First of all I recomend looking at the original document: Link
The Albufera horse is a Spanish breed first imagined in the XVIII’s century in Valencia, and built through 3 centuries of selective breeding.
Historical Context
After the death of Carlos II “El Hechizado”, the Spanish king part of the Habsburg family, a succession conflict appears. On one side we have the Habsburg family, representing the traditional Spanish approach to politics, and the Bourbon family, representing a French approach to Politics.
The Bourbon side wins the said conflict, and Carlos of Austria- now renamed Felipe V - becomes the king of Spain in 1700. With this dynasty change came many political, social and economic reforms . Not everyone was happy about this, and so now a war starts from 1700 to 1715, ending in the creation of the Utrecht treaty. Felipe V (also the grandson of the french king “The Sun King”) renounces the French throne in exchange for the crown of Spain, as having both Spain and France would be dangerous for other countries.
With this, Aragon (where Valencia is) and Castilla (rest of Spain) are united under the same kingdom.
El Conde de L’Albufera
El Conde de l’Albufera- The Albufera’s Count- was an enigmatic character. He was a nobleman from Valencia with a large estate in the Horta sud. He was known for being a bit extravagant, for telling way too many lies and for wanting everything he owned tailored with a near superhuman precision. He had a very specific vision for everything and couldn’t stand not having things be the way he envisioned them, or “As God commands things to be”, as he would always say.
He liked the French very much and though he lived in the territory that was against the new French king, he really hoped for a more centralized government in France created by Louis XIV. He wasn’t even against the fact that the Castilian language was now the official language of this unified country!
One of his greatest passions were horses, his stables were renowned as some of the very best Pura-Raza Españolas in the country were bred by him. However you see, he was also an artist! He liked painting and drawing as much as he liked riding horses… and of course he nearly only ever painted horses. He often traveled to the capital to learn from Velasquez's work! But even though he bred his PREs very carefully, and they were very beautiful and strong, they weren’t quite what he wanted them to be, they weren’t quite “As God commands things to be”.
So one night, awakened by a vision of God commanding him to draw the absolute perfect horse -most probably just a dream-he started drawing said horse. See, our man here wasn’t your average religious person. He believed to have a more intimate relationship with God, a direct one, where he could hear God’s voice. Him and his family were part of a coalition of families who all recalled the same stories of being able to speak with God directly and so believed themselves to be nearly a different race of people. For such reasons they would only marry each other to preserve their special “race”.
It’s important to know that this special Family, made up of 7 different families only marrying and working for each other is still going nowadays in the canon of the world where the breed evolves. Said world is basically a parallel universe to ours with just a bunch of characters added in.
The Design
From that day, our Count believed that his sacred mission was to create this horse. It would be a gift from God! To do so, he drew and drew for days, weeks and months until he found the perfect shape. The perfect head, the perfect shoulders, the perfect legs, heck even the perfect fur texture!
Once that was done he selected within his own stallions and mares, those who would be the foundation of this new horse. He sold all of those he didn’t select and this was the point where his wife and children started worrying about the situation.
He would need all the gold he could get, because in order to create the perfect horse he would need to travel and buy new and unseen breeds! He first started with adding Arabian, Barb and Turkoman blood to his PREs. In their early days, Albuferas followed the same creation process as thoroughbreds, though they were envisioned as having a smooth coat and a tall vertical neck. So more Arabina blood was used and Akhal-Teke horses were brought back to the Count’s stables for breeding. Basically Albuferas were envisioned as vertical thoroughbreds.
10 years after the first sketches were made, something indicated to the Count that he was in the right direction: a stallion, named after the current state of affairs, Bourbon I. He was not too tall: 1m55 and had that lean and slim silhouette with a tall neck and a small refined head. He was golden, golden, proud and shining! In his record, the Count of the Albufera described him not as a cross but as a “Pura Raza Castellano”.
Historical Context
After the death of Carlos II “El Hechizado”, the Spanish king part of the Habsburg family, a succession conflict appears. On one side we have the Habsburg family, representing the traditional Spanish approach to politics, and the Bourbon family, representing a French approach to Politics.
The Bourbon side wins the said conflict, and Carlos of Austria- now renamed Felipe V - becomes the king of Spain in 1700. With this dynasty change came many political, social and economic reforms . Not everyone was happy about this, and so now a war starts from 1700 to 1715, ending in the creation of the Utrecht treaty. Felipe V (also the grandson of the french king “The Sun King”) renounces the French throne in exchange for the crown of Spain, as having both Spain and France would be dangerous for other countries.
With this, Aragon (where Valencia is) and Castilla (rest of Spain) are united under the same kingdom.
El Conde de L’Albufera
El Conde de l’Albufera- The Albufera’s Count- was an enigmatic character. He was a nobleman from Valencia with a large estate in the Horta sud. He was known for being a bit extravagant, for telling way too many lies and for wanting everything he owned tailored with a near superhuman precision. He had a very specific vision for everything and couldn’t stand not having things be the way he envisioned them, or “As God commands things to be”, as he would always say.
He liked the French very much and though he lived in the territory that was against the new French king, he really hoped for a more centralized government in France created by Louis XIV. He wasn’t even against the fact that the Castilian language was now the official language of this unified country!
One of his greatest passions were horses, his stables were renowned as some of the very best Pura-Raza Españolas in the country were bred by him. However you see, he was also an artist! He liked painting and drawing as much as he liked riding horses… and of course he nearly only ever painted horses. He often traveled to the capital to learn from Velasquez's work! But even though he bred his PREs very carefully, and they were very beautiful and strong, they weren’t quite what he wanted them to be, they weren’t quite “As God commands things to be”.
