Alter Real – Horse Breed of the Week

The Alter Real breed is also called the Royal Breed of Alter and comes from a small town in Portugal called Alter do Chao. These animals display many characteristics of the classic Iberian horse.

Image from Horse Show Central

Initially developed for carriage horses the main influence in their blood is Andalusian. However over the years the blood of Arabian horses, English Thoroughbreds, and Hanoverian bloodlines have been introduced, but the resulting animals were a disappointment.

Coming Full Circle

It took the re-introduction of Andalusian genetics to refine their blood and restore the initial quality of the breed.

Almost Lost To The World

Early in the 20th century Portugal went through revolutionary changes. The Alter Real breeding programs were stopped in their tracks and studs were gelded.

Lucky for the breed, Dr. Ruy d’Andrade kept enough animals to continue breeding them and in 1942 he handed a small band of Alter Real animals back over to the Ministry of Agriculture for further government preservation.