Testimonials

Searching for my one and only youngster is a mine field, but a close friend spotted a picture of a handsome well put together PRE youngster on Facebook.

Having seen the photo, I promptly contacted the stud, had the pleasure of meeting Karen and Ray whom I have to say seemed to be and have proven to be professional, honest and genuine breeders showing true compassion for both their animals and potential owners.

So nervously I committed my life to Aztec Eleodoro whom I have to say is turning into a stunning superb example of the breed with a temperament to match. There was no pressure to take ownership and any advice offered then and now is done in a reassuring manner making owning my first foal a truly pleasurable experience.

The work the team put into him to allow safe vetting, handling and travelling has stood as an excellent basis and regular comments of how well he was on arrival and still is , I am sure started with Karen and Ray.

I would not hesitate to recommend these beautiful well-mannered examples that come from a herd to match.

 

Sara and Aztec Eleodoro

Leicestershire

July 2016

In May 2014 I  came across a post on facebook from Aztec Andalusians, the picture was of a beautiful black mare and her gorgeous black colt foal born only the day before,  Aztec Aventurero. My husband Paul and I along with our daughters Kirsty and Katy had moved from Berkshire to East Sussex with our horses in December 2012 and sadly in September 2013 my mother passed away, Pauls father was also very poorly and my own father was suffering with Alzheimer?s, with so much sadness around us it dawned on me that in a few years I would be 50, and it was about time I got my dream a beautiful black stallion and a Spanish one at that! I had already fallen in love but already having 15 horses would Paul agree to me having another which would be probably my last horse,       (Ha ha famous last words) I messaged Karen who told me that he was for sale, I texted Paul who was out with friends and I think a bit worse for wear from drinking a bit too much, however this worked in my favour as he agreed we could visit the stud to see him. Go and see him?! I had already decided he was mine! We visited Aztec Stud when Ace was just 9 days old, Karen and Ray were very welcoming and showed us around their wonderful stud where the horses are kept as horses, in herds and all looking very relaxed, we said hello to Ace and Paul took many pictures, not just of Ace but all of the lovely horses at the stud. Karen made us tea and we sat around talking about the horses, and after this Paul handed over some pictures of the Queen to Karen our deposit for Ace!

Whilst being shown around we met another rather nice youngster a bay yearling Colt Aztec Vespertino, he was very friendly and we were quite taken by him, on the way home Paul kept talking about him and I got the feeling he was quite smitten by him. Over the next few weeks Karen would update me regularly on Ace?s progress and would send lots of pictures and Paul? well he kept talking about Tino. He was still a colt and if I?m honest I knew having a colt for Paul would be impractical as it would be his first horse so he would need a gelding... Well call it fate, a few weeks later Karen posted on Facebook that Tino had just been gelded, I told Paul that evening and we decided that we would call Karen and ask if we could buy him, Karen was overjoyed and we arranged to collect him in July, this gave us another opportunity to visit Ace as well! We collected Tino and again Karen and Ray gave us a warm welcome, although this time we brought cake! We had cuddles with Ace and were taken around the stud again to meet the new arrivals, one being a gorgeous month old PRE black colt Aztec Ebano who had legs that any super model would be jealous of, it didn?t occur to me at that point he also would later be joining us! Tino was loaded and we headed back to East Sussex, Karen?s words to us were ?please let me know when you get home? Karen cares so much for her babies and just would not sleep if she didn?t know they were safely tucked up in their new home. Our journey didn?t go quite to plan as the lorry suffered a blowout, after calling the breakdown services we advised Karen what had happened just so she didn?t panic as we now would be home much later. Tino?s arrival came just at the right time, only about a week later Paul?s dad passed away, Tino gave Paul something else to think about and as we all know horses can be very therapeutic in times of need and Tino gave Paul this in his time of sadness. Unfortunately my own father also passed away in the October and Karen agreed that I could collect Ace in November , I collected him 2 days before my father?s funeral, a bitter sweet time and I?m sure having Ace around kept me busy and looking forward to the future. Karen always loves to see the youngsters growing up and loves to see pictures of them and offers valuable advice when needed. Over the next few months there was some banter between Karen and myself and equally my daughter Kirsty and Katy about us purchasing the remaining 2014 foal Aztec Ebano. After a few months it was decided that Ebano would join us, he would be great asset to our own stud which was in its infancy, so we called Karen completely out of the blue and said we would like to purchase him, she was thrilled and a few weeks later we collected him and he was reunited with his half- brother Ace! July 2015 we took Ace and Ebano to the breed show, Karen attended and there were a few tears when Ace won his class and took the youngstock part bred championship,  and Karen was clearly very proud when she heard the judges remarks regarding Ebano who came 3rd in his youngstock class, many pictures were taken and we presented her a drawing that we had commissioned by her good friend Caroline, of Currante VI  Karen?s lovely stallion, this was our way of saying thank you for breeding beautiful horses and allowing us to own 3 of them? Oh did I say 3??..Mmmmm in 2016 Karen and her good friend Caroline  approached me regarding a mare they jointly owned , Aztecs Campanilla  a  part bred appaloosa mare that Karen had bred, sold, but then bought back by Karen and Caroline. She needed to be brought back into work, so they asked me if this was something my twin daughters Kirsty and Katy could do, Kirsty and Katy were thrilled and we agreed and we collected ?Nina?  at the end of August. However, it wasn?t long that the whole family had fallen for her and so we approached Karen and Caroline to see if we could purchase her, they were both over the moon so Nina became our 4th Aztec horse?. And there was me thinking Ace was going to be my last horse!!

Karen and Ray have spent many years building their wonderful stud and in this time built a reputation second to none, the horses are kept as ?horses first? and are allowed to express natural horse behaviour with each other in small herd groups and if you are ever fortunate to visit the stud you too will come away just as chilled as the equine residents. Buying a youngster from The Aztec Stud guarantees the prospective owner that it has been very well cared for from conception to the day you collect and beyond, they love to follow every hoofstep, sharing memories and will be with you the whole journey if need be, they don?t forget their babies after they have sold them, proving their love and passion for their stud and horses they breed is far from being just skin deep.

Michelle Snelling

Gablesoast Stud, East Sussex

What a refreshing change to find a Stud with the knowledge and skills to keep horses together in a herd, as nature intended. You won't find any solitary confinement for Stallions here.
Happy, healthy horses with confident, well handled foals. Our handsome new baby is beautifully put together and a real pleasure to own.
We have kept performance horses for many years and meeting Karen and Ray at Aztec Stud truly was a breath of fresh air. Their knowledge of bloodlines and genetics was quite extraordinary!

Mike and Helen Howells
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Feb 2016

I bought Aztec Recorte from Aztec Stud in December 2015, however I had spotted him and put a deposit down on him a couple of months prior. I have ALWAYS wanted an Andalusian; ever since I was very young and I knew about different horse breeds, this breed was always ear marked in my books.

Karen and Ray were both keen for me to get to know Recorte before he came to his new home with me so he could familiarise himself with someone before hitting a new herd. They were incredibly flexible and supportive with my visits to see him and have been so supportive ever since.

Recorte has settled amazingly well and is taking to everything so brilliantly. He is so brave and intelligent and just takes everything in his stride. I truly believe this is due to Karen and Ray giving him the best start and how they nurture their foals, expose them to new situations etc, as well as allowing me to visit as often as I could. He is an absolute dream and I am so very happy we found each other and also made fabulous friends in Karen and Ray on the way. Will definitely be keeping in touch.

Sophie

Jan 16