Andalusian Horse Colours

Andalusian Horse Colours -

• Grey Pura Raza Española - all over the site!
• Black Andalusian stallion
• Bay Purebred Spanish horse
• Chestnut Andalusian
• Other Andalusian Horse colors - palomino, dun, cremello, buckskin and perlino

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 Videos

Sept 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.

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.

• White and grey Pura Raza Española - Purebred Spanish Horses are very popular. They're classical, beautiful, and there's such a wide choice.
• Bay Andalusians from well-known breeders are always appreciated. The experts agree - good studs, good lines, good chance of good horses.
• Black Andalusian stallions and mares from the recognised lines and studs are striking to look at.
• Chestnut, Palomino, Buckskin and the 'creams' - accepted as Andalusian Horse colours, popular as Spanish stallions and mares of unusual coats.

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 - CASTAÑO

• castaño claro - clear or bright bay
• castaño oscuro - dark bay
• castaño amorcillado - bay so dark it's almost black - the colour of morcilla, a blood sausage.

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

picazo - freckled or fleabitten. The mother of one picazo Purebred Spanish Horse that we know was as freckled as he is - and she was champion mare of Spain.

---

ANDALUSIAN HORSE COLOURS - BLACK

BLACK - NEGRO
There are studs that specialise in producing bay or black andalusian andalusians - and the best lines have produced some outstanding horses.

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.

---

ANDALUSIAN HORSE COLOURS - CHESTNUT

ALAZANO is the colour known as chestnut to the English-speaking world.

Now in the list of accepted colors, a chestnut andalusian is still quite unusual.

- PALOMINO

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.

- and BUCKSKIN

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.

What Colour is He?

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.

top of this page

Talking about Spanish horses for sale

---

For comments concerning how color can impact the price of Andalusian Horses, see the thoughts on andalusian horse 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.
More details on both in our andalusian books page.