Nobleza del Guadiana, Breeding Herd
of Indiano XVIII
THE LION OF SPAIN
The Best Pure Spanish Horse
Report © PURA RAZA / December 2000
The Yeguada Nobleza del Guadiana Ranch, situated in the Extremaduran lands of noblemen and conquistadors, is the horse breeding stable of one of the great myths of the Spanish breeds, which today, as in years gone by, is re-
conquering the shores and hearts of the Americas. We are referring to Indiano XVIII, one of the most characteristic and expressive singularities of the breed, which, once having crossed the Atlantic by the hand of the Mexican breeder, Fedérico Jiménez, ended up becoming one of the Pure Spanish Horses most sought after and the most enviable in the whole of the West Coast of North America.
Owned today by the Indiano Syndicate, in Bakersfield (California), its presence was easily noted in its descendants, prominent in the recent PRE International Competition in Las Vegas, where the president of the Horse Owners' Association, Lanys Kaye-Eddie took an active part of its organisation. Which explains why, seeing the interest that "El León de España" is arousing overseas and on the side of the Atlantic, it would be fitting to illustrate the fact to our readers that Indiano is an offspring of Cazador IX, a horse that descended from one of the best breeds of Romero Benítez; and from Bondadosa II, descendent of Temerario, also belonging to the Romero Benítez's horse ranch.
In the words of its breeder; Joaquín Conesa, to our magazine, "This specimen, no doubt, marked a glorious period in our horse breeding ranch Nobleza del Guadiana. Participating in different morphologic competitions in the adult modality, it obtained excellent results: six time gold medalist, and breed champion, and twice the undisputed functionality champion. As a stud horse, suffice it to say that sixty percent of the breeding mares we have on the horse breeding ranch have close links with INDIANO XVIII."
Currently, Faraón XXIX, one of the stud horses at the Nobleza del Guadiana ranch is an offspring of Indiano XVIII. A stud horse that has followed the same line and achieved the same prowess as its progenitor, seeing that its performance in trial races and prizes have been meritorious at all times. For the records, it must be said that Faraón was the champion of the breed and the undisputed champion in functionality at the PRE International Congress, held in Trujillo in 1998. In some way, Joaquín Conesa, manager and owner of Nobleza del Guadiana ranch, believes that both Indiano and Faraón come very closely to the ideal for which he has been working for over the past thirty years. "The Pure Breed Spanish Horse that I like, and that I work towards is the one that moves well." He remarked. "And which also has the nobleness and the beauty that characterise the breed, the very factors that brought fame to Indiano. At the same time it should function well while being ridden. Putting it this way, it doesn't seem that I'm asking for too much. However, it is not easy at all for any one horse to have all these features: movement, nobility, beauty and functionality."
Fully accredited by his experience, these words of Joaquín Conesa´s have become an indisputable argument. For it must be remembered that he has been on the job hands-on for the past thirty years. He started off by purchasing some mares in 19966 and 1967, although the horse ranch was not set up until 1968.
The mares of the original nucleus were obtained from the Count of Campos de Orellana, Don Fernando Vara Mira, Viscount of La Montesina and Romero Benítez. A few years later, in 1974, he bought mares from Carlos Urquijo and González Barba. On their part, the stud horses, that formed the basis upon which the horse breeding ranch was founded, were Cantinero VII, Mayordomo III and Cazador IX, are straight line descendants, as we have already said, of the best breeds of Romero Benítez.
FIRST LINE
Today, many years later, Nobleza del Guadiana, has situated itself amongst the best Pure Spanish Horse breeding ranches in Spain, whether based on either quality or quantity criterion. This statement backs up, and confirms the results obtained this year in the four contests in which the breeder participated with his specimen. In each and every one of the four chosen points (Salamanca, Oviedo, Zafra, and Trujillo), Nobleza del Guadiana obtained the title of Best Stockbreeder, an amen to the numerous medals and trophies. This is, needless to say, a direct consequence of the selective criterion that has been imposed by Joaquín Conesa over these many years, as well as the genetic heredity which has been sustained. The superb climatic conditions, and the natural space in which the herd moves, located on the highway of Guadalupe, in Don Benito (Badajoz), is also a great influence on the outcome of the fine breeding. There, on the two ranches which are meadows and pastures populated by cork oaks, and oak woods, the horses breed in freedom, and the pasture of the new offspring acquires an apparent bucolic character, which is the technical base and conditions on which Conesa has layed the foundations of a breeding of quality, internationally renowned. "There, on each one of his two ranches, the mares always run free, they give birth on the countryside, and are only rounded up to take shelter, apart form a few times a year to delouse, and to crop. The males, after having been weaned, are separated into a coral, until having forgotten their mothers, to return once again to the pasture until they have completed one and a half years. At this age, they are introduced to a regimen of semi freedom." In this sense, the ranch Serrezuela de Ortiga, shelters the livestock of the dappled-gray coated horses, while the ranch Sierra de Troya, encloses the black and brown coated specimen. There is no special reason but that of distribution and classification criteria. "I believe that the coat of the horses is something quite secondary --Conesa specified-- The coat which I prefer is the dappled-gray, however, if I see a black or brown horse which is good, I like it. What is fundamental is that it is good, the color being secondary."
To summarize our interview with Joaquín Conesa, we may highlight the modest sobriety with which the breeder of Indiano XVIII faces the successes and international fame of his breeding herd, even the particular conquest of America, undertaken by this Extremaduran horse breeder. "Some very practical results, that even I would dare to describe as good. But it should not be forgotten that behind this is thirty three years of work, which have come with their corresponding successes and failures." Almost an entire working life that, however (and without a doubt) has been worth it.
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© PURA RAZA Magazine. N. 13. October-December / 2000.