So one night, awakened by a vision of God commanding him to draw the absolute perfect horse -most probably just a dream-he started drawing said horse. See, our man here wasn’t your average religious person. He believed to have a more intimate relationship with God, a direct one, where he could hear God’s voice. Him and his family were part of a coalition of families who all recalled the same stories of being able to speak with God directly and so believed themselves to be nearly a different race of people. For such reasons they would only marry each other to preserve their special “race”.
It’s important to know that this special Family, made up of 7 different families only marrying and working for each other is still going nowadays in the canon of the world where the breed evolves. Said world is basically a parallel universe to ours with just a bunch of characters added in.
The Design
From that day, our Count believed that his sacred mission was to create this horse. It would be a gift from God! To do so, he drew and drew for days, weeks and months until he found the perfect shape. The perfect head, the perfect shoulders, the perfect legs, heck even the perfect fur texture!
Once that was done he selected within his own stallions and mares, those who would be the foundation of this new horse. He sold all of those he didn’t select and this was the point where his wife and children started worrying about the situation.
He would need all the gold he could get, because in order to create the perfect horse he would need to travel and buy new and unseen breeds! He first started with adding Arabian, Barb and Turkoman blood to his PREs. In their early days, Albuferas followed the same creation process as thoroughbreds, though they were envisioned as having a smooth coat and a tall vertical neck. So more Arabina blood was used and Akhal-Teke horses were brought back to the Count’s stables for breeding. Basically Albuferas were envisioned as vertical thoroughbreds.
10 years after the first sketches were made, something indicated to the Count that he was in the right direction: a stallion, named after the current state of affairs, Bourbon I. He was not too tall: 1m55 and had that lean and slim silhouette with a tall neck and a small refined head. He was golden, golden, proud and shining! In his record, the Count of the Albufera described him not as a cross but as a “Pura Raza Castellano”.
Pura Raza Castellano
Our Count here wanted to create a beautiful horse and had imagined he could present said animal to the King. He seeked royal approval and didn’t care much about the Valencian traditions as they were in opposition to the current politics (said politics wanting to iron out the regional identities of the territory to make it one unified country.)
Bourbon I was the very first Albufera Horse, though he still didn’t quite look like today’s Albuferas. For example: his withers were visible and didn’t have those prominent powerful hindquarters Albuferas are known for. But overflowing with pride and love for this concretising vision, the Count made Bourbon I his main stud and within 5 more years all the people working under him in his farms and fields were ordered to only work with these PRCs: Bourbon’s foals.
This led to a problem, there were not enough horses for the work and the horses were not built for the work. To alleviate these problems the Count tried breeding his horses faster, the selection process became chaotic and some problems arose since he wanted his horses to look just like Bourbon, he would resort to inbreeding. He would exhaust his mares which would cause severe health problems in many of them, this would result in unhealthy foals and soon he found himself right back at square one, old and sick himself. With his shining golden stallion also getting old, the Count fell into a severe depression and resorted to living in a monastery close to his property where he devoted himself entirely to religion.
His children however, continued their father’s mission as they too believed God had a plan for this majestic horse! They reassessed the breed’s situation and decided to take another route; they needed a new foundation for the breed as Bourbon couldn’t carry the whole foundation alone. They needed horses that could carry heavier weights and were used to working. So they looked north and found the beautiful black horses of Friesia. They brought back a couple of mares and stallions that they bred with some of the arabians and Akhal-Tekes their father had purchased.
From these new breedings appeared some individuals that looked promising. One of the mares, a bay Akhal-Teke and friesian cross named Felicidad (Happiness) was bred to Bourbon I. This would be his last breeding before passing away.
The resulting foal would be again a beautiful colt, with a shining coat, feathering feet, his head held high by a beautiful long arched neck. His body was wider and stronger and better defined: The iconic Albufera Horse silhouette was starting to appear! He would be named Bourbon II and would also be registered as a Pura Raza Castellano.
Their selection was at that time very similar to the Thoroughbreds selection. They were mainly descendants or Arabians however PRE influence was also hugely important. They were mainly bred with Arabian, PRE, Akhal-Teke and friesian blood from 1700 to 1800.
In the mid 1700s there would be enough of these PRCs to have the whole family’s estate run on them: they were working horses in the Horta, being great assets for agriculture, their long legs and powerful bodies perfect to pull heavy loads through mud and dirt. They were also herding horses, mounted by vaqueros and ovejeros watching over their cow and sheep herds. And finally, they were also elegant saddle and carriage horses the noble members of the family would ride on to go hunting or to go on trips with.
Strains of Pura Raza Castellanos
The horses the Family would ride were selected for elegance and refinement. The horses the farmers would breed were selected for power, obedience and endurance.
The Family's riding PRCs were subsequently bred with Morgans imported from the US; then, in the 1800s, with Saddlebreds and thoroughbreds. The farmers and vaqueros PRCs were also influenced by Saddlebreds and Thoroughbreds, but they also had more Friesian and local cobs influence.
These two strains of PRCs: the Riding one and the Working one, weren’t part of the plan for the family developing the breed. Though they didn’t see it as that big of a problem since even though they weren’t exactly the same, they both maintained the silhouette the Count had drawn all those years ago. Just one was lighter with flashier gaits and the other one was heavier with feathered feet and powerful muscles. They both looked regal and both the family and the workers using them were very happy and satisfied with them.
However the family decided to better look over the selection of the Working PRCs since they noticed they were being selected to have bigger muscle mass while maintaining light bones - like Quarter Horses-which would bring health issues and would also break the horse’s beautiful silhouette. They didn’t appear to be “as God commands things to be,” which was a big problem. Although still not nearly as exaggerated as in AQH, still today Albuferas tend to have a bigger muscle mass but this trait is kept reasonable, it enhances their curves without breaking them.
Our Count here wanted to create a beautiful horse and had imagined he could present said animal to the King. He seeked royal approval and didn’t care much about the Valencian traditions as they were in opposition to the current politics (said politics wanting to iron out the regional identities of the territory to make it one unified country.)
