Reference Breeders:

Escalera

The Escalera breeding program is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Spain.  For almost 300 years, they have been one of the most one of the most consistent breeders in the country, breeding bay horses known for their uniformity and functionality.  The Escalera Breeding Program has been documented from as early as 1731, supplying horses to the Royal Court of Portugal.  

Jose Luis Escalera and Maria Fernanda Escalera are brother and sister.  When their father died, they divided the horses between them.  Jose Luis kept the old brand from his father; a ladder with 5 rungs, and Maria Fernanda designed a new brand with 3 rungs and a horseshoe over the top of the ladder.  Escalera means ladder or staircase in Spanish.  Jose Luis now has another brand with a “J” added to the left side of the ladder.

Jose Luis Escalera has always focused on bay horses and, especially, functionality (i.e., movement).  His breeding program has been closely tied to the Spanish Military for generations.  Much of the old, original Military stock came from the Escaleras and a handful of other old-time breeders.  Many of the others are no longer operating, and those who are seem to have followed the more modern trends.  Jose Escalera has not changed.  Consequently, his horses have gone in and out of fashion, although he has always had a strong following.

Jose Luis Escalera has followed the practice of selling off his colts and keeping the best of his fillies for broodmares.  He then breeds the mares to the best of the Military stallions available, always focusing on movement.  He used Maluso, Agente, Lebrijano III and other bay military stallions that were known for their exceptional movement.  By breeding his best moving mares to these elite stallions, he has consistently produced great moving horses.  Jose Luis is less famous for morphology (halter) than he is for winning in functionality (best movement).  His horses are not necessarily especially pretty, but they are always very functional.  Escaleras generally have a little less elevation, but are usually more forward moving with better extension, impulsion, suspension and cadence.  Consequently, they are highly prized in Spain by those looking for dressage-type movement.

When the fashion favored grays that had extreme action and little suspension, Escalera was criticized for not producing horses that were typey enough.  Breed purists claim that the Escalera horses (both brands) and the bay line from Yeguada Militar are not very true to breed type and their movements are too straight forward.  In recent years, as the fashion has turned toward color and functionality, Jose Luis Escalera had become very much in fashion.  Many breeders are proud to have founded their breeding programs on horses from his brand.  Escalera has a waiting list on his unborn foals that is several years long.  A horse with an Escalera brand is very expensive.

Maria Escalera started her breeding program with horses that she acquired from the Jose Luis Escalera herd.  Especially in the early years, most of her winners were not of her own breeding, but from Jose Luis'.  However the two breeders have often interchanged horses.  There is not a big difference in type.  One can often tell an Escalera horse just by looking at it, but it is more difficult to say from which breeder the horse comes.  Maria seems to have gone a little more toward the taller, prettier horses by adding a bit more Bocado blood.  Maria has also produced a number of blacks. 

Both Jose Luis and Maria Fernanda Escalera have produced horses that have won in morphology, in functionality, and in dressage.