The ancestors of the Andalusian breed were the Iberian horses, a group of horse breeds originating in ancient times on the Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal.
The name of the breed comes from the Spanish community of Andalusia, in the southern region of the Iberian Peninsula.
The modern Andalusian breed began with horses bred by religious orders in the 1700s and 1800s. During this time, larger draft horses were introduced into the area and crossbred with Iberian horses, but a small number of horses that were kept separate were able to retain the breed hallmarks of the modern Andalusian.
Andalusians were not sent to countries outside of Spain until the 1960s.
