About The British Association for the Purebred Spanish Horse Ltd.

This organisation was founded in early September 1982 under the title of the ‘British Andalusian Horse Society’ by Mary McBryde with the assistance of Sheila McBryde, and Linda Lawrance de Rodriguez. The aims were to promote the very rare Andalusian Horse and its Partbreds in the UK, to provide a Studbook Registry for foals and adult horses, and to bring together breed enthusiasts by means of a newsletter, rallies, and a show.

There were 12 founder members at the official launch of the Society and 6 of these founder members (Mary McBryde, Linda Lawrance de Rodriguez, Jenny Bernard, Neil Dougall, Jill Tyler, and Marion Larrigan) are still Honorary Life Members today. The first AGM was held on 5th February 1983 and then affiliation to the Jefatura de Cria Caballar (Spanish State Stud Book Authority) in Madrid, Spain was requested by the society. This was granted by the Cria Caballar towards the end of 1983 and the British Andalusian Horse Society (BAHS) became the officially recognised and sole body responsible for all matters pertaining to the Purebred Spanish Horse (Andalusian) within the UK.   For More detail on the early days of the breed association go to PRE History In the UK

The society held its first Grading and Inscription day for the assessment of the UK’s small population of Purebred Spanish Horses (Andalusians) by the Spanish Commission from Madrid in the summer of 1984. In combination with the Grading, the society also created the very first Breed Show which was won by Lyn Whiting’s stallion Bailaor II. Since 1984 the National Breed Show has been an annual event, with only 2 years where no show took place due to extreme weather.

During the early 1990’s the name of the Society was changed to ‘The British Association for the Purebred Spanish Horse’ in order to comply with the new Spanish Law that changed the breed’s name from Andalusian  to ‘Pura Raza Española’ (PRE).

In June 2002, The British Association for the Purebred Spanish Horse (BAPSH) became a Limited Company (Company Number 4468396) and then in late August 2003 BAPSH Ltd became an official Passport Issuing Organisation for its four Registries/Studbooks.

The Spanish PRE Studbook changed management within Spain from FESCCR to the ANCCE in January 2007, and the BAPSH Ltd was confirmed by the ANCCE-LGPRE to be the only officially recognised sole body responsible for all matters pertaining to the Purebred Spanish Horse (PRE) within the UK and Ireland.

On January 31st 2016 the BAPSH Ltd Annual General Meeting to determine the future path of the organisation. All the proposed resolutions were approved by the membership and these resolutions have been put into action. BAPSH Ltd revised its Company articles, and now has two Directors, Miss Mary McBryde and Mr Peter Brooks. There is no longer a membership aspect to the company, but there will be ongoing support from our small number of permanent Honorary Life members. All BAPSH Ltd members were offered the opportunity to transfer to the new membership organisation GBPRE or to have a pro-rata refund of their membership.

BAPSH Ltd continues to be the DEFRA Approved UK Passport Office for Purebred Spanish Horses (PRE), handling all aspects of registration, change of ownership, passport issuing and updates & DEFRA CED updates, covering certificates, breeding paperwork etc.

BAPSH Ltd is the UK PRE Studbook affiliated to and collaborating with the ANCCE-LGPRE, handling all their paperwork and Services in the UK and Eire. The BAPSH Ltd Registry Service has never differentiated between Members and non-Members of BAPSH and this non-discrimination will be maintained now that the membership organisation is GBPRE.

28th February 2019 DEFRA approved the re-instatement of BAPSH Ltd’s role to care and manage the  Hispano-Arab Horse population in the UK.

On 6th August 2019 DEFRA registered the New Official Breed Title of PRE Fusion Horse to replace the old term of PRE Partbred for all pedigree bred horses with 25% or more of Approved for Breeding PRE blood; the PRE Fusion Horse breed was added to the Official Government List of Horse Breeds in the UK.  The new PRE Fusion Horse Breeding Programme, developed over the previous 7 months, was also Approved by DEFRA, with the inclusion of PRE-type non-pedigree horses into a new Appendix-B section of the PRE Fusion Horse Studbook.

2020 May 26th, BAPSH Ltd submitted to DEFRA and FAnGR the fully detailed Breeding Programme Applications for two new horse breeds in the UK, the Spanish Spotted Saddle Horse and the Spanish-Norman Horse, which have been in development by BAPSH and two dedicated groups of UK Breeders since 1998 and 2005 respectively. FAnGR requested that we refine and expand both the breeding programmes to deal with concerns about restricted gene pools for the new breeds, and this BAPSH undertook with dedication. As a result of our continued work, the Spanish-Norman Horse Breeding Programme was approved on 24th February 2021 and the Spanish Spotted Saddle Horse Breeding Programme was approved on 26th July 2021 by DEFRA & FAnGR; BAPSH Ltd is the Mother Studbook for both these breeds.

A third new horse breed, the Albion Azteca Horse, remains in the development stage with BAPSH and the AAH breed enthusiasts, all working toward the point where Breeding Programme submission is viable.

After BREXIT in January 2021 the management and responsibility for the Hispano-Arab Horse in the UK was awarded to BAPSH Ltd by DEFRA, all UK HA foal registrations, passports, grading, etc. will now be handled by BAPSH Ltd.

BAPSH Ltd is the official and only National Studbook and Registration organisation for UK & Irish owners and breeders of PREs, PRE Fusion Horses (including PRE-type non-pedigree horses), Hispano-Arabs, Spanish Spotted Saddle Horses, Spanish-Norman Horses, and Albion Azteca Horses.

BAPSH Ltd 2022-01-02