Bourbon I was the very first Albufera Horse, though he still didn’t quite look like today’s Albuferas. For example: his withers were visible and didn’t have those prominent powerful hindquarters Albuferas are known for. But overflowing with pride and love for this concretising vision, the Count made Bourbon I his main stud and within 5 more years all the people working under him in his farms and fields were ordered to only work with these PRCs: Bourbon’s foals.
This led to a problem, there were not enough horses for the work and the horses were not built for the work. To alleviate these problems the Count tried breeding his horses faster, the selection process became chaotic and some problems arose since he wanted his horses to look just like Bourbon, he would resort to inbreeding. He would exhaust his mares which would cause severe health problems in many of them, this would result in unhealthy foals and soon he found himself right back at square one, old and sick himself. With his shining golden stallion also getting old, the Count fell into a severe depression and resorted to living in a monastery close to his property where he devoted himself entirely to religion.
His children however, continued their father’s mission as they too believed God had a plan for this majestic horse! They reassessed the breed’s situation and decided to take another route; they needed a new foundation for the breed as Bourbon couldn’t carry the whole foundation alone. They needed horses that could carry heavier weights and were used to working. So they looked north and found the beautiful black horses of Friesia. They brought back a couple of mares and stallions that they bred with some of the arabians and Akhal-Tekes their father had purchased.
From these new breedings appeared some individuals that looked promising. One of the mares, a bay Akhal-Teke and friesian cross named Felicidad (Happiness) was bred to Bourbon I. This would be his last breeding before passing away.
The resulting foal would be again a beautiful colt, with a shining coat, feathering feet, his head held high by a beautiful long arched neck. His body was wider and stronger and better defined: The iconic Albufera Horse silhouette was starting to appear! He would be named Bourbon II and would also be registered as a Pura Raza Castellano.
Their selection was at that time very similar to the Thoroughbreds selection. They were mainly descendants or Arabians however PRE influence was also hugely important. They were mainly bred with Arabian, PRE, Akhal-Teke and friesian blood from 1700 to 1800.
In the mid 1700s there would be enough of these PRCs to have the whole family’s estate run on them: they were working horses in the Horta, being great assets for agriculture, their long legs and powerful bodies perfect to pull heavy loads through mud and dirt. They were also herding horses, mounted by vaqueros and ovejeros watching over their cow and sheep herds. And finally, they were also elegant saddle and carriage horses the noble members of the family would ride on to go hunting or to go on trips with.
Strains of Pura Raza Castellanos
The horses the Family would ride were selected for elegance and refinement. The horses the farmers would breed were selected for power, obedience and endurance.
The Family's riding PRCs were subsequently bred with Morgans imported from the US; then, in the 1800s, with Saddlebreds and thoroughbreds. The farmers and vaqueros PRCs were also influenced by Saddlebreds and Thoroughbreds, but they also had more Friesian and local cobs influence.
These two strains of PRCs: the Riding one and the Working one, weren’t part of the plan for the family developing the breed. Though they didn’t see it as that big of a problem since even though they weren’t exactly the same, they both maintained the silhouette the Count had drawn all those years ago. Just one was lighter with flashier gaits and the other one was heavier with feathered feet and powerful muscles. They both looked regal and both the family and the workers using them were very happy and satisfied with them.
However the family decided to better look over the selection of the Working PRCs since they noticed they were being selected to have bigger muscle mass while maintaining light bones - like Quarter Horses-which would bring health issues and would also break the horse’s beautiful silhouette. They didn’t appear to be “as God commands things to be,” which was a big problem. Although still not nearly as exaggerated as in AQH, still today Albuferas tend to have a bigger muscle mass but this trait is kept reasonable, it enhances their curves without breaking them.
1770s to the 1870s: The Golden age and true birth of the Albufera horse
Although the family called their horses the Pura Raza Castellano, to the people, they were known as “the Albufera horses”. They were very recognisable, with a silhouette no other horse had, with a gait no other horse had. They were absolutely unmistakable and Valencians old or young, when seeing one would point at them and say “that is an Albufera horse!”.
They were the worker’s horse of the region, they had a loving personality and put good efforts into their tasks. They were fast and agile when it came to running after cattle. They were powerful and enduring when it came to pulling wagons full of the rice of the Albufera.
They brought joy, pride and warmth to the little people. They became the beating heart of the Albufera.
The people breeding and raising them were valencians, speaking in their valencian language, there was nothing castilian about these horses. The farmers would have fun by organizing races.There would be races in the wetlands of the Albufera where the horses would have to race through muddied waters and prove their agility in such terrain. Some races would be mounted, others would be driving races. Some races would be along the beaches of the Valencian coast.
Some other events would entail showing off the horse’s talent in working equitation, how well they could turn, run and stop on a whim, and how well behaved they were. How just like a herding dog they were always listening and moving on command.
These would generally be just for fun but sometimes the workers would give each other small prizes, like one would bring the meal for the winner the next day.
Everybody would reunite thanks to the Albufera Horses, they brought people together and gave them incentives to celebrate and create impromptu parties around these small racing and agility events.
This is the basis of nowadays Albuferas behavior: bred to be intelligent personable horses that bond very strongly with their human and find gratification in working with a purpose and feeling useful, part of the group, part of the “herd”.
Word spread fast of how efficient these horses were in the fields. People without much money struggled to find good quality cheap horses to help in the fields. Albuferas, still being somewhat unknown in the grander scheme of things, remained cheap horses that most people could get their hands on. They were the little people’s bread winners and even though they started as posh looking saddle horses for noble folk, their true popularity was outside of those very selective circles.
The family that originated the breed certainly didn’t like seeing how their shining noble breed became associated with poor dirt stained farm workers and tried retaliating by not selling them any more horses or even giving them access to them. However it was too late, many had been sold already and the farmers were breeding them between themselves.
