Spanish Horse Carta

Spanish Horse Carta Genealogica

For the Purebred Spanish Horse carta is the term generally used to refer to the registration of a PRE with the Spanish Stud Book. It is a bit of a misnomer, as carta genealogica translates literally as genealogical papers, and the Certificate for a PRE is more than that.

Pure Spanish Horse Carta Genealogica - What it IS

The full name of the original spanish registration document for a Pura Raza Española horse is the

Certificado de Inscripción y Carta Genealógica Pura Raza Española
Certificate of Inscription and Genealogy Pure Breed Spanish Horse


The front page carries the details of the horse, his parents, his breeder and his reference numbers - code and microchip.	The back page shows his genealogy for 3 generations.

All points apply equally to stallions and mares. I speak of ’he’, ’him’ and ’his’ for ease of writing.

Spanish Carta Genealogica - What it is NOT

aka Papers necessary for the registration of a purebred spanish horse, and how you can avoid being misled.

The spanish certificate of inscription and carta genealogica, which qualifies a PRE as a true member of the breed, is NOT


the Passport	the ’Carta Verde’ or green card, a health certificate that has nothing to do with breed grading	the Breeder’s Brand	the Microchip

Pure Spanish Horse Inscription and Revision in Brief

There are two steps to be aware of

The Inscription of the horse.
On birth his name is entered into the Spanish Stud Book. This shows that his parents are both qualified as registered PREs.
The Revision of the horse.
This is an examination conducted on every horse who is presented at three years of age, where the individual horse is assessed for breed correctness.

MEDIA CARTA Advertisers Spanish horses and Andalusian

Media carta when translated from the spanish means half paper. You may have seen the phrase in adverts.

It has no registration validity. It is a TERM, a casually used and commonly understood reference. It is not a recognised breed paper.

Yet it is still seen in adverts, both from private sellers and from dealers. Why?
Private sellers may use the term out of ignorance, merely repeating something they have heard.

If a dealer uses the phrase out of ignorance, it would cause me to pause. I prefer to deal with someone who knows their subject field. And if a dealer does know what media carta means, and still uses it, I would pause even longer.

Media Carta is in no way an official recognition of a PRE or of Purebred spanish horse bloodlines.

Andalusian horse with media carta could possibly be a way of referring to a horse from spain that is registered as a Caballo de Deporte Espanol. This registration is not part of the PRE Stud Book. In Spain there is no Stud Book or Breed Registry for Andalusian.

What is an andalusian

Spanish Horse- Media Carta a quoted Reference

This is a reprint from an earlier article about media carta and spanish horse registration on our parallel reference site.

Following is a quote from the FESCCR - commonly called the Cria Caballar - the department responsible for the Stud Books of Horses in Spain.

The FESCCR speak of their work being the identification and registration of all the Pure Races registered in Spain, viz

Pura Raza Española - PRE, Pure Spanish Horse
Pura Raza Árabe - Pure Arab
Pura Sangre Inglés - Pure English Blood - Thoroughbred
Raza Anglo-árabe - Anglo-Arab
Raza Hispanoárabe - Spanish-Arab
Raza Trotador Español - Spanish Trotter
y otras Razas - other races

Then they speak of..crossed cross breed saddle-horses - i.e. riding horses - which have "always been known as MEDIA CARTA"

"Estos ejemplares NO pertenecen a las RAZAS PURAS" - emphasis theirs - "These examples DO NOT belong to the PURE RACES pudiéndose registrar sin embargo en el Libro del Caballo de Deporte Español. However, they may be registered in the Book of the Spanish Sport Horse.

An Andalusian horse with media carta then would be referring to a horse who had one parent that was a registered PRE. This horse could be registered as a Caballo de Deporte Español.