Coat of Arms of the Spanish Military Stud

The Yeguada Militar de Jerez de la Frontera (en: ''Military Stud of Jerez de la Frontera''), known outside Spain as the ''Yeguada Militar'', is a military Spanish

stud farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

headquartered in Andalusia, Spain, dedicated to horse breeding of purebred Andalusian horses and Arabian horses. Founded in 1847, it became the state military stud farm in 1893. In the 20th century, as need for cavalry horses declined, the stud's emphasis shifted to become a genetic reservoir to preserve the bloodlines of the Pure Spanish Horse and to continue to breed high quality Arabian horses, with stallions of both breeds being made available to private horse breeders to improve the horses of Spain. Today, there are two facilities located in the

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

area, one primarily for stallions, the other for

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

s and foals, as well as multiple stallion depots across the country.

Location

The modern stud has two locations close to one another, Vicos (''Cortijo de Vicos''), located between

and

Arcos de la Frontera Arcos de la Frontera () is a town and municipality in the Sierra de Cádiz comarca, province of Cádiz, in Andalusia, Spain. It is located on the northern, western and southern banks of the Guadalete river, which flows around three sides of the ...

, and the Garrapilo (''Depósito de Sementales'') in the north area of

. There are also seven stallion depots scattered throughout Spain. Vicos has 1042

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

of land and Garrapilos has 630 hectares. Mares live at Vicos, with unbred

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

kept separate from the mares with unweaned foals, and

weanling A weanling is an animal that has just been weaned. The term is usually used to refer to a type of young horse, a foal that has been weaned, usually between six months and a year. Once it is a year old, the horse is referred to as a yearling. The ...

colts go to Garrapilo until the age of five, at which point some mature stallions remain at Jerez de la Frontera, and others are placed at various centers across Spain. Annual competitions are held during the Feria de Jerez. The

Guadalete The Guadalete River is located almost entirely in the Spanish Province of Cádiz, rising in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park at an elevation of about , and running for into the Bay of Cádiz at El Puerto de Santa Maria, north of the city of C ...

River provides water to both properties.

History

The stud was founded in 1847, and at that time hosted what today is the oldest written

breed registry A breed registry, also known as a herdbook, studbook or register, in animal husbandry and the hobby of animal fancy, is an official list of animals within a specific breed whose parents are known. Animals are usually registered by their breeder ...

for purebred Arabian horses in the world. During the mid-19th century, the need for Arabian blood to improve the breeding stock for light cavalry horses in Europe resulted excursions to the Middle East sponsored by

Queen Isabella II Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868. Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...

, who sent representatives to the desert to purchase Arabian horses. Her successor,

King Alfonso XII Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as El Pacificador or the Peacemaker, was King of Spain from 29 December 1874 to his death in 1885 ...

imported additional Arabian bloodstock from other European nations. By 1893, the state military stud farm, Yeguada Militar was established by Royal Order from the Spanish Minister of War in Moratalla, in

Córdoba, Spain Córdoba (; ),, Arabic: قُرطبة DIN: . or Cordova () in English, is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated municipality in Andalusia and the 11th overall in the country. The ...

, with the primary goal of

crossbreeding A crossbreed is an organism with purebred parents of two different breeds, varieties, or populations. ''Crossbreeding'', sometimes called "designer crossbreeding", is the process of breeding such an organism, While crossbreeding is used to main ...

Arabians on

Iberian horse The Iberian horse is a designation given to a number of horse breeds native to the Iberian peninsula. At present, some breeds are officially recognized by the FAO,cavalry. The original mandate was for 75 broodmares of various breeds to be purchased, kept at Moratalla, and fed grain and

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

raised on land owned or leased by the Spanish military. All costs were to be paid by the Spanish Military Horse Services and the cavalry would provide staff. Stallions allowed to service mares would be those "deemed to have the most appropriate blood; analyzing thoroughly and scientifically all measures deemed to contribute to the purpose of improving the equine population." Assessment of stallions was to be made public and any young horses that did not meet the standards of the Yeguada Militar were to be sold and funds used to supplement the operation of the program. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, the Vicos location was used by the forces of Francisco Franco as a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

for both military and civilian prisoners from the Jerez area.