For this reason, as the Family owned the Registry of the Pure Raza Castellano, they decided not to admit certain famer’s horses into the registry even though they were a purebred horse.
The Albufera Horse and the Pura Raza Castellano: strained apart.
As a response to the Family not admitting their horses to the registry, a couple of small bourgeois working closely with farmers and owning their own Albufera Horses decided to create their own unofficial Albufera Horse Registry.
The first registered Albufera Horse stud was called Fruto de l’Horta. A bayron, 1m68 regal horse owned by one of the new unofficial registry creators.
The first registered Albufera horse mare was called Bonica de l’Horta. A beautiful dam, probably the foundation of many tobiano Albufera today.
As you may have noticed, the appellation “de l’Horta” was added to all registered Albufera Horses to differentiate them from the Family’s horses. Indeed this separation happened around the “Esquilache Riots”; during this time (around 1766,) new reforms were coming with King Carlos III who was very influenced by Italian thinkers of the enlightenment. He wanted to reform the country again with these Italian Thinker’s Ideas (Mainly Esquilache) but it didn’t go as planned. This conflict created a feeling of distrust between the people and the nobility.
An added reason why the people from Valencia wanted to separate the Albufera Horses from their former noble Family owners. They deeply felt that what this animal represented had nothing to do with the values of the Family.
Many more “de l’Horta” Albuferas came after that, so much so that soon enough there were more Albuferas than PRCs!
Let’s jump to 1808, Napoleon has invaded Spain and wants to claim the throne, though the Spanish aren’t quite having it. This is when the Spanish war of Independence takes place. In this conflict Albuferas are used as war horses in Valencia. This is where the difference between the two strains is most noticed: The Family's horses are generally inbred, thin and lack power. They’re beautiful, sure, they are made to be looked at but end up being injured, falling ill and dying relatively fast. The Horta’s horses, however, are strong and robust; they’re trained to navigate all terrains, live in rough conditions and can hold their own. They were bred not only for beauty, but for power and intelligence.
This is where the division between the Pura Raza Castellanos and the Albufera Horses falls: at the end of this war the PRCs population has been decimated… Some individuals remain, but the Family has moved on. They’ve lost some of their members and the Albufera’s Count is long dead by now. His Godly vision only mattered when the rest of the members didn’t have much going on, but with a conflict of this magnitude, political and technological evolutions popping up and more evolved countries to move to… Just a bunch of horses wasn't going to make them stay.
Changes in management
At this point the PRC doesn’t exist anymore, only the Albufera Horse stays. The breed’s registry is managed by a small council of small bourgeoisie and some selected workers who knew the horses better than anyone.
A new breed standard is set:
The horses should now have very rounded and well developed hindquarters and wide shoulders with defined muscles. Feathering is now allowed in the breed’s standards.
Flat butts, overly sunken backs and short legs unfit to navigate the wetlands properly become undesired and overall bred out. Though that wasn’t too hard since most of the weaker Albuferas had already disappeared.
Breeding programs are created in order to avoid inbreeding and the proliferation of certain illnesses or conditions in the breed. The programs were also useful to keep their numbers afloat since the war had taken out a large number of them still.
The breed became stable during the 1830’s.
Tonelets
Tonelet, meaning “small barrel” as in a wine barrel, was an affectionate name Albufera owners would give to horses born from a cross between an Albufera and a heavy draft horse. These crosses were somewhat common before the war and became even more common during the conflict since they were useful to pull heavy artillery. These horses were not considered a strain of Albufera at all, they still generally retained part of the Albufera silhouette but were rounder and wider hence the nickname. These Tonelets were bred with the weaker, remaining PRCs to create new Albuferas.
Although the family called their horses the Pura Raza Castellano, to the people, they were known as “the Albufera horses”. They were very recognisable, with a silhouette no other horse had, with a gait no other horse had. They were absolutely unmistakable and Valencians old or young, when seeing one would point at them and say “that is an Albufera horse!”.
They were the worker’s horse of the region, they had a loving personality and put good efforts into their tasks. They were fast and agile when it came to running after cattle. They were powerful and enduring when it came to pulling wagons full of the rice of the Albufera.
They brought joy, pride and warmth to the little people. They became the beating heart of the Albufera.
The people breeding and raising them were valencians, speaking in their valencian language, there was nothing castilian about these horses. The farmers would have fun by organizing races.There would be races in the wetlands of the Albufera where the horses would have to race through muddied waters and prove their agility in such terrain. Some races would be mounted, others would be driving races. Some races would be along the beaches of the Valencian coast.
Some other events would entail showing off the horse’s talent in working equitation, how well they could turn, run and stop on a whim, and how well behaved they were. How just like a herding dog they were always listening and moving on command.
These would generally be just for fun but sometimes the workers would give each other small prizes, like one would bring the meal for the winner the next day.
Everybody would reunite thanks to the Albufera Horses, they brought people together and gave them incentives to celebrate and create impromptu parties around these small racing and agility events.
This is the basis of nowadays Albuferas behavior: bred to be intelligent personable horses that bond very strongly with their human and find gratification in working with a purpose and feeling useful, part of the group, part of the “herd”.
Word spread fast of how efficient these horses were in the fields. People without much money struggled to find good quality cheap horses to help in the fields. Albuferas, still being somewhat unknown in the grander scheme of things, remained cheap horses that most people could get their hands on. They were the little people’s bread winners and even though they started as posh looking saddle horses for noble folk, their true popularity was outside of those very selective circles.
The family that originated the breed certainly didn’t like seeing how their shining noble breed became associated with poor dirt stained farm workers and tried retaliating by not selling them any more horses or even giving them access to them. However it was too late, many had been sold already and the farmers were breeding them between themselves.
For this reason, as the Family owned the Registry of the Pure Raza Castellano, they decided not to admit certain famer’s horses into the registry even though they were a purebred horse.
The Albufera Horse and the Pura Raza Castellano: strained apart.
