QUESTION:  "How are the Spanish Arabians different in temperament and athletic ability than any other bloodline group of Arabians?"

ANSWER:  In a nutshell, I think the main reason is the role the Yequada Militar played in the breeding of the Classical Spanish bloodline group.

This began in 1905 when a Military Commission was sent to the desert to buy seedstock to improve the Spanish Cavalry horse.  They looked at literally thousands of horses and only a select handful were deemed good enough for purchase.  The horses purchased had to go through another inspection upon arrival in Spain.

In 1906 a similar commission was sent to Poland, in the 20's the Guerrero brothers imported stock from France and in the 30's, the Duke of Veragua (Lady Wentworth considered him one of the foremost authorities on the Arabian horse) imported several head from the U.K., including 5 Skowronek daughters.

So the rootstock of the Classical Spanish came not from just one source but was a selection of the finest Arabian horses available in the world at that time.

And unlike, for example, the Egyptian horses which played no role in Egyptian culture and, therefore, were bred and cared for by "non-horse people", the YM horses were bred by the Spanish Cavalry officer who did not necessarily have their background in the romantic musings of the Arabian horse as a work of art but, instead, had a background in sport horses, jumpers, working horses and cavalry horses.

In many ways this does not differ from the Bedouin, whose life often depended on the ability of their war mare; the Spanish soldier's life also depended on a solid temperament and athletic ability in their "war machine"

In addition, the horse plays a MAJOR role in the Spanish culture and the private breeders who have also bred the Classical Spanish Arabian have not only used the YM horses as an integral part of their programs but they, too, have an innate sense of what a horse should be about, and follow programs similar to that of the YM.