PRE and Andalusian: which name the rules use, and what 'registered' means
Spanish rules define a Pura Raza Española by its entry in one stud book. We read the definition, the three registers, and the census figures in the official documents.
English-language writing calls this horse the Andalusian. The Spanish rules never do. They use Pura Raza Española (PRE), and the English edition of the official breeding programme translates it as “Purebred Spanish Horse”. The difference is not only a matter of language: the rules tie the name to an entry in a specific stud book.
The definition is a registration, not a description
The 2002 ministerial order that set the PRE’s zootechnical rules (Orden APA/3319/2002, annex, point 1) defined a PRE as a horse registered at birth in the stud book of the breed. Conformation, colour and movement are described elsewhere in the same annex, as the standard a horse is judged against later. They are not what makes it a PRE in the first place.
That order was later repealed: the BOE record shows it repealed “in the manner indicated” by Real Decreto 2129/2008, whose transitional provision (1.2) kept such stud-book regulations in force until new ones were approved. Our reading is that the breeding programme approved on 15 June 2020 is the replacement, so the rules now in force are in the programme. The current programme keeps the same logic: a foal enters the stud book only if both parents are in the Permanent Register, the covering and foaling were declared, and a compulsory parentage test confirms the pedigree.
“Andalusian” has no defined meaning in any of the documents we read. Andalusia appears only as the region with more PRE stud farms and horses than any other.
Who keeps the book
| Fact | Where it is stated |
|---|---|
| The PRE stud book was created in January 1912 by Cría Caballar, the breeding service of the Ministry of Defence | Management regulation, preamble; breeding programme, section I |
| Cría Caballar managed it until 1 January 2007; since then ANCCE (the national breeders’ association), recognised by a resolution of 11 December 2007 | Management regulation, preamble |
| The stud book is “único y universal”: any horse meeting the rules is registered in it, whatever the country of birth | Management regulation, Article 15 |
| The programme applies in every country where PRE horses are found; it says PRE horses are found in 65 other countries (the country list printed in its general information has 64 besides Spain) | Breeding programme, general information and section I |
For a buyer the practical point is Article 15. There is one PRE stud book. A society in another country may collaborate with it, but on our reading of Articles 15 and 16 it does not keep a second PRE book. That is a narrower claim than “every registry agrees”: Wikipedia’s English entry for the Andalusian (licensed CC BY-SA 4.0) reports that several registries outside this system define the horse differently, and that ownership of the Spanish stud book was disputed in court around 2011. We have not checked those registries’ own rules.
The three registers, and what each status means
The 2020 programme (section II.2 and II.3) splits the main section of the stud book into three registers. We summarise each one with what it allows.
| Register | Who is in it | What it allows |
|---|---|---|
| Birth Register | Foals of two Permanent-Register parents, identified by microchip, with a confirmed parentage test. Group A if the parents have a positive genetic evaluation, Group B if not | Identity and pedigree. A horse stays here until it passes the breeding-stock assessment |
| Permanent Register | Horses aged at least 3 that fit the breed standard and pass the assessment as “Approved Breeding Stock”. Also split into Groups A and B | Breeding. Inside Group A sit the genetic categories: Young Recommended (ages 4 to 7), Improver (age 7 or more, minimum reliability 0.6) and Elite |
| Register of Non-Reproductive Horses | Horses with a disqualifying defect at registration, or that failed the assessment twice | No PRE offspring can be registered from them |
So “registered PRE” can mean three different things. A foal with papers is registered; it is not yet approved for breeding. A horse that failed the assessment once is still in the Birth Register (moved to Group B); a second failure moves it to the non-breeding register. Ask which register, and whether the passport records “Approved”.
How many are there? Three numbers, three meanings
| Figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PRE census at 31 December 2019 | 252,852 (127,010 mares and 125,842 stallions) | Breeding programme, section I |
| Stud farms holding that census | 35,527 | Breeding programme, section I |
| Stud farms participating in the programme at 31 December 2019 | 39,479, of which 28,453 in Spain | Breeding programme, general information |
| PRE horses in the ministry database at the end of 2010 | 185,926 | Wikipedia, Andalusian horse (secondary) |
We checked the arithmetic: 127,010 + 125,842 = 252,852, and 28,453 of 39,479 participating farms is 72.1% in Spain. The document gives two different stud-farm totals (35,527 and 39,479) in two sections without explaining the gap; they may count different things, so we report both rather than pick one.
The 2010 and 2019 census figures come from different sources nine years apart. Dividing one by the other gives 1.36, but we would not call that a growth rate: we cannot confirm the two counts use the same definition (for example, whether dead or exported horses are removed at the same pace).
What to take from this
- In Spanish rules the breed is the PRE; “Andalusian” is the common English name and carries no registration meaning by itself.
- Being a PRE is a matter of being in one stud book, managed by ANCCE since 2007.
- “Registered” is incomplete without the register: Birth, Permanent (Approved), or Non-Reproductive.
- Population figures are dated and tied to a source; quote the year with the number.
Sources
- BOE: Orden APA/3319/2002, of 23 December, annex point 1 and repeal note on the BOE record page. Opened 2026-10-31.
- ANCCE: Purebred Spanish Horse Breeding Program, English edition of the programme approved on 15 June 2020; general information, sections I, II.2 and II.3. Opened 2026-10-31.
- ANCCE: Reglamento de Gestión del Libro Genealógico del PRE (stud-book management regulation), updated June 2022; preamble and Article 15. Opened 2026-10-31.
- Wikipedia: Andalusian horse (CC BY-SA 4.0), used for the 2010 census figure and the report on rival registries only. Opened 2026-10-31.
Who this is for
A reader who sees 'Andalusian' and 'PRE' used interchangeably and wants to know which term the official rules use, who keeps the stud book, and what a horse's registration status means.