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Subject: re: Andalusian history (very very long)
From: kitten@sneeze.resp-sci.arizona.edu (Bruce Saul)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Date: 27 Sep 1994 10:33:30 GMT
From: jd@slugbt.zso.dec.com (John D'Addamio)
teresa@noao.edu (Teresa Plymate) writes:
|>history of the breed. For example, most English-language general horse
|>books claim that the Arabs invaded Spain bringing Arab blood. Better
|>research shows that this is an old wives' tale. Moors invaded bringing
|>Barb blood, already closely related to the Spanish. I went to well-
This is true however Bruce Saul (my beautiful man and also a
military historian) tells me that much trade took place both overland and by
sea after the Moorish invasions thus the Arab influence came into the area
afterward if not during. The Arabs certainly spread their influence across
North Africa before the invasions and Arabian horses were by many accounts
already present and crossbreeding with Barb horses in Morocco before the
invasions of Spain. Bruce tells me it is very difficult for two cultures to
come into contact during occupation and not have both cultural and physical
influences over each other.
|>books! And no change in the appearance of the Spanish horse from the days
|>when the Romans were breeding them. You'd expect them to change if they
|>were infused with "different" blood. I'll bet there are such erroneous
|>tales rampant in the histories of most breeds.
>You say that the Andalusian type hasn't changed since Roman times. On what
>is your statement based, descriptions, art work or what? What I'm getting
>at here is that the description of the horse might be recognizable even
>if there were slight changes in appearance. For example, Loch shows
>photos of some modern Andalusians as well as some of the ancient stock from
>which she says they derive(Sorraio? something like that). It is important
>to note that she says the ancient stock had died off and was "reconstituted"
>in modern times. Although I can *see* differences between the 2 types, I
>haven't the words to describe such subtle things without comparing the 2
>directly(e.g. the modern horse has slightly more refined X than the old
>stock or the old stock has slightly more muscling in the Y). I'm not saying
>that the type *has* changed. I'm just wondering how confident we can be that
>it hasn't, especially since the ancient base was reestablished.
In the books I have read the Sorraia is a pony roughly 12 to 13 hands
high that in itself is a signifigant difference from modern Andalusian stock
which averages between 15 and 17 hands high.
In her book, Equus: The Horse in the Roman World, Ann Hyland has a
description taken from the ancient Roman author, Pelagonius, in his work,
Ars Veterinaria, of the Roman ideal stallion:
"Small head, black eyes, nostrils open, ears short and pricked
up; neck flexible and broad without being long; mane thick and falling
on the right side; broad and muscular chest, big straight shoulders,
muscles sticking out all over the body, sides sloping in, double back,
small belly, stones small and alike, flanks broad and drawn in; tail
long and not bristly, for this is ugly; legs straight; knee round and
small, and not turned in; buttocks and thighs full and muscular; hoofs
black, high and hollow, topping off with moderate sized coronets. He
should in general be so formed as to be large, high, well set up, of
an active look, and round-barrelled in the proportion proper to his
length."
Though this description is of the Roman ideal horse and not
necessarily a Spanish horse of the time period one can assume that it was
what the Romans were breeding toward. This description differs from the
modern Andalusian in several respects: One, the head of a modern Andalusian
is not small, nor is it currently selected to be small. Small heads are
deemed by modern Spanish breeders to be typical of those horses possessing
large amounts of Arab blood. I have heard that the International Andalusian
Horse Association has decided that any Andalusian shown who exhibits a dished
or concave face may have its registration revoked regardless of authenticity
of blood. Two, the modern Andalusian as with most modern riding horses is
equipped ideally with sloping shoulders, straight shoulders make for a jarring
ride and are not preferred. Three, the knees of modern Andalusians are large
flat knees as is required of a good riding horse today, large flat knees being
more able to withstand concussion than small, round knees. Taking into
account those differences it is clear that many good quality horse breeds
could fit that Roman description, not the least of which is a good Quarter
Horse, a descendant of both the Spanish horse of the Renaissance and the
Thoroughbred (itself a descendent of Arabian, Barb, and Turk ancestors).
In Hyland's book she says that the horse we know today as the Arabian
originated in North Africa, was later isolated on the Arabian Peninsula, and
after the Arabs burst forth from there was once again disseminated across
North Africa, the Middle East, and into Europe. This African/Libyan/Numidian
horse (she says the Romans used these terms interchangably) which is the
ancient ancestor of our modern Arabians was known for endurance, tractability,
a light build, swiftness and hard feet. The shape of its head was deemed
ugly because contrary to Roman preferences it was concave, dished. It is
reported to have been fine-limbed and lightly fleshed and could be ridden by
its Numidian riders using only taps of a stick to guide them and a neck rope.
Hyland says, "it was known that there was an interchange of cavalry
between North Africa and Spain in the days when Carthage held the lower half
of Spain in thrall, and Hannibal also had Spanish cavalry at Cannae in
216 BC (Livy XXIII. 46)." She then says that "Publius Vegetius confirms the
crossing [of Spanish] with African (Libyan) horses when he says an infusion of
Spanish blood confers speed on the African horses. Oppian (Cynegetica)
comments on the speed, lack of size and weak spirits of the Spanish horse,
saying they were cowardly and in a few furlongs found wanting in speed. This
means they were sprinters and lacked stamina, yet a century later, according
to Nemesian, courage and stamina were present. This would tie in well with
Gallienus' policy in the mid third century AD of upgrading the cavalry mounts
with an infusion of African blood on to indigenous Spanish types, and with
Publius Vegetius' comments on crossbreeding."
