10 rules to take into account with your new PRE horse

We have our new friend at home, maybe we have been dealing   with horses all our lifes, but PRE horses have some rules that we should always keep in mind.

1-Take care what you feed them in the beginning. Andalusian horses lives in a country where grass is quite dry and low in protein, if you overfeed them in the beginning with high energy grass you could have problem with laminitis. Start progresively and adecuate the amount of energy to the amount of exersice.

2- If your horse looks too depress after the transport, call your vet and tell him to have a look. It is normal for a horse to be tired after some days of transport, but depression, fever, refusal to eat… it is not normal. There are some respiratory diseases caused by the stress of a long transport plus some bacterias that could cause pneumonia and could be fatal if not treated soon. They are very unusual, but it is better to pay a vet for nothing than wait and have a horse with serious problems.

3- Keep always in mind that PRE Andalusian horses develope quite late (6-8 yo for a complete growth) so, if you take a young and untrained horse, be gentle with the training because if you start too hard or too soon, it could cause them problems in the future.

4-Most of the horses in Spain remain in stables all the time and are not used to be in paddocks. Make sure you watch them all the time the first few times to turn them out, start with short periods and then star to increase them prograsively. My advise is that you start with this proccess not too short after they arrive to their place, it is better that the horse get used to his/her new owner and home before introducing other new elements like spend time in a paddock. Remember, even if you don’t beleive it, Spanish horses do jump!!!

Fenix de Aimaran. Photo by Kees Rijken

5- Young colts and fillies are adorable but they are not children. You have to love them, you have to take of them but they also need to learn hierarchy and discipline. Always better for them to grow with other horses of their age or, if not available, other horses in general. Foals which grow alone use to have behavioural problems. And remember that they will grow and you could have a 500 kg problem if they don´t learn to behave!

6- The conformation of a Spanish horse is different of a warmblood, so they need different working techniques. There are plenty of books about equitation with Spanish horses and trainers specialised in Andalusian horses that could give you advise and you could exersice correctly your horse.

7-Keep always in mind also that they have very active minds and love to please their owners so they always try even when they are not physically ready, take care of them and be gentle, never ask for new exercise if you feel they are not ready for it, because they love you and would try for you!

8- Andalusian horses use to have longer heels than other breeds,talk with your blacksmith to mantein the hoof balance. This doesn’t mean that inbalances and other problems shouldn’t be correct but always keep in mind this point.

9- Check with the breeder/last owner the worming and influenza vacinnations.

10- Make sure you have received all the horse documents, if the horse is a PRE you should have a passport and an ownership card. Contact your national association to proceed to the change of ownership.