Arabian breeding

Or Negre-88gs Abaco II - Hidra By Pepete

The military remained heavily involved in the importation and breeding of Arabians in Spain well into the early 20th century. Between 1905 and 1908, the Yeguada Militar purchased 23 more Arabians from the Middle East, and in 1906 began to purchase additional Arabians from breeders in Poland. Many private breeders contributed stock. Significant among the private Arabian

breeders A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

in Spain whose efforts contributed to the bloodstock of the Yeguada Militar was Cristobal Colon de Aguilera, XV Duque de Veragua, a direct descendant of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, who founded the Veragua Stud in the 1920s. He imported a number of Arabians from the

Crabbet Arabian Stud The Crabbet Arabian Stud, also known as the Crabbet Park Stud, was an English horse breeding farm that ran from 1878 to 1972. Its founder owners, husband and wife team Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and Lady Anne Blunt, decided while travelling in the Mi ...

in England, but he was killed and his horses were scattered during the Spanish Civil War. A number of his mares were later recovered, identifiable to ownership and purebred breeding through their

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, though their individual identities were unknown. They were given new names, all with the prefix "Vera" (for Veragua) and incorporated into the broodmare herd at Moratella. However, a closed gene pool and limited focus on Arabians had dropped the number of purebred Arabians in Spain to a low of 328 by the 1960s.

Andalusian (PRE) breeding

The 1893 facility owned 18 purebred Andalusian mares. The breeders of Pure Spanish Horses (''Pura Raza Española'' or PRE) who contributed these foundation mares included Don Francisco Molina, Don Francisco Rioboo, Don Gregario Garcia, Don Pedro Guerrero, Don Rafael Romero, Mrs. Widow of don Vicente de los Rios. By 1949 there were 84 PRE mares at the facility.

Modern day

Today, although horses are no longer bred for military uses, there are still civilian uses for horses.El Ayuntamiento recuperará Sementales para hacer un gran complejo relacionado con el caballo (in Spanish)
/ref> As the primary goal of the Yeguada Militar remains to produce stallions to improve the bloodstock of horses through Spain, the Yeguada Militar keeps about 35 Arabian broodmares and between 100 and 120 Andalusian (PRE) mares. They also own about 100 stallions kept at the stallion depots to cover mares owned by private breeders for a very low stud fee. Other stallions remain at Jerez de la Frontera. If a stallion is not going to be used to sire a registered horse, the owner of the mare pays no stud fee. Private breeders may also ask the government to be allowed to stand a Yeguara Militar stallion at their own farm for a limited period. The stallions are selected for service after putting the colts through vigorous testing so that only the best stallions are selected. The stud has an agreement with the

Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art The Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art (Spanish: ''Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre'') is an institution dedicated to the preservation of the equestrian arts, in the Spanish tradition, based in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. It is o ...

to train the stallions and provide horses for exhibition and dressage competition. They keep the best fillies for broodmares, selling the rest to private owners. Following an assessment of the breeding stock, there is an annual auction of surplus mares and fillies. Outside Arabian bloodlines have been brought into Spain since the 19th century, but a distinct look and type of Arabian horse has been preserved. In part due to the support and work of the Yeguada Militar there are now approximately 13,000 registered purebred Arabian horses in Spain. The stud also serves as a genetic reservoir for the Andalusian horse or ''Pura Raza Espanola''. The Yeguada Militar still has the goal to "breed, select, and improve the Pure Spanish PRE breeds." In addition to horse breeding, the Yeguada Militar also works on environmental initiatives, working with the Ministry of Environment to protect the

imperial eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

, which lives on land owned by the stud. In 2000, the ''Las Mejores Ganaderias deo Mundo'' stated:

The breeding plan (of Yeguada Militar) is intimately bound to the improvement project, based on getting a horse that, without losing the qualities that it possesses and following the breeds’ pattern, improves its qualities and eliminates defects. The means of this plan of improvement are based on a continuous evaluation and selection process for individual type, improving the environment and the genetic selection.

References

{{coord missing, Spain Horse farms in Europe Farms in Spain Arabian breeders and trainers Andalusian horse