As a response to the Family not admitting their horses to the registry, a couple of small bourgeois working closely with farmers and owning their own Albufera Horses decided to create their own unofficial Albufera Horse Registry.
The first registered Albufera Horse stud was called Fruto de l’Horta. A bayron, 1m68 regal horse owned by one of the new unofficial registry creators.
The first registered Albufera horse mare was called Bonica de l’Horta. A beautiful dam, probably the foundation of many tobiano Albufera today.
As you may have noticed, the appellation “de l’Horta” was added to all registered Albufera Horses to differentiate them from the Family’s horses. Indeed this separation happened around the “Esquilache Riots”; during this time (around 1766,) new reforms were coming with King Carlos III who was very influenced by Italian thinkers of the enlightenment. He wanted to reform the country again with these Italian Thinker’s Ideas (Mainly Esquilache) but it didn’t go as planned. This conflict created a feeling of distrust between the people and the nobility.
An added reason why the people from Valencia wanted to separate the Albufera Horses from their former noble Family owners. They deeply felt that what this animal represented had nothing to do with the values of the Family.
Many more “de l’Horta” Albuferas came after that, so much so that soon enough there were more Albuferas than PRCs!
Let’s jump to 1808, Napoleon has invaded Spain and wants to claim the throne, though the Spanish aren’t quite having it. This is when the Spanish war of Independence takes place. In this conflict Albuferas are used as war horses in Valencia. This is where the difference between the two strains is most noticed: The Family's horses are generally inbred, thin and lack power. They’re beautiful, sure, they are made to be looked at but end up being injured, falling ill and dying relatively fast. The Horta’s horses, however, are strong and robust; they’re trained to navigate all terrains, live in rough conditions and can hold their own. They were bred not only for beauty, but for power and intelligence.
This is where the division between the Pura Raza Castellanos and the Albufera Horses falls: at the end of this war the PRCs population has been decimated… Some individuals remain, but the Family has moved on. They’ve lost some of their members and the Albufera’s Count is long dead by now. His Godly vision only mattered when the rest of the members didn’t have much going on, but with a conflict of this magnitude, political and technological evolutions popping up and more evolved countries to move to… Just a bunch of horses wasn't going to make them stay.
Changes in management
At this point the PRC doesn’t exist anymore, only the Albufera Horse stays. The breed’s registry is managed by a small council of small bourgeoisie and some selected workers who knew the horses better than anyone.
A new breed standard is set:
The horses should now have very rounded and well developed hindquarters and wide shoulders with defined muscles. Feathering is now allowed in the breed’s standards.
Flat butts, overly sunken backs and short legs unfit to navigate the wetlands properly become undesired and overall bred out. Though that wasn’t too hard since most of the weaker Albuferas had already disappeared.
Breeding programs are created in order to avoid inbreeding and the proliferation of certain illnesses or conditions in the breed. The programs were also useful to keep their numbers afloat since the war had taken out a large number of them still.
The breed became stable during the 1830’s.
Tonelets
Tonelet, meaning “small barrel” as in a wine barrel, was an affectionate name Albufera owners would give to horses born from a cross between an Albufera and a heavy draft horse. These crosses were somewhat common before the war and became even more common during the conflict since they were useful to pull heavy artillery. These horses were not considered a strain of Albufera at all, they still generally retained part of the Albufera silhouette but were rounder and wider hence the nickname. These Tonelets were bred with the weaker, remaining PRCs to create new Albuferas.
La Yeguada de l’Horta
After the Industrial Revolution of 1850, Albuferas stayed fairly useful in the Horta and the Albufera since with it many conflicts, between new constitution, governmens, first republics, wars and en totalitarian regimes, Spain seems to be always late with its technological evolutions. So Albuferas as working horses stayed relevant up until the 21st century. The main problem arose when the people managing the registry found themselves struggling to find a commercial advantage to them, they were liked by a niche community but weren’t the popular kids of the class. Internationally other breeds were popular as equestrian sport horses, since said disciplines were gaining traction. And although Albuferas were exceptional working horses great for doma vaquera, the people training and using them were not the type of people to spend their precious hours training their horses in Doma Clasica. So Albuferas stay the horses of the little people for the most part.
The Family had found better and more interesting business to make money off of, though as it was common in spain at that time, the workes continued to work on their assigned patch of land as it it were theirs, and just like they did when they reclaimed the horses from the noble folk, they also reclaimed the fields.
I’ll add here this extract from Blasco Ibañez about the Valencian Horta:
“[...]The aristocracy of the nobility has been ruined for many years and has been living in Madrid. There are less than a dozen who possess a fortune of two or three million[...]. On the other hand, there is no Spanish province that has as many landowners as Valencia. Agriculture is subdivided to infinity. Each farmer owns the piece of land he cultivates. Some are owners by law: most of them have leased the land, transmitting their possession by inheritance, within the family, for centuries, without the real owner who resides in the city daring to intervene in these inheritances or increase the rent that is still counted by pounds and wages as in the time of the kings of Aragon.”
Huerta Valenciana. Ca. 1900 (Valencian Library)
The Family… returns?
In 1936 a dictatorship was on the horizon and a Civil War began in Spain. A bunch of conservative generals oppose the new Republic - they want the monarchy back. Among these generals there is Franco, who will become the second dictator of Spain. During this dictatorship, the Family decided to punish one of their members, a young girl, Mathilde, who was 20 and still not married, which was unacceptable by their standards, so they sent her to Valencia to “take care of the property” there. Said property having been reclaimed by the people.
