Our fabulous references and untainted professional reputation are what separates us apart from other horse sellers, just ask anyone who has bought a horse from us, we encourage you to ask around. We constantly hear from people, and particularly from professionals who know us by reputation, that we are the only Spanish horse seller in the World that they would recommend and we are confident of good reports, here are some examples of the hundreds of clients who buy elite horse after elite horse with us. Since the pandemic, many clients are now buying from video and we have shipped horses to the USA, Singapore, Germany and the UK directly.
This is the first horse Sam ever bought with Spanish Horse Specialists, Jacaro. He was an elite stallion doing PSG, she took him to international Grand Prix level where he has competed against the top dressage horses in Europe and currently holds the highest ranking of any Spanish horse in dressage. Since then, Sam has come back and bought 6 more horses with us and has just finalised on a 7th. She is a super loyal and professional client who would never buy from any other agent. I am so grateful for her trust and confidence and always super impressed at the way she chooses the best horses and lifts them up to their highest potential. She's a true master and gives the horses her very best.
"Faraon arrived after midnight!! Looks fantastic. I will send you pictures asap. He has his own huge stall pasture with a shelter next to another horse and he is so awesome!!! We want to keep a very good relationship with you because we will most certainly be using your services in the future!! Also because you are truly an honorable person and deserve it. Thank you so much for your help with everything. Your service is very professional and choice of horses, exceptional. You undersold Faraon, he was more fantastic in the flesh than I ever imagined. You have truly gone above and beyond!"
Francesca Nicoletti, Grand Prix Dressage Rider/Trainer, USA
"Again Sophie, thank you for everything. You have been nothing short of wonderful. I would love to talk to anyone about a reference!! Things have been crazy-busy down here in sunny Florida! I wanted to share with you about my weekend. I rode Saturday and Sunday with Victor Alvarez. He was fantastic. Then Faraon and I did a demo for PRE-USA. He was a Super-Start!! I told lots of people about you and all the wonderful things you have done for us. Hope you and your family are well.
Most fondly,
Francesca (and Family)"
"Hello my dear! Tiberius continues to amaze me and impress everybody! We are so happy. I love him so much! He did a demo for USA PRE week in Wellington last Friday. His personality is as beautiful as he is, he continues to be a best friend and partner and nothing but a dream! Thank you, Sophie, for the amazing service you do and for making this possible for me.
Speak soon, Francesca"
When I collected Rebecca and her trainer, Manfred Lewis, from the airport they both looked jetlagged and already exhausted from two days of viewing hundreds of unsuitable horses elsewhere. Their first words were: "Sophie, I just want to be clear how this is going to pan out from the start..." I was really wondering myself "how on earth am I going to crack a smile on their faces today, poor worn out souls?". As we soared up into the hills behind Barcelona, got refreshments and headed for the first stud farm we started to get to know each other. The weather was soft, the horses beautiful and their energy started to lift. It wasn't until I introduced them to two stunning dressage horses that there faces really lit up, they said they hadn't seen one horse worth trying before coming to me, now everything I'd shown them was top quality, but still not the one. Then came out Ganador (the Champion), an extraordinarily extravagant mover, rich mahogany bay, clearly in a class of his own and bearing the elite brand of Jose Luis de la Escalera on his hindquarter. Manfred Lewis, Grand Prix trainer from Georgia rode him with great panache, putting him through his paces and getting a real tune out of him, thankfully the owners weren't present during the viewing as the price would have doubled with that extension and the ease at which Manfred got flying changes from his first ride on this 6 year old bronzed beauty. Then Rebecca rode him and they were clearly a perfect match from the beginning, she also rode him out around the paddocks and towards the forest and he was a star. We could all relax and have a celebratory drink together...until the vet exam. It was wonderful to meet both Rebecca and Manfred and we're looking forward to hearing how they get on in the United States - watch this space!
Rebecca kindly wrote a sweet reference for us:
"The search for your dressage partner is not an easy one. Particularly when you have set your heart on obtaining a PRE prospect who will not only perform to the highest levels in the dressage arena but also become a reliable safe mount for you at home. This was the request I had for Sophie upon my entry to Barcelona with my trainer Manfred Lewis. She calmly took us to suitable yards where I was rewarded with seeing several viable prospects. I had only hoped to be so lucky. Of course I found a favorite; but was extremely pleased with the quality and expertise Sophie showed when listening to our requests and requirements, then showing us what we were after. She did not waste our time with side trips around the area. Not that we wouldn't of enjoyed that! Barcelona is truly beautiful, but with my trainers busy show schedule we just didn't have the time; unfortunately. I would not hesitate to recommend Sophie's knowledge, service and expertise should you be interested in pursuing your dream of owning an Spanish horse."
