When Lyn Bosey was a kid growing up around the racing Thoroughbred scene in Maryland, she wasn’t too picky about what kind of horse she rode. “I’d ride whatever somebody would let me ride,” says Lyn, who now runs Las Cruces Ranch in New Mexico.
Not so anymore. “I don’t just want the movement and the correct conformation. I want the trainability and the character. I want the whole package,” says Lyn today. Those are all traits that knowledgeable breeders seek, but Lyn admits it was looks alone that first sold her on the Spanish horse, and in particular the relatively rare Cartujano line of Pura Raza Española (PRE) horses that she is now dedicated to promoting and preserving.
“They just grabbed a hold of me,” Lyn recalls of her first exposure to these ancient Spanish horses. She came upon them in Spain and Germany, where she and her husband Gene were stationed several years ago. “They are the type of horses you see in Baroque paintings. They are like a fantasy horse!”
The Cartujano reflect the most traditional aspects of the PRE. The average height for a stallion is 15.3 hands, with mares typically a bit shorter. Their stocky, muscular conformation is famous for its balance and proportion, all of which were included in the breed standards established by Spain’s King Felipe II in the late 1500s.
Temperament-wise, the Cartujano shares the Spanish horse’s renowned mix of energy and sanity. “That fire and the energy is there but they are not ridiculous about it,” says Lyn of these people-oriented steeds. They are well suited for the majority of amateurs attracted to this breed. “You have ladies like me who used to show a lot and are now middle aged or older,” Lyn says. “We want something we can ride and train correctly and also have some fun with: parades, freestyles, exhibitions. These are people that really want to enjoy their horses.” Most of all, Lyn loves their work ethic. “You never have to coerce them to do something.”
Las Cruces’ foundation stallion is the 9 year old Ambicioso XVIII, a son of Estimado IV who is now owned by Yeguada Herrera in California. Ambicioso, a grandson of Devoto II, is a classic example of his breed’s great temperament. “I ride him at the front or back of a trail group, among mares and geldings,” Lyn says. In parades, exhibitions and other activities that would upset many breeds, these horses look dramatic but keep the actual drama to a minimum.
After one class in which Ambicioso kept his cool in a class of screaming mares, the judge told Lyn that, had he not looked underneath Ambicioso, he would have “never guessed he was a stallion,” Lyn reports. “The judge said his stallion would have not behaved in such a situation.”
“With the Spanish breed in general, if the horse trusts you, they’ll give you anything,” Lyn explains. The Cartujanos have a special affinity for their people. They want to be with you and they’ll seek you out.” Ambicioso has participated in everything from team penning and cow cutting clinics, to dressage shows, gymkhanas, trail rides, parades and exhibitions.
Sturdy conformation, strong feet and a tendency to be easy keepers are among the Cartujano’s numerous attributes. All of Lyn’s brood go without shoes on streets, trails and just about anywhere else. They put weight on easily and tend to stay sound. These characteristics are important to Lyn, who observes that overall hardiness seems to be on the decline in many breeds.
In an era when some seek to breed a lighter, more modern Spanish horse, Lyn’s Las Cruces Ranch is out to preserve the Cartujano line in its original state. Lyn estimates that Cartujanos number only in the thousands in their native Spain. In the States, there are just a handful.
Las Cruces Ranch’s foundation mare is Esperada XLV, sired by the well known stallion Berberisco II. She is approved in the Main Mare Book of the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar and, like all of Las Cruces’ horses, is registered and approved by the PRE studbook in Spain, Cria Caballar. Like Esperada and Ambicioso, the 3 year old stallion Jomeini II, a Devoto II grandson, is awaiting official certificates from the Cartujano’s stud book in Spain, the Yeguada de la Cartuja Hierro del Bocado Stud. She has sold one filly to a wonderful home in Colorado and plans to breed two of her mares this season.
Once the documentation arrives, Las Cruces Ranch will begin full-scale marketing efforts. Lyn looks forward to making contact with fellow breeders who are so few and far between in the States. From a performance perspective, exhibitions and parades, rather than dressage competition, will be Las Cruces’ main marketing focus.
As is reflected in Ambicioso’s approval with the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar, he has the movement and forward drive to be a natural dressage competitor, but Lyn is a classical dressage enthusiast. “There is nothing wrong with competitive dressage,” clarifies Lyn, who is bringing Ambicioso back into training this spring. “But that’s not what I have in mind. I am more focused on the classical training.”
During nine years in Germany, Lyn followed up on her initial infatuation by studying the Cartujanos. She became friends with their breeders, in both Germany and Spain, and attended shows and training seminars, including the Spanish Horse Finals in Seville, Spain. She looked at many horses before buying her first three stallions.
Spaniards are proud of their stock and it’s difficult to get their highest quality horses out of the country. Lyn is especially grateful to two breeders: Peter and Gisela Engle of the Los Pavos Reales in Germany, and Senor Manuel Danvila Diaz de Isla of Spain for their help in purchasing her foundation horses and getting them to the United States.
“The breeders are much more concerned with where their horses go and who they will be bred to,” explains Lyn. “Whether you win a year-end championship is not very important to them: Preserving the bloodlines is vital to them.” In becoming friends with these and other breeders, Lyn skipped years of trial and error by learning from their families’ many years of experience with the Cartujano horses. “They will only sell you a horse if they know you are going to try to preserve what they have been trying to preserve all these years,” she says.
For more information on Las Cruces Ranch, visit www.lascrucesranch.com or call 505-491-1143.
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