Mathilde’s Family didn’t care about their Albuferas anymore, they had moved on to breeding various breeds they trained for military purposes. So horses truly were a special thing for her. After she got to know the people living close to the property, she learned about the Albufera Horse registry, she learned about the breed and soon enough fell in love with them… She got close to the current president of the registry and though she didn’t really fall in love with him, he had lost his wife to a bullet during the civil war, and she was an unwed woman in a very conservative dictatorship, so they got married in order to feel safer. (she wouldn’t marry for the Family but she got married for albus… what a legend)
After her wedding she started managing the Albuferas, the breed wasn’t dead, its members were just all over the place. Each Valencian of the Horta had his patch of land, his Barraca and his Albufera horse, though people would often lend each other stallions and mares for breeding without registering any foals or ownership changes to the registry. Also just like they did for generations with the patches of land, some people worked with Albuferas that didn’t officially belong to them, but as with many things in the Horta, what belongs to me belongs to you and vice versa.
With the many workers she very willingly protected from Franco’s police (As she was part of a noble family and still had the Bourbon royal blazon decorating the old house she had inherited so the police weren't going to threaten her much.) She renovated the old house and transformed it into a facility where horses would be showered and monitored for vet checks. They also helped to build a saddlery.
Then she spent most of her time registering, researching and monitoring every Albufera she could find, she wrote lineages that were never written and restructured the Registry.
She also spent long hours riding these horses like the locals did. She was fascinated every time her husband would go in his wagon, carried by his Albufera stallion General de L’Horta,to the city to sell the fruits and vegetables, then he would come back and stop at the fishing cages. charge the fresh eels and fish onto his cart. And then in the afternoon he would go on horseback to check on his fields, pay a visit to the neighbors and herd some of the young horses of the property back into a smaller pen for the night, moving between gates, from building to the outdoors without ever dismounting. All of that with a single horse that would follow him everywhere and wait for him at every turn. General knew how to turn, move backwards and sideways with such precision that Mathilde’s husband could ride him with one hand and never had to even extend the other in order to open locks, secure gates or grab anything he needed.
Mathilde then made it her goal to not only preserve but also share the incredible talent and intelligence of the Albufera Horse. In no time the place went from an abandoned building surrounded by wild tall grass to a living small stable filled with life, people and horses. She and her husband decided to create the Yeguada de l’Horta: an estate dedicated to not only managing but also breeding and maintaining the breed’s essense.
After the Industrial Revolution of 1850, Albuferas stayed fairly useful in the Horta and the Albufera since with it many conflicts, between new constitution, governmens, first republics, wars and en totalitarian regimes, Spain seems to be always late with its technological evolutions. So Albuferas as working horses stayed relevant up until the 21st century. The main problem arose when the people managing the registry found themselves struggling to find a commercial advantage to them, they were liked by a niche community but weren’t the popular kids of the class. Internationally other breeds were popular as equestrian sport horses, since said disciplines were gaining traction. And although Albuferas were exceptional working horses great for doma vaquera, the people training and using them were not the type of people to spend their precious hours training their horses in Doma Clasica. So Albuferas stay the horses of the little people for the most part.
The Family had found better and more interesting business to make money off of, though as it was common in spain at that time, the workes continued to work on their assigned patch of land as it it were theirs, and just like they did when they reclaimed the horses from the noble folk, they also reclaimed the fields.
I’ll add here this extract from Blasco Ibañez about the Valencian Horta:
“[...]The aristocracy of the nobility has been ruined for many years and has been living in Madrid. There are less than a dozen who possess a fortune of two or three million[...]. On the other hand, there is no Spanish province that has as many landowners as Valencia. Agriculture is subdivided to infinity. Each farmer owns the piece of land he cultivates. Some are owners by law: most of them have leased the land, transmitting their possession by inheritance, within the family, for centuries, without the real owner who resides in the city daring to intervene in these inheritances or increase the rent that is still counted by pounds and wages as in the time of the kings of Aragon.”
Huerta Valenciana. Ca. 1900 (Valencian Library)
The Family… returns?
In 1936 a dictatorship was on the horizon and a Civil War began in Spain. A bunch of conservative generals oppose the new Republic - they want the monarchy back. Among these generals there is Franco, who will become the second dictator of Spain. During this dictatorship, the Family decided to punish one of their members, a young girl, Mathilde, who was 20 and still not married, which was unacceptable by their standards, so they sent her to Valencia to “take care of the property” there. Said property having been reclaimed by the people.
Mathilde’s Family didn’t care about their Albuferas anymore, they had moved on to breeding various breeds they trained for military purposes. So horses truly were a special thing for her. After she got to know the people living close to the property, she learned about the Albufera Horse registry, she learned about the breed and soon enough fell in love with them… She got close to the current president of the registry and though she didn’t really fall in love with him, he had lost his wife to a bullet during the civil war, and she was an unwed woman in a very conservative dictatorship, so they got married in order to feel safer. (she wouldn’t marry for the Family but she got married for albus… what a legend)
After her wedding she started managing the Albuferas, the breed wasn’t dead, its members were just all over the place. Each Valencian of the Horta had his patch of land, his Barraca and his Albufera horse, though people would often lend each other stallions and mares for breeding without registering any foals or ownership changes to the registry. Also just like they did for generations with the patches of land, some people worked with Albuferas that didn’t officially belong to them, but as with many things in the Horta, what belongs to me belongs to you and vice versa.
With the many workers she very willingly protected from Franco’s police (As she was part of a noble family and still had the Bourbon royal blazon decorating the old house she had inherited so the police weren't going to threaten her much.) She renovated the old house and transformed it into a facility where horses would be showered and monitored for vet checks. They also helped to build a saddlery.
Then she spent most of her time registering, researching and monitoring every Albufera she could find, she wrote lineages that were never written and restructured the Registry.
She also spent long hours riding these horses like the locals did. She was fascinated every time her husband would go in his wagon, carried by his Albufera stallion General de L’Horta,to the city to sell the fruits and vegetables, then he would come back and stop at the fishing cages. charge the fresh eels and fish onto his cart. And then in the afternoon he would go on horseback to check on his fields, pay a visit to the neighbors and herd some of the young horses of the property back into a smaller pen for the night, moving between gates, from building to the outdoors without ever dismounting. All of that with a single horse that would follow him everywhere and wait for him at every turn. General knew how to turn, move backwards and sideways with such precision that Mathilde’s husband could ride him with one hand and never had to even extend the other in order to open locks, secure gates or grab anything he needed.