Sandra bought this fabulous grand prix lusitano, Fantastico, with us from video. We provided in-depth videos and veterinary examinations as well as conducted a live visit so that she could feel confident buying him from video. This is her response upon first sight in her own words:
"Hello Sophie... yesterday I met Fantastico.. he is so sweet and beautiful!! We connected right away... thank you. So excited for the summer!! Felicitas is teaching him to relax his neck and develop some swing... he loves her... maybe I’ll do this again someday? I’ll stay in touch. Thank you so much for everything you have done to make this a successful and beautiful connection."
"Hi Sophie... we love Fantastico... he is absolutely the best horse!! So sweet but smart and trained so nicely... will send a video for u to see soon.. can you please find me another like him?"
Pavla, a successful lawyer and incredibly feminine wife and mother in her early thirties, does not stop dreaming there. She has a dream to compete at Grand Prix level on an Iberian horse. After consulting with her about various horses, I selected a dream team for her to view, these were the best of the best in Iberian dressage horses. She arrived at the airport with her devoted husband and 3 month old baby. Now that is dedication, and nothing was a problem. Really, nothing. She loved all 3 of the top 3 horses I had for her, the only problem was choosing.
She made a perfect choice - an international Grand Prix lusitano stallion, 14 years old, a ferrari schoolmaster for a sensitive, talented and ambitious rider. Riding an Iberian horse with this degree of precision and sensitivity is a bit like getting into a Ferrari after driving a Landrover. There are a whole lot of new, subtle and powerful buttons to work out. So, we designed a personal induction programme whereby Pavla could learn the alchemy points from his old master and merge the transfer of relationship harmoniously. What a beautiful opportunity - to spend two weeks in beautiful Spain learning from one of Spain's top grand prix trainer-competitors. This set her up to take him back to the Czech Republic and straight out to competition. This stallion is a professional and has travelled all over Europe, so he took it all in his incredible stride!
In Pavla's words: "I can't believe this horse! He is a dream. He is being such a good character :-))), I am so happy you found him and I choosed him ..... Thank you a lot !!! The time I spent in Spain gave me so much confidence with him and I really feel much more confident riding him. He arrived in great condition and the competition was just fantastic, he behaved as a true professor, and I had such fun to ride him among the czech stars :-)))). I'm so happyyyy :-). Thank you so much for finding him for me and for taking care of all the arrangements afterwards. Love, Pavla."
Jane was looking for the perfect combination of competitive flair for advanced dressage/trustworthy laid back hack...the kind of impossible ideal rarely found...but can be found in the Spanish stallion. She had been looking for a few years before she contacted Spanish Horse Specialists, yet found nothing. She asked around and checked up on the reliability and respectability of all Spanish Horse Agents and we were the only ones with a 100% positive reputation. We lived up to this wonderful accolade and found her a beautiful bay Prix St George level stallion with the sweetest character and impeccable training. Jane was over the moon and her trainer, Melissa Smith loved him too. A perfect combination.
"Rico is fully recovered from his travels - he has energy to burn so our schooling is now concentrated on 'whoa' as he is so full of himself.......but as a true gent he doesn't done anything verging on naughty! He thinks hacking in the hills is what a noble horse like him should really be doing - he has the biggest smile on his face to be out in the countryside trotting and cantering about, and whilst he is polite enough to go behind Melissa's horse on the narrow tracks - he is far happier being lead man! Rico is so settled - after he's worked and grazed in the morning, he rolls and rolls in his bed - and spends most of the afternoon lying down blowing Zzzs, He puts up with my young Jack Russell zooming in and out of his legs when I walk him round the fields after each school. He thinks that although the english weather sucks - its made up for by the lush green grass that he never got in sunny Spain!
Thank you so much for all your hard work and professionalism, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend you to others, in fact I have already done so!
All the best!
Jane Howard"
For 2 years, I have been wanting and trying to buy a PRE stallion in Spain. But the process at the time was laborious and exhausting: finding and viewing the right horses was diffficult and time-consuming, trying to negotiate in spanish was a disaster, let alone organizing a vet and appropriate transport. So I eventually resigned and gave up - far too much hassle with very little outcome.
