Yeah, Andies do take forever to mature. I will go ahead and give you a little "heads up" too... most Andalusians and Andalusian crosses go through a very very horrible growing stage. It usually happens between the age of 8 months and 2 years. Most breeders will work like hell to have the foals sold before the "terrible fuglies" happen and will pull them off of the market the instant they start to go through "the change". Some breeders get crazy about it. I know of one woman who was so ashamed of her Andy cross that she hid him in a back pasture for a year and refused to let ANYONE go down there and see him ( except the vet and farrier of course ). Of course, he is a beautiful young man now but he must have been a sight there for awhile LOL.
The rule of thumb when purchasing a youngster though is when it doubt, try to look at baby photos.. unlike most breeds the way they looked as a foal is a good indication of how they mature ( thats at least what I have found ).
With my stallion, when he arrived home in Nov. at seven months old, I thought he was the ugliest thing I have ever seen.. He was horrible. I actually wondered for a minute if it was even the same horse. That winter he was absolutely scary and I worried the whole time that I had made a terrible mistake. That next summer, he came together a little and looked a tiny bit better.. Next winter - dog ugly again. Spring rolled around and he looked a tab bit better than the summer before. That is pretty much how it has gone to this very day. Every winter he gets a little funky and every spring he is prettier than the year before.
So prepare yourself.. By breeding to an Andy, you have just boarded the FUGLY Rollercoaster and things are going to be very interesting for the next few years LOL.


Oh- to the owner of that chestnut... WOW!!! Do you have pictures of the sire and dam???? I would love to see them if you do. You said you owned her?? Did you sell her??
I can't get over her color either.. how did you manage that one. I am stuck here in grey land.. and its so refreshing to see a bit of color from time to time.

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Proof that dreams can come true!

El Tigre CDP : Purebred Andalusian Stallion