Mathilde then made it her goal to not only preserve but also share the incredible talent and intelligence of the Albufera Horse. In no time the place went from an abandoned building surrounded by wild tall grass to a living small stable filled with life, people and horses. She and her husband decided to create the Yeguada de l’Horta: an estate dedicated to not only managing but also breeding and maintaining the breed’s essense.
Rebirthed Estate: rebirthed breed
The Albufera Horse had been in a steep decline for years now and Mathilde couldn’t let them vanish. She used her experience working with her parents to come up with a new breeding plan for Albuferas. Their numbers had declined and inbreeding them wouldn’t help, so she then decided to contact some people she knew in the USSR and Latin America who bred beautiful healthy horses. It took some convincing but they agreed to lend her some horses for breeding, this is how some Don Horse, Orlov Trotter, Passo Fino, Mangalarga Marchador blood was added to the breed. Then also some more modern warmblood individuals were selected to be added to the breed too. This made Albuferas taller, having their medium height going from 1m60 to 1m65.
Master Stroke Albuferas/Albufera Magistral
Since the many changes the breed has known in little time, the new blood added to the breed, the updated registry the various owners of Albuferas didn’t feel like the community around the breed even existed anymore.
So Mathilde wanted to create some kind of event where people could come together around Albuferas, celebrate them, with all of this having the purpose to keep the breed healthy, strong and beautiful as it was designed to be. This is how she created the Albufera Magistral certification : every 6 months Albufera owners could pass this exam showing off their horses conformation, personality and movement and get the chance of getting this certification.
Such an event was good to have owners get their stud’s names out there and also have curious people come and look at these beautiful animals and maybe get the itch to get one of their own.
Basically the Master Stroke certification was a way of getting people talking about the horses, looking at the horses, having the interest about the horses high all the while maintaining their conformation and identity!
These events also attracted owners of other breeds offering their studs and broodmares to expand the Albuferas. Overall it also helped the economy around the Albuferas flourish, even if just at the regional level.
With time some Albuferas became popular in a fairly unexpected way: they were known for being fantastic working horses and great for Doma Vaquera, so certain people became interested in them for dressage, driving and cross country.
Oriental strain:
At the beginning of the Civil War, one member of the Family had planned on breeding horses for himself, being part of the very Family who created the Albuferas he decided he wanted some for himself, so he just came to the old Estate and demanded 6 stallions and 6 mares or else he would denounce the current managers of the Albufera Horse Registry as Republicans to the Nationalists (the fascist is you will) which would mean they’d get killed pretty much on the spot.
As he saw Nationalists gaining terrain, this member of the Family grabbed his horses and went to live in Russia (USSR at the time) with an uncle where he bred his Albuferas to Akhal Tekes and Orlovs, selecting them for endurance and speed. One day a foal was born with a deformity of its ears: said ears were totally straight and didn’t have the curve horse ears naturally have. The breeder liked these elements a lot and decided to breed his Albuferas strain with this trait.
He bred his Oriental Albuferas mainly for speed and endurance and even tried them in races. Some with more Akhal Teke and Don Horse blood for flat racing and endurance, and others with more Orlov Trotter blood for trotting races, though in the end he liked the appearance of the flat racing Oriental Albuferas more and dedicated all of his stables to them.
Eventually the man died of old age and his children made a deal to send the Oriental Albuferas back to Valencia in exchange for a good deal of money since they had found themselves in a rough spot (you know… the URSS).
The Albufera Horse had been in a steep decline for years now and Mathilde couldn’t let them vanish. She used her experience working with her parents to come up with a new breeding plan for Albuferas. Their numbers had declined and inbreeding them wouldn’t help, so she then decided to contact some people she knew in the USSR and Latin America who bred beautiful healthy horses. It took some convincing but they agreed to lend her some horses for breeding, this is how some Don Horse, Orlov Trotter, Passo Fino, Mangalarga Marchador blood was added to the breed. Then also some more modern warmblood individuals were selected to be added to the breed too. This made Albuferas taller, having their medium height going from 1m60 to 1m65.
Master Stroke Albuferas/Albufera Magistral
Since the many changes the breed has known in little time, the new blood added to the breed, the updated registry the various owners of Albuferas didn’t feel like the community around the breed even existed anymore.
So Mathilde wanted to create some kind of event where people could come together around Albuferas, celebrate them, with all of this having the purpose to keep the breed healthy, strong and beautiful as it was designed to be. This is how she created the Albufera Magistral certification : every 6 months Albufera owners could pass this exam showing off their horses conformation, personality and movement and get the chance of getting this certification.
Such an event was good to have owners get their stud’s names out there and also have curious people come and look at these beautiful animals and maybe get the itch to get one of their own.
Basically the Master Stroke certification was a way of getting people talking about the horses, looking at the horses, having the interest about the horses high all the while maintaining their conformation and identity!
These events also attracted owners of other breeds offering their studs and broodmares to expand the Albuferas. Overall it also helped the economy around the Albuferas flourish, even if just at the regional level.
With time some Albuferas became popular in a fairly unexpected way: they were known for being fantastic working horses and great for Doma Vaquera, so certain people became interested in them for dressage, driving and cross country.
Oriental strain:
At the beginning of the Civil War, one member of the Family had planned on breeding horses for himself, being part of the very Family who created the Albuferas he decided he wanted some for himself, so he just came to the old Estate and demanded 6 stallions and 6 mares or else he would denounce the current managers of the Albufera Horse Registry as Republicans to the Nationalists (the fascist is you will) which would mean they’d get killed pretty much on the spot.