Today - April 2007 - in barely 3 weeks, I found my Dream-PRE in Barcelona, bought him and got him vetted and then he arrived in great shape in Munich! This was only possible with the professional, trustworthy and truly amazing support from Sophie of Spanish Horse Specialists! The experience was unique and very special! The number of stunning horses I viewied was overwhelming - each one of them was a crack! Never ever could I have organized such a viewing by myself. Furthermore, the recommended hotel was great, spanish food delicious and the very relaxed and comfortable evening was quite a surprise: Sophie is not only leading her business very professionally and client-oriented but also with a lot of "heart" and warmth. She took interest in my personal wishes and ambitions and truly seeked the real match in the horse. She organized simply everything: starting by intensive pre-discussions to make the right selection of horses, sending of videos, fetching from the airport, viewing the horses, negotiating the best price, ensuring top-class vetting and outstanding transport. I felt in very good hands, supported throughout the whole trip and never had the slightest doubt in Sophie's reliability! It was simply fantastic: I only had to book my flight and do it!
Without Sophie, I would never have found Pelayo and words cannot express my gratitude and happiness! Regardless: THANK YOU, Sophie!!!
A, Fullenbach, GERMANY.
It all started one day when I was looking through Sophie’s webpage, just to see if there was anything interesting for sale … I wasn’t in the mindset of buying a horse, I was just looking. I had already given up my dream of finding my dream horse in Spain … I had decided that it would be too expensive. I thought, maybe in two years time or so, I would buy a horse from Denmark, where I live, and just settle with a Danish bred P.R.E, although I always thought that the Danish horses was of an lesser standard then the ones from Spain – they a often smaller and slimmer too, and I like a more bold looking horse.
So there I was, surfing through Sophie’s horses just to pass time … and suddenly there he was. A big 165 cm tall black P.R.E stallion! He has beautiful! He was only five years old, so he had the perfect age. He had the perfect height too, and color, pure black with only two white markings. He has big and bold looking, like a warhorse ready to charge into battle. Right then and there, I knew I was looking at my horse.
Before I knew it I was boarding a plane to Spain. I arrived at Malaga airport Friday morning; by the late afternoon I was riding my black stallion for the first time. I was riding my Divino. He was absolutely perfect! He was a lot bigger I real life, than in the pictures. I hadn’t been on a horse for two years, so I was a little scared – he was a big strong horse and a stallion. But as soon as I sat in the saddle I felt like home. We were n’sync from the very beginning. From there the decision whether to buy him or not, was easy … I had to own him.
On the 19th of July at 12 am, he arrived at the stable back in Denmark. A week later he became a gelding. It is very difficult to have a stallion in Denmark, even one as well behaved as Divino. Therefore I decided to get him gelded – and it was the right decision, ‘cause now he is enjoying himself in the paddock with the other horses, and he loves to play. Riding him is a real dream; he listens, always trying to do what I want him to. He gives me a 100% every day. Sometimes it almost feels like his every breath is to please me. He is a quick learner, and picks up the smallest signals from me. It doesn’t matter if I ride dressage, if I’m riding him in the forest, jumping him or just play with him from the ground; he just gives me his all. I know he is happy; he often calls with his deep stallion-like voice when he sees me. I love him so much, and buying him has been the best decision I’ve made all my life. With him, I can truly live.
Best wishes
Malene
I Wouldn't Hesitate to Buy through you Again | |
Sophie, Thanks so much for finding Ulema for me, he's been in the UK for a week now and has already settled in so well. With your help, the whole buying process was made so simple - I received details of suitable horses beforehand, was picked up in Spain and dropped off at the airport again after seeing the horses. It was great that I didn't have to worry about arrangements for the vetting and [more] |
Bought from Video | |
Dear Sophie, Etico arrived about 12.30 on Sunday. He is so beautiful! Seems to be settling in very well. Your honest advice and considered answers to all my questions were very much appreciated. I am thrilled with him. NF, Great Britain [more] |
She is an angel | |
Evening Sophie, Sorry to keep you in suspense! Cueva arrived at 2.30 this afternoon, the lorry was held up by accidents on the M1. She walked off the lorry like an angel, she led down to the paddock like an angel. She met Nott, there was no squealing, no running around, no silliness. She had a good roll, then had a good graze. I groomed her, fly sprayed her and had a lead around the paddock for [more] |
Very Impressed | |
I have to say that I have been very impressed by you and as I stated at the outset I had also been speaking with the company who I bought Tango off and they did not offer either the quality or quantity of horses that you offered to me. I wish you well with your venture and I will be in contact with you again. I will also recommend you to anyone who asks me about Spanish Horses. GO UK [more] |