have if we want to avoid outcrossing in the future. We've already lost too much.

30/06/2021

Just a few Coronado pictures to brighten your day. There are some big changes for myself and the horses on the horizon that I hope will be for all of our benefit.

03/06/2021

Education is one of the most important parts of preserving an endangered breed. If you have any questions from color, temperament, history, genetics, or whatever you can think of, please ask!

27/05/2021

Every breed likes to claim it was bred as a war horse.
There's a little bit of truth in all of their claims. But what we discuss when we talk about horses bred for war can be vastly different.

Heavy breeds were bred to carry heavy loads. They developed a sloping croup that acts like a ratchet against the ground so they can pull with all of their strength.

Light breeds like the Arabian and Turk were bred for speed, specifically speed in a straight line. Oftentimes spears or arrows were lobbed off of this fleet horses and as quick as they appeared they could disappear.

Spanish horses and Barbs were bred for tight maneuvers and close combat. It is said the scimitar was designed specifically to be used on horseback without harming the horse or rider.

So what does this all mean? If you breed for a specific purpose form will follow function. It's important to understand WHY your breed was created and how it evolved to find new purposes without losing form or function.

In this next series I will discuss the parts of the Spanish horse as they developed, why, and in comparison to other established breeds.

Pictured is both sides of an Iberian coin.

27/03/2021

Always nice to be greeted so enthusiastically 🥰

16/08/2016

working equitation -cow test part 2

working equitation -cow test part 2

working equitation cow test. a team sport. this clip from inernational competition 2006. with France, Italy, Spain, Portugal. (where are the british?)

13/08/2016

Trail Riding with Spanish Barbs

Can't wait to hit the trails here...

Riding Coronado, Spanish Barb stallion followed by Rain Dancer, Spanish Barb gelding.

13/08/2016

Corazon de Sunka Wakan Spanish Barb Horses

02/08/2016

Comparative photos of various Spanish breed profiles

17/07/2016

Corazon de Sunka Wakan Spanish Barb Horses

Our website address has moved and we are currently updating. Still have a lot to do, a lot to add!

www.spanishbarbs.com

19/06/2016

Leaping Like Locusts

Excellent observations on the unique function of the Spanish horse

“Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane?  Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrifying. He paws in the valley and exults in his strength; H…

07/06/2016

Update on Wakiya who is out of state on a breeding lease. She was just confirmed in foal!

30/05/2016

I'm sharing this for a friend who would like to get a few more foals on the ground this season.
There are two spots left for mare owners interested in breeding their horse to Wayward Wind. Mare care and vet care is available on site. Wayward Wind (Sequoyah x Juanda) is a 1989 14.1 sabino bay Spanish Mustang stallion. His list of accomplishments range far and wide as he has competed dressage, cross country, western and english pleasure, trail and primarily as a hunter jumper pony. Wayward was even trained to drive. In addition to his athleticism, he also has a stellar temperament, frequently being ridden and shown by children.

Wayward passes on his flashy sport horse movement and people oriented temperament to his foals. He is heterozygous for both agouti and sabino and has a 50% of passing on his lovely chrome. He is also negative for frame and is safe to be bred to LWO mares. Wayward’s bloodlines are some of the most cherished in the breed, he is registered with the SMR, HOA, and AHHA.
Contact Valerie Carter, [email protected]
or Brittany Jacobs, [email protected]

27/05/2016

I sent in results for Coronado and Rain Dancer and I am making to posts addressing them both. Firstly, I tested Rain Dancer for splash as his daughter, Wakiya, carries one copy of SW1. He doesn't carry it which means it came from her dam, Snickers, a solid grulla mare from the Kiamichi Rickman-Jones herd. I'm going to try to look through her pedigree and see if I can locate a source of the color.

25/05/2016

Words do not scratch the surface of how much I love this horse. He is magnificent beyond words, not just in beauty of looks, but in beauty of spirit. Coronado is such a kind, focused, gentle horse. He seems to read my body language like he is reading my mind. Even though we hadn't done much work recently and haven't ridden since February he was able to pick up on my cues before I even made them. He is a one in a million horse, I feel so blessed to know him and to call him my own.