Why buy a Pure Spanish Horse?
Fleet of foot, and born of the west wind, celebrated by the ancients and coveted by kings; it would seem that the desire to own a P.R.E. must be natural. In more practical terms, Pure Spanish Horses are athletic enough for (and conformationally suited to) high levels of dressage, are generally sensible enough to be ridden on 'weekends only' and are lively, loyal playmates for young riders. They unflaggingly forgive their rider's errors, tend to be extremely personable, and try to work actively with their riders.

The main reason to purchase a P.R.E., however, is because you want one!

What does P.R.E. mean?
The term P.R.E. (Pura Raza Española) designates a Purebred Spanish Horse. That is, a Purebred Spanish horse whose sire and dam are included in the Spanish Stud Book. Pure Andalusian horses that are not in the Spanish Stud Book are considered to be 'cross breed' horses by ANCCE, although they may be included in the Spanish Stud Book in some circumstances if their lineage can be proved.

The Spanish Stud Book is a closed studbook.

What is ANCCE?
ANCCE is the largest of the breed associations in Spain. At the beginning of 2007, the Spanish Department of Defence (Cria Caballar) passed the responsibility for managing the Spanish Stud Book for the P.R.E. to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA). MAPA in turned handed the responsibility over to ANCCE. The handover of the LG PRE Stud Book to ANCCE was confirmed on the 13th December 2007 via a signed Resolution from MAPA.

What does ANCCE do?
ANCCE:

1. Registers new breeders and owners, manages records and collates annual farm reports from breeders in order to maintain the stud book.
2. Approves veterinarians to inscribe foals into the registry of the Purebred Spanish Horse.
3. Travels to Australia to independently inspect and revise horses at the age of 3 or 4 years old (who have previously been inscribed as foals) to determine whether they meet standards set by the Spanish government for approval as breeding stock.
4. Assists owners and breeders, promotes the breed and attempts to protect the breed's integrity.

What is Inscription?
Inscription is the process whereby a foal is registered in the Spanish Stud Book. The following is a brief description of the requirements:

1. The foal must be micro-chipped and identified by markings (colour, whorls etc.) by an approved vet.
2. Blood must be taken from the foal and mare by an approved vet.
3. The completed inscription documents, blood cards and breeding & birth certificates are forwarded to ANCCE.
4. Following verification, inscription papers will be sent to the mare owner.

* Please contact the relevant breed society for the most up-to-date information.

What is Revision (or valoration)?
Revision (also known as 'valoration') is the process whereby a young horse (from three or four years of age) is inspected by ANCCE to determine whether or not it meets the minimum conformation requirements for breeding stock. When a horse passes the revision inspection, ANCCE adds the comment APTO (for colts and stallions) or APTA (for fillies and mares) to the horse's papers. APTO and APTA are the same breeding 'approval', but are gender specific.

A brief description of the revision process is given below:

1. The foal must be inscribed, the owner must have the passport and ownership card, the horse must be at least 3 years old.
2. Colts and stallions must be at least 152 cm in height, and mares and fillies must be at least 150 cm in height.
3. Blood will be taken from the horse.
4. The horse will be evaluated by the revision judge.
5. If the horse is revised, the passport will be ammended.

Any offspring of non-revised horses cannot be inscribed until the parents have been revised.

* Please contact the relevant breed society for the most up-to-date information.

What are the Qualified and Elite Status'?
Following the Revision inspection, there are two other levels of approval - Qualified and Elite. For both of these, the horse must and undergo a rigorous evaluation process including:

1. Conformation review
2. Functionality review
3. Performance records
4. Veterinary examination to exclude any possible genetic defects

These inspections have not been offered in Australia at this point. Three ANCCE inspectors are required to perform the Qualified Inspection Tribunal, which adds considerably to the expense - however Aquila PRE has repeated requested that PREAA work towards holding 'regular' tribunals in Australia, as we have several horses we would like to present.

ACPRE, AHAA, PREAA - what's the difference?
PREAA deals only with P.R.E. (pure Spanish) horses and assists Australian breeders with their dealings with the studbook in Spain.

The AHAA deals with Andalusian, Australian Andalusian (e.g. third-cross horses) and other cross-breed / part bred horses in Australia. Some of the 'Pure Bred Andalusian' horses (registered with the AHAA) may also be registered in the Spanish studbook.

ACPRE Australia was the original organisation in Australia dealing with registering P.R.E. horses in the studbook in Spain. ACPRE Australia stopped liaising with the Spanish Stud Book following a decision by the Australian directors. In June 2010, ACPRE Australia became active again, working with PRE Mundial in the US.

PRE Mundial only registers P.R.E. horses, or horses that could have been registered in the Spanish Stud Book if they had been registered during the 'open revision'. Horses are inspected by former Spanish Military inspectors and judges (those that were actually working for the Spanish Government before the studbook was handed over to ANCCE), and the parent validation methods are exactly the same as those used by the Spanish Stud Book. Many people consider that the standards used by the Military (for over 100 years) are stricter than those currently used by ANCCE.

ACPRE Australia also organises an annual breed inspection tour, bringing senior Spanish judges out to Australia to perform breeding inspections and to conduct a National Show, which travels to each state. The judges used are senior Military judges.

Please note that whilst the AHAA and ACPRE Australia both state that they register P.R.E.s, at the moment, the only horses that are considered P.R.E.s by Spain are those that are registered in the Spanish Stud Book. Many horses have several registrations. If you are interested in buying a PRE, please make sure to check the registration status on the lgpreancce website.

Getting Started
If you are interested in buying or breeding P.R.E. horses, here are a few things that might help get you started.

1. After purchasing a P.R.E. horse, you can transfer the horse into your name and get an 'Owner Card'. This is a new procedure (July 2007).
2. Make sure that you have a clear receipt, identifying the horse that you have purchased.
3. If you are planning to breed your horse, you will need to fill out the 'Breeder's Code' form and the Initial Stock form. These are sent to the ANCCE, who will issue you with a unique breeder's code.

Where can I find additional breed Information?
In Australia, the AHAA and AC-PRE breed societies should be able to provide you with more information.

The ANCCE website and the online version of the Spanish Studbook (Libro Genealogico) both contain English language versions and can be helpful.