As he saw Nationalists gaining terrain, this member of the Family grabbed his horses and went to live in Russia (USSR at the time) with an uncle where he bred his Albuferas to Akhal Tekes and Orlovs, selecting them for endurance and speed. One day a foal was born with a deformity of its ears: said ears were totally straight and didn’t have the curve horse ears naturally have. The breeder liked these elements a lot and decided to breed his Albuferas strain with this trait.
He bred his Oriental Albuferas mainly for speed and endurance and even tried them in races. Some with more Akhal Teke and Don Horse blood for flat racing and endurance, and others with more Orlov Trotter blood for trotting races, though in the end he liked the appearance of the flat racing Oriental Albuferas more and dedicated all of his stables to them.
Eventually the man died of old age and his children made a deal to send the Oriental Albuferas back to Valencia in exchange for a good deal of money since they had found themselves in a rough spot (you know… the URSS).
Albuferas Today
Erin Dos Santos is the current owner of the breed / manager of the registry. Mrs.Mathilde never had children though in the early 2000’s a couple bought a house next to her property and became great friends with her, they adopted a disabled child who loved animals and the Albuferas greatly helped him cope with his disabilities. This kid was Erin and Mrs.Mathilde became like a grandma to him. She loved him very much and when she felt she was getting too old, she decided he would be the one inheriting Yeguada de l’Horta and the management of the horses with a great deal of help from other YdH employees and other professionals managing the economy of the estate. She had during the years purchased hotels and restaurants and part of the money generated by those businesses is to be used to care for the Albuferas and YdH.
As Mathilde asked: Albuferas live in semi liberty in the Albufera National Park, they live in a very similar way to Camargue horses. Though they see people way more often since the Albufera is a smaller place. A handful of Albuferas are trained in modern sports and also are used as farm horses regularly herding the larger herd of horses.
Albuferas are bred carefully and trained in dressage according to their needs: they’re not horses for dressage, but the dressage is adapted to the horse (which is the only way of doing good dressage …).
Some of them are also trained in a variety of disciplines and shown in some international competitions in order to grow the popularity of the breed.
Still to this day the Spanish and Valencian countries are way behind in technological advances and a lot of the patches of land are still being managed as they were in 1900, and they were in 1700. So there are still people working their land with Albuferas, whether they belong to them or are leased by YdH.
(I remember as a kid living between France and Spain and being surprised how in France my father had huge tractors and amazing machinery yet I came back to Spain and people would still work manually, still wearing the old shoes made of cord and using mules to transport their things.)
Speaking of which, Erin’s girlfriend Isabella Albano, a professional photographer greatly helped with the breed’s popularity as she posted pictures of these very unique horses to social media (Albuferas are indeed great instagram horses, I mean just look at them!)
Erin is all about the look and isn't too fond of having animals working for the sake of it, so Albuferas are never pushed all over the place. Albuferas under his watch also never work without a purpose, these are not circus animals, he always asks why and what is the point of making them do this or that”. If a horse doesn’t want to work, it will never be forced to. However Erin is all about the looks, so he likes thinking about original and pretty ways of braiding their manes. He also kinda likes playing dress up with them, as he knows how to sew he has already created beautiful capes and halters for his horses.
Nowadays Albuferas are fairly popular internationally, so much so that they have even influenced other breeds! People from all over the world come to visitYdH, adopt foals and participate in shows and events with their Albus.
Erin Dos Santos is the current owner of the breed / manager of the registry. Mrs.Mathilde never had children though in the early 2000’s a couple bought a house next to her property and became great friends with her, they adopted a disabled child who loved animals and the Albuferas greatly helped him cope with his disabilities. This kid was Erin and Mrs.Mathilde became like a grandma to him. She loved him very much and when she felt she was getting too old, she decided he would be the one inheriting Yeguada de l’Horta and the management of the horses with a great deal of help from other YdH employees and other professionals managing the economy of the estate. She had during the years purchased hotels and restaurants and part of the money generated by those businesses is to be used to care for the Albuferas and YdH.
As Mathilde asked: Albuferas live in semi liberty in the Albufera National Park, they live in a very similar way to Camargue horses. Though they see people way more often since the Albufera is a smaller place. A handful of Albuferas are trained in modern sports and also are used as farm horses regularly herding the larger herd of horses.
Albuferas are bred carefully and trained in dressage according to their needs: they’re not horses for dressage, but the dressage is adapted to the horse (which is the only way of doing good dressage …).
Some of them are also trained in a variety of disciplines and shown in some international competitions in order to grow the popularity of the breed.
Still to this day the Spanish and Valencian countries are way behind in technological advances and a lot of the patches of land are still being managed as they were in 1900, and they were in 1700. So there are still people working their land with Albuferas, whether they belong to them or are leased by YdH.
(I remember as a kid living between France and Spain and being surprised how in France my father had huge tractors and amazing machinery yet I came back to Spain and people would still work manually, still wearing the old shoes made of cord and using mules to transport their things.)
Speaking of which, Erin’s girlfriend Isabella Albano, a professional photographer greatly helped with the breed’s popularity as she posted pictures of these very unique horses to social media (Albuferas are indeed great instagram horses, I mean just look at them!)
Erin is all about the look and isn't too fond of having animals working for the sake of it, so Albuferas are never pushed all over the place. Albuferas under his watch also never work without a purpose, these are not circus animals, he always asks why and what is the point of making them do this or that”. If a horse doesn’t want to work, it will never be forced to. However Erin is all about the looks, so he likes thinking about original and pretty ways of braiding their manes. He also kinda likes playing dress up with them, as he knows how to sew he has already created beautiful capes and halters for his horses.
Nowadays Albuferas are fairly popular internationally, so much so that they have even influenced other breeds! People from all over the world come to visitYdH, adopt foals and participate in shows and events with their Albus.