If this is correct then this shows that not only is Arab blood
present in Spanish and Roman horses from a very early time but also that
the early Spanish horse was different from its later counterpart and
that indeed the Roman horses evolved from a continuous policy of importations
and crosses not just of African horses but also of horses from other areas.
Indeed we should conclude from this information that some Spanish blood
may be flowing in the veins of the purest blue-bloods from Arabia.
She also gives evidence from a dig at Newstead, Scotland of horses at
a Roman outpost that appear from skeletal proportions to be of Arabian type:
"In his book A Roman Frontier Post and its People, James Curle
records that:
the auxiliaries ... had 14 hands horses as fine in head
and limbs as modern high-caste Arabs. The skull of one of
these slender-limbed 14 hands horses is almost identical
with the skull of an Arab mare (Jerboa, by Maidan out of
Jerud) in the British Museum. That they closely agree is
especially suggested by the frontal index. (Curle 1911, p.368)
The measurements given by Curle are as follows:
Length in mm Jerboa 368 Newstead 372
Width in mm Jerboa 205 Newstead 201
The implication is that the heads in Roman times were as fine as now.
"Skulls and limb bones from Newstead show:
(1) broad-browed big-boned ponies of the 'forest' or robustus type
from 11 to 12.2 hands;
(2) slender-limbed ponies of the 'Celtic' variety, of the 'plateau'
type, from 11.2 to 12.2 hands, and 14 hands ponies of the
'Libyan' variety of the 'plateau' type built on the lines of
the finer kinds of desert Arabs. (ibid.)
There were also the bones of some horses of nearly 15 hands."
[For those that are interested Jerboa was an Arabian mare of Crabbet
breeding. TS]
This suggests that if the Romans could transport horses as far as from
North Africa to Scotland during that ancient time period then certainly going
from the Middle East to Spain during the 700 years of Moorish occupation would
not be all that difficult. Transport both overland and by sea at that time
was quite a bit easier than during Roman times and according to Bruce the
signifigant trade of the time period would have included horses.
By the way I highly recommend this book, the author is a horsewoman
as well as an historian and uses a great many original sources as well as
doing much research not just into the breeds but also the saddles, tack,
fighting styles, horse management methods, and racing. It was published in
1990 by Yale University Press.
Finally a book called The Arab Horse in Europe by Erika Schiele
sheds some light on more recent infusions of Arab blood. She says that,
"As the hunter descended from the Thoroughbred gained in popularity, the
Andalusian was ousted from its leading position in Europe. In its native
Spain a certain decline became noticeable, which had a number of causes.
The first was the unfortunate attempt at crossing the Andalusian with the
taller Neapolitan, Friesian, Norman, and Thoroughbred in order to increase
its size." She describes the second as being the expulsion of the religious
orders such as the Carthusian monks who bred horses of great quality. And
the Wars of Revolution destroyed the large studs of the nobility with
confusion and indifference amongst small farmers adding to the decline. To
revive the breed she says Queen Isabella II sent Nicolaus Gliocho to purchase
Arabian horses from the desert on her behalf. He acquired 26 stallions,
12 mares, and 3 foals. In 1850 these horses were brought to the Royal
Stud near Aranjuez. "The first entry in the Spanish Arab Stud Book which
was published May 8th, 1885, is that of the Seglawi Jedran yearling Abayul
of this consignment. The produce of these stallions and mares are not
shown; possibly the Royal Archives may contain further information. The
next entries date from 1884 to 1885, with 3 stallions imported from
France [France was known as a preeminent breeder of purebred Arabs during
this time period. TS] by King Alfonso XII. All these horses appear to
have been entered mainly for historical reasons, so that their names should
not be lost, rather than for the breed.
"As late as June 26th, 1893, a Royal Order laid the foundation for
the breeding of Arab horses by the State and established the Yeguada Militar,
the Army Stud, in the grounds of Moratalla in Cordoba. The purpose of
the Yeguada was to provide a sound foundation for Andalusian horse-breeding,
and the choice for its upgrading fell upon the Arab." She says that intensive
purebred Arab breeding did not begin until 1905.
From this we can conclude that Arabs have indeed been crossed into
the Andalusian bloodlines from Roman times, during the Arab/Moorish occupation,
and later in the 19th century. I want you to understand that I do not believe
that the qualities that make the Andalusian great are solely the responsibility
of the Arabian, but rather that the Arabian is a contributor in large part to
that greatness as are many other breeds. As a final example I would like to
quote Ann Hyland's book on the subject of the Parthian/Persian horse, "The
Apadana frieze at Persepolis gives a very clear idea of the conformation of
these horses -- heavy, slightly convex headed, high crested, solid fleshed
and well-muscled animals of considerable height". This description sounds
very much to me like a breed of horse that probably contributed to the
development of the Andalusian breed.
Tracy and everybody
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