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Andalusian Horse ColoursAndalusian Horse Colours -
Chestnut Andalusian Horses, although lesser in number than Bay PRE's and grey Purebred Spanish horses, are listed in the Pura Raza Española Breed Registry and growing in popularity. Andalusian Horse VideosJSept 16 2007: We've introduced andalusian horse videos directly onto the site - you can click and immediately view our horses at work.
NB: These videos are 3-5 minutes long, and a high quality file, so please allow time for loading. Depending on your browser, it could be a minute or so before the video begins to play. Video copyright © in its entirety to this website. See Legal page for detail. Currently in training with one of Spain's top riders. PRE dressage horse, full details on enquiry. NB: If you're looking under hopeful 'dressage prospects' - this is the real thing! 
Purebred Spanish Horse Colours - Greys - from light through wine, from dappled to silver and 'dancing white'.
Lusitanos and PRE's with coats of gold in chestnut, dun, palomino and champagne. The richness of multiple shades of bay, melting into black Living evidence of the beauty of the Pura Raza Españolas and the Lusitanos - the Andalusian Horse. Full list of Spanish and Lusitano horses for sale
This is a real-life website, being built by real people. Each of the colors will have a page devoted to it before too long. Look out for the underlined link in the list below.
The first answer is: Buy what you want! some thoughts on buying an andalusian horse
In Passing: The Spanish tend not to ask: What color is the horse? Spanish adjectives are gender-linked to the nouns. Colours describing a stallion - semental - generally end in the letter 'o'. The same colour describing a mare - yegua - ends in the letter 'a'. Of course, since this is Spanish, there are inexplicable exceptions - I'll tell you about those as we get to them This isn't a grammar lesson, so to avoid looking like a dictionary, I've just used the male form of the colours.
BAY - CASTAÑOCastaño - literally means chestnut. But if a Pura Raza Española Horse is described as Castaño, he is a bay Andalusian. This is the lovely rich dark brown of the roasted chestnuts we find sold fresh from braziers on the street corners in winter.
White and grey Andalusians and Purebred Spanish horses are the first with their own page of photos and notes. You can explore that page, or start with this SUMMARY The classic colour of Andalusian Horses. Terms include:
BLACK - NEGRO Bay and black Andalusian Horses may or may not have white markings.
If there are white hairs scatter-mixed in places with the dark hairs of a black or bay coat, this is known as entrepelado - there are 'hairs among the hair'.
In Passing: There are breeders in Spain producing black Andalusian Horses, and those who are known for their bay PRE's. Distinctive bloodlines have combined colour with functionality, resulting in good horses. In turn, a good grey Pura Raza Española Horse is an equal delight. It's what makes Andalusian Horse colours a part of the balance of preferences.
ALAZANO is the colour known as chestnut to the English-speaking world. Here's some of that grammatical illogic. A Palomino Andalusian horse is described as a PERLA - this is one word that doesn’t follow the male end-in–‘o’ rule. Palomino Spanish Stallion or palomino mare - both are perlas. Palomino Purebred Spanish Horses are still quite unusual, as palominos owe their colouring to chestnut input in the gene pool. I've seen some striking palomino Andalusian Horses registered as CDE. (These are the ones generally referred to as media carta meaning that only one parent is a registered PRE.) The other parent then could well be a PSL - Pure Lusitano - as the unique colours, including cremello, are often found in this breed. BAYO – which sounds like it should mean Bay - in turn means Buckskin. A dun Purebred Spanish horse, and what is known in the United States as a buckskin Andalusian are accepted colors in the Spanish stud book registry. Breeders who anticipated the opening of the registry and persisted with the unusual colours are now reaping their rewards. At SICAB 2005 there were a few studs presenting Buckskin Purebred Spanish Horses, and almost Champagne-coloured Andalusians.
In Passing: There are a number of good sites dealing with the subject of genetic influence on coat colours. They speak of 'dilutes', 'double dilutes' cream genes and the findings surrounding these. It's not been a major issue in Spain up to now, though we may well find things changing. 
This is a stallion from a recognised, highly respected stud, breeding PRE's. He caused a minor sensation at SICAB 2005. My reading of his colour is champagne - though that would need to be confirmed by an analysis. Champagne is still rare as a color in the Pure Spanish Horse. These are photos snapped as I went through the hall - I didn't adjust for lighting, and these do not do him justice.
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Full list of Spanish and Lusitano horses for sale
For comments concerning how color can impact the price of Andalusian Horses, see the Prices page
Juan Llamas
in
This is the Spanish Horse details the Andalusian horse colors.
He also lists rules of heredity that determine which colors can be bred through
genetical lines. Alicia Picatoste, vet, rider and judge of Spanish horses, has published a detailed article on the genetics of coat colours.
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