Breeding & Sales of Andalusian Horses since 1989 in Pure Spanish Bloodlines

Sommer Ranch relocated to Riverside County, California in 2011.  We now enjoy afternoon ocean breezes and moderate year round temperatures. And Sommer Ranch Andalusians has joined forces with Jessie Shields Performance Horses in Santa Clarita, CA where  visitors are welcome  by appointment to view many of our horses in person.

Sommer Ranch boasts a selection of our own premiere Andalusian stock available for purchase in an array of rare and highly sought after colors including PEARL, Cremello, Buckskin, Palomino, Smokey Black as well as the classic Iberian colors of Gray, Black and Bay. And we offer an excellent selection of breeding stallions available to mare owners in both the United States and Canada.

Our breeding program focuses on Spanish “PRE” horses with both the classic traits that originally made the breed so desirable amongst royalty including courage, versatility, natural athleticism and collectability. We combine it with the modern sport horse type of Andalusian that can also excel in the Dressage ring. So no matter what direction of Equine Sports you seek to conquer, we could be breeding the horse that is just right for you.

Sommer Ranch was the home to the legendary copper bay PRE stallion, BRAVIO. We salute his accomplishments, as well as the accomplishments of his amazing offspring. His passing in August of 2003 has left us with a large hole in our hearts that no one can ever fill. But we look forward to continuing his legacy with his sons, daughters and granddaughters. BRAVIO earned incredible honors during his career as our showing, breeding and exhibition stallion. But most of all, we will always remember him for the loving family member that he was to each of us. (More on this incredible stallion on our BREEDING STALLIONS page.)

It's been a long wait, but we finally have our homozygous pearl stud colt to carry on the Bravio dynasty. His name is APOLLO DEL SOLIS and he was available for his first breedings in spring of 2020. His first foals arrived 2021 and are proving to be truly exceptional; sharing their sire's unique color genes with athletic prowess, and an extraordinary temperament. 

Upcoming stallions include the 2021 Perlino colt (gg Ee AA Cr Cr), Don Diego del Solis combining Bravio lines with Furtivo PM (17h Palomino stallion).  Diego is looking like he will be an outstanding addition to our PRE stallions. Watch for him in the future. 

Sommer Ranch was established in 1989. Since that time Sommer Ranch made genetic history when BRAVIO (the copper bay stallion) produced what appeared to be perlino and cremello babies when bred to Palomino and Buckskin mares.

These first babies arrived in the early to mid-90's and were the result of breeding to outcross mares and....to say the least.....they were a complete surprise!! These babies broke all the then known rule books on color breeding. Bay to Buckskin or Palomino should NOT have produced a double dilute looking horse!?!

Unfortunately the technology of the time was not ready for our unusual little foals and it took almost a decade before we could even think about getting any answers to our many questions. During that time period, an unrelated chestnut Andalusian mare surfaced that could also produce foals that looked double dilute. At first their unique foals were said to have inherited the Bravio/Chica mutation gene. This drew the interest of several very knowledgable individuals in the 'color world' and we were finally able to work in conjunction with a Geneticist and UC Davis.

Based on her hypothesis that there was another gene residing on the same allele as the cream gene....UC Davis went to work and the PEARL gene was officially discovered. It was also determined that this gene was the same rare and unique gene found in a handful of Quarter Horses and then known as the Barlink gene. A gene originally passed down from their Spanish ancestors and now collectively known as PEARL.

Although there is no set standard and variations can be observed, through my personal experience with homozygous creams, homozygous pearls and cream/pearl combinations in our Iberian horses, I have observed that the double creams tend to be much lighter with little to no color change between their bodies and their manes & tails. The cream/pearl horses continue to have the lighter bodies, but their manes, tails and legs have a much deeper bronze hue to them; and the double pearls are bronze all over with eyes that are very dark green. Many of the PEARL horses also seem to have an unusually brilliant shine to their coats.

The PEARL gene is recessive. A horse with a single PEARL gene and no cream, will have no outward color effect. That horse, like our BRAVIO, would have to be DNA tested in order to determine if he/she carries the PEARL gene. But this secret treasure hidden inside can open up a world to many new color combinations including Buckskin Pearl (like PATINA - see Mares/Foals page & photo gallery), Palomino Pearl (like the mare, Guindaleza - see Mares Page) and Smokey Black Pearl - like Oso de Oro (2014 colt sired by Oreo and out of Arista). And when crossed with another PEARL carrier, can produce a stunning homozygous PEARL like our 2016 stallion, Apollo Del Solis (and now available for breeding in 2020) and to Genesis, an Andalusian colt that to the best of our knowledge was the very first homozygous PEARL Andalusian bred and born in the United States. Just as we believe that PATINA was the first Buckskin Pearl PRE filly bred and born in the United States....also in 2011. BRAVIO'S legacy lives on in our breeding program and we couldn't be more proud of the result.