Jerez de la Frontera · Cádiz province
A guided visit to a working stud farm beside the Jerez monastery, ending with a dressage show in the main arena.
Travellers praise how close you get to the horses, and the show that follows the tour. Likely to sell out.
The visit at a glance
How the visit runs
The booking page promises a guided tour followed by a dressage exhibition. These stages set that outline beside the Ministry of Agriculture's description of what the farm shows visitors. On the day, your guide sets the order and the pace.
The farm lies on the road from Jerez towards El Portal, next to the Cartuja monastery. The meeting point and your slot are in the confirmation you receive.
The guide introduces the Carthusian line at different stages of its life, and the monks who first bred it beside the monastery in the late 15th century.
The tour includes the current batch of foals and the mares. One traveller writes of being able to stroke the horses, and reviewers praise the close contact.
The booking page lists free-running colts and free-running stallions among the sights, alongside the mares and foals.
The ministry describes the farm's own visits as taking in the stallion yard, the mare barn, the historic tack room, the carriage museum and the stables. Which of these your group sees is the guide's call.
The visit ends in the main arena with a dressage exhibition. Reviewers call the show short, varied and well run, and one praises the view of the performing horses.
Which yards your group walks through depends on the day, the weather and the herd. Treat this as an outline, not a fixed route.
Four things to know
Wikipedia calls the Carthusian horse, the Cartujano, a bloodline group within the Purebred Spanish horse, the Pura Raza Española, and says its lineage can be traced back to 1476. Outside Spain the horse is usually called the Andalusian.
Spain's Ministry of Agriculture says breeding of this line started in the late 15th century at the Carthusian monastery of Jerez, on the dehesa of Fuente del Suero beside it. The farm you visit stands on that estate.
The ministry says the stud farm belongs to the state's property directorate and is managed by a state company, Expasa. In March 2019 it was named a national reference centre for the equine sector.
Wikipedia describes Carthusian horses as predominantly grey. It also explains that grey horses are typically born a darker colour and lighten with age, so foals and old mares look very different side by side.
The ticket, and what to check first
The first three items describe what you get. The other three deserve a look before you pick a day.
A live guide leads you past free-running mares, colts and stallions, and the current foals, on the farm that keeps the Carthusian line.
The tour finishes with a dressage show in the main arena.
The live guide works in all three languages. The booking page also tags the tour as wheelchair accessible.
The booking page describes a walk and an exhibition. If you hope for anything more, ask the provider through your confirmation before you go.
Some travellers say large groups and low volume made the guide hard to hear. Stand near the front when the group gathers.
The page advises comfortable shoes and clothes and a face covering. Video filming is off limits, and so are pets, with assistance dogs the one exception.
The stud farm in pictures
Photographs of the stud farm taken on other days, the monastery beside it, and Carthusian horses at a show in 2006. None is a record of a particular visit.
Four ways to fill a morning near Jerez
| Plan | What it is | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|
| Carthusian horses at the stud farm | This page's ticket: a guided tour of a working stud farm and a dressage exhibition, roughly two and a half hours. | Horse lovers, and anyone curious about a historic line |
| Bodegas Fundador tour and tasting | The second card: a guided visit through a sherry and brandy bodega and its museum, with a tasting. About two hours. | Travellers who want Jerez's sherry story |
| Jerez city walk and the Alcázar | The third card: a two-hour guided walk from the Plaza del Arenal to the Alcázar. Two adults minimum. | First-timers who want the city's history |
| Cádiz hop-on hop-off bus | The fourth card: an open-top bus with fifteen stops around Cádiz, valid for two days. | Anyone who wants to see Cádiz at their own pace |
Around Jerez
Card one is the stud-farm visit this page describes. The others are a guided tour of a sherry and brandy bodega, a guided walk from the old town to the Alcázar of Jerez, and a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Cádiz.
A guided tour of a working stud farm beside the Jerez monastery, followed by a dressage show. The ticket runs roughly two and a half hours.
A guided walk through a sherry and brandy bodega and its museum, ending with a tasting. The provider calls it the oldest bodega in Jerez.
A two-hour guided walk from the Plaza del Arenal through the old town to the Alcázar, with the cathedral and the church of San Dionisio on the route. Two adults is the minimum booking.
An open-top double-decker bus with fifteen stops around Cádiz and audio guides in ten languages. The ticket stays valid for two days from first use.
Also in Jerez de la Frontera
Plan the morning
The calendar lists a different start time for each day, and the confirmation email repeats yours. Set aside roughly two and a half hours.
The farm is on a country road outside the city. The booking page gives the meeting point as Carretera Medina El Portal, CA3109, km 6.5. A hire car or a taxi is the practical choice.
The page asks for comfortable shoes and comfortable clothes. Take a face covering too, as the page suggests.
Large groups can make the guide hard to hear, so move to the front when the group gathers.
Filming on video is off limits on this tour. Pets stay at home; the one exception is an assistance dog.
A booking can be dropped without charge until the day before, and payment may be left until afterwards.
Go deeper
The short answer 
Which to choose FAQ
A Carthusian horse, or Cartujano, is a bloodline within Spain's Pura Raza Española, bred by the Carthusian monks of Jerez from the late 15th century. Wikipedia describes it as predominantly grey and notes it is a bloodline group, not a separate breed.
A live guide walks the group past mares, foals, colts and stallions at a working stud farm. A dressage exhibition in the main arena closes the visit. The whole ticket runs roughly two and a half hours.
On the road from Jerez towards El Portal, beside the Cartuja monastery, at about kilometre 6.5. The booking page gives the meeting point as Carretera Medina El Portal, CA-3109, km 6.5.
The booking page describes a tour and a show, not a ride. Ask the provider through your confirmation if you want anything more.
Filming on video is off limits on this tour. Pets stay at home, with assistance dogs the one exception.
Spanish, English and German. Choose the language option that matches yours when you book.
The booking page tags it as wheelchair accessible. Ask the provider about the ground and the approach if that matters to you.
Free cancellation holds until the day before the visit, and you may reserve a date today and settle the bill later.
Pick a date and the price appears in your currency.