Fundación Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre
Horses have fascinated Spaniards since Neolithic artists painted images of steeds in the caves outside Ronda 20,000 years ago. The museum traces the evolving bond between man and beast, emphasizing horsemanship skills and the breeding of the Pura Raza Española, or “pure Spanish race.” The top blood lines of what English-speakers call the Andalucían horse were first established at Carthusian monasteries in the late Middle Ages. The Real Escuela, founded in 1973, schools riders in the art of training horses to perform balletic dance routines to music. Performances of How the Andalusian Horses Dance usually take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with variations depending on the season (check the rather complicated website). Tickets start at 25€ for adults, 12.40€ for seniors and children 4-13.
At other times, you can visit the museums and tour the gardens, and on non-performance days watch the training sessions, usually at midday. These offer perhaps even more insight into the extraordinarily close relationship between horse and rider, magnificent in dove-gray sombrero and the traje corto short-jacketed suit. Beware of imitations—some hotels carry flyers for similar-looking horse spectacles that are not the Real thing.
Horses have fascinated Spaniards since Neolithic artists painted images of steeds in the caves outside Ronda 20,000 years ago. The museum traces the evolving bond between man and beast, emphasizing horsemanship skills and the breeding of the Pura Raza Española, or “pure Spanish race.” The top blood lines of what English-speakers call the Andalucían horse were first established at Carthusian monasteries in the late Middle Ages. The Real Escuela, founded in 1973, schools riders in the art of training horses to perform balletic dance routines to music. Performances of How the Andalusian Horses Dance usually take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with variations depending on the season (check the rather complicated website). Tickets start at 25€ for adults, 12.40€ for seniors and children 4-13.
At other times, you can visit the museums and tour the gardens, and on non-performance days watch the training sessions, usually at midday. These offer perhaps even more insight into the extraordinarily close relationship between horse and rider, magnificent in dove-gray sombrero and the traje corto short-jacketed suit. Beware of imitations—some hotels carry flyers for similar-looking horse spectacles that are not the Real thing.
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