# The Spanish Barb horse



## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

Hello all! I am currently doing a research paper about spanish barb's and how they were brought to america by Spanish explorers in the 16 century. If you have any information you could give me (websites, books, ect.) it would be greatly appreticated. I am looking for what the breed is like, the explorers that brought this breed to amercia, and how this breed was used in the past and now. I'm not asking you to do my report, just help me out a bit

Thank you. Have a wonderful day!


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## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

Bumppp


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## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

comon people!


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

Sonny,
I think you will get more info on the internet, i.e. wikipedia and such.
All I do know is that Spanish Barbs come originally from Morroco , I think. Horses of the Berber people, no?

Many people confuse them with Arabs, but they are not the same horse. They are small and hardy but not as fine as the Arab.

Good luck with your research. Share what you find so that WE can learn from YOU!


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## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

tinyliny said:


> Sonny,
> I think you will get more info on the internet, i.e. wikipedia and such.
> All I do know is that Spanish Barbs come originally from Morroco , I think. Horses of the Berber people, no?
> 
> ...


 Thanks tinyliny!


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## wakiya (Feb 7, 2009)

The Spanish Barb is another name for the Spanish Mustang. In reality, there is no such breed. The Spanish Barb Horse Association registers horses descended from the same stock as foundation Spanish Mustangs. There is no Arab blood in Spanish Barbs. In fact, there is no Barb in the Spanish Barb. The horse referred to as the Spanish Barb was taken to North Africa from Spain.

There is also the argument that there is no Spanish Barb, it's just a silly name Americans gave the Spanish horses brought over. Let me get more info for you.


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## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

^^ interesting wakiya! In my research the spanish barb is from the andilusian (sp?) and barb breeds and brought to america by spanish explorers. But more info would be great! Much appreciated


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## wakiya (Feb 7, 2009)

"Another thing I've been working on...and it's taken a life of its own is a History of the Spanish horse. It's supposed to be for the on-line museum...but it's both inspired and disenheartened me. The great lies told by the Thoroughbred and Arabian horse people is beyond belief. How does anyone tackle that kind of misinformation?

The African Barb came into being AFTER the Moslem Conquest....not the other way around...when purebred Imperial cavalry Spanish horses of the Byzantine Empire were taken back to AFrica. 

The ARab also has Spanish racehorse blood in its veins....the Romans gave Sarmatian racehorses to Christian ARabs after the destruction of the Jewish state. The Sarmatians were fanatical racehorse enthusiasts and imported many fine animals from Spain.

Now considering the incidious trade in human beings and horses that passed through Constantinople and the ports of the Arab Gulf meant many animals were sold as Arabs when in fact they came from all over Europe...and ARabs were always quick to get rid of a wounded animal...the Damascus horse markets were full of these poor victims.

My couple of pages is at fourteen right now and I'm not even through Tariq. I know I've got too much information for our museum...but its driving me. It's finish or quit."

This from the wonderful researcher that is working on the HOA's timeline of the Spanish horse.

This from horseshowcentral:

A misconception that stubbornly prevails especially in mustang circles is that of a so-called "Spanish Barb". The term "Spanish Barb" implies that there were a breed by that name, and there never was. The term is most likely an Anglo-American invention, as the result of another myth, namely, that the Moors had brought into Iberia their Barb horses. Yet another myth has it even that Arabians had been brought into Iberia.
First of all, it were Moors, not Arabs, who conquered Iberia, and there is a great difference! Secondly, there is unrefutable evidence that the Moors did not, as always claimed, bring thousands of their Barb horses over to the Iberian Peninsular. Their own historians recorded that they crossed the Strait of Gibraltar on foot, fought the first battle on foot, and found the horses of the infidels "more plentiful, bigger, and better than their own", and mounted themselves with Iberian horses. Once they had conquered Iberia, and settled in, they bred the Iberian horses that they had found "bigger and better". This is not to say that an occasional Barb horse was not shipped over, but in no way was the Iberian horse ever influenced by Barbs that would justify a term like "Spanish Barb".
The Barb horse of northwestern Africa used to be similar to the Iberian horse, and moleculargenetic analyses prove the relatedness of the two. This could be due to Iberian horses shipped to Mauretania long before the conquest of the Moors, but it could also be that the original habitat of the wild horse subspecies that became the ancestor of the Iberian horse breeds (Andalusian and Lusitano) reached from southern Iberia into northwestern Africa at a time, when there was still a landbridge between the two continents.

Spanish Mustang- Horse Breeds & Info

If you look up the pedigree of any so-called Spanish Barb horse, you find Spanish Mustangs, Spanish Mustangs, Spanish Barbs, are more correctly called Colonial Spanish Horses.

Here's an example:

Audaz Barb

Somehow magically, this horse descended from foundation registered SMR (and sometimes SSMA stock) becomes a Spanish Barb. They are one in the same and can be double registered. Our breed is struggling because we have so many registries and everyone excludes on "kind" even if it's the same horse. It's ridiculous!

The SBHA registers certain strains of Colonial Spanish Horse, and the International Barb Breeders Association is one breeder, Robert Painter and his stock and people who get stock from him. He has phenomenal horses they're also extremely linebred.


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## wakiya (Feb 7, 2009)

The modern African Barb has had a huge influx of Arab (and some TB) breeding and no longer resembles the horse it was.

African Barb:










This guy could be called a Spanish Barb:


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## wakiya (Feb 7, 2009)

Picture wouldn't go through here's another African Barb:


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## mkirk (Mar 4, 2011)

Hi check the Spainsh Barb Horse Association's website for information on these horses www.spanishbarb.com.

Maureen


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## xoSonnyLove1234 (May 31, 2009)

Thanks guyss. I totally forgot about this threadd. Sorry!


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