Spanish Horse Show

Entries are coming in from up and down the East Coast for the first show in the newly organized Interstates P.R.E. show series to be held at Coves Darden Farm on Route 4. The I.S. P.RE. USA consists of three regional shows culminating in the national championships in November. The shows are for registered P.R.E. (Andalusian) horses, and are recognized by the Associación Nacional de Criadores de Caballos Españoles (ANCCE), which is the official Spanish organization that registers and inspects P.R.E. horses.

The Coves Darden show will be from March 4 through 6. It will include a full roster of conformation classes for fillies, colts, stallions and mares, There will also be a class for geldings and two "cobra" classes in which groups of three or five mares are presented together. The show also has "functionality tests" which are essentially dressage classes. Entries close on February 24.

Judges and officials will be flying in from Spain to ensure that the horses are assessed according to authentic Spanish criteria. There will also be several prominent representatives from Spain on hand, including Javier Conde who is the current president of the ANCCE.

Miguel Coves and Dorothea Darden, who own Coves Darden Farm, are also planning to make the show a sort of mini festival of the Spanish horse, with the goal of introducing new people to the breed, and giving Americans a taste of Spanish equestrian culture.

Future shows in the series will be held in Texas in June and in California in September. The finals will be in Texas in November.

For more information, visit the I.S.P.R.E. USA website: www.ispreusa.com.