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This photo could be a painting

The Spanish refer to the Andalusian horses as Pura Raza Espanola.

Just a walk in the park for Fausto Meza of Philadelphia, who works his 14-year-old Andalusian horse “Marango” on the hills at Belmont Plateau.
Just a walk in the park for Fausto Meza of Philadelphia, who works his 14-year-old Andalusian horse “Marango” on the hills at Belmont Plateau.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Andalusian horses gained their name from the Spanish province of Andalusia, but their origins reach back to prehistoric times.

The Andalusian’s ancestors are the Iberian horses of Spain and Portugal. There are even cave painting of horses, discovered on the Iberian Peninsula in southern Spain dating to 20,000 to 30,000 BC, that are thought to be related to the breed. The Portuguese horse is now called a Lusitano, according to the International Museum of the Horse.

About 80% of Andalusian horses are white or some shade of gray. The horses are known to have a proud but docile temperament and are sensitive and particularly intelligent. Fausto Meza of Philadelphia recently worked his 14-year-old Andalusian horse “Marango” on the hills at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park.