The Azteca is a cross between a Pure Spanish Horse (PRE) or a Lusitano Horse and an American Quarter Horse (AQH) or an American Paint Horse (APH.) It originated in Mexico and is also the National Horse of Mexico.

Origins:
The development of the Azteca began in 1972, when Mexican ranchers decided to create a ranch horse who can also perform well in a variety of disciplines. To this end, they crossed Andalusian stallions with AQH and Criollo mares. These crosses, along with selective breeding, created the Azteca.

A versatile breed:
The Azteca is an all-around breed that combines the agility, speed, and cow-sense required for working cows, with the lightness and disposition required for performing well in other disciplines, such as dressage.

The versatility of this breed made it famous in Mexico, where it became popular. In addition, this breed is also found in the USA and, to a lesser extent, in Europe.

Breeding:
Even though that the Azteca is an established breed, the registry still allows Azteca/PRE/Lusitano x Azteca/AQH/APH crosses to be registered as Azteca horses, as long as they have between 37.5% to 50% PRE/Lusitano blood, with the remaining percent being AQH/APH blood.

When it comes to Thoroughbred blood, Azteca horses cannot have more than 25% Thoroughbred blood. As such horses who have more than 25% Thoroughbred blood are not allowed to be used as breeding stock. In Horse Isle, this means that American Quarter/Paint Race Horses are not allowed to be used as breeding stock.

Last, the breeding programs for Azteca horses prefer that foals will have at least one Azteca parent. Therefore, in Horse Isle, the only way to get purebred Azteca foals is by crossing two Azteca horses together. This also ensures that purebred foals don't have excessive Lusitano/Andalusian/AQH/APH blood.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Azteca horses in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 15.6-17.0, 16.3 (0.3), 0.06.
Sprint: 62-74, 68 (3), 0.51.

Accel: 1.04-1.23, 1.12 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.99-1.17, 1.07 (0.03), 0.01.

Jump: 5.09-5.34, 5.20 (0.06), 0.01.
Pull: 2.34-3.11, 2.76 (0.17), 0.03.

Turning: 61.40-74.69, 67.36 (3.42), 0.67.
Reverse: 2.8-3.5, 3.2 (0.2), 0.03.

Stamina: 51.45-56.30, 54.03 (0.98), 0.19.
Reaction: 0.76-0.85, 0.81 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors & patterns: all colors and patterns except for dominant black, leopard, manchado, and mealy.

Height: 14.2hh to 16.1hh