WORLD PHILATELIC EXHIBITION ESPAÑA 2000. CARTHUSIAN HORSES

The third and last part of the series dedicated to the diffusion of the horse of the Cartuja-Hierro del Bocado Stud Farm, a breed known for its bravery, nobility and beauty, is being put into circulation. The issue takes place during the World Philatelic Exhibition "España 2000, which will be held in Madrid between the 6fh and l4th October, and which commemorates the l50th anniversary of the first Spanish stamp.

The Cartuja-Hierro del Bocado Stud Farm was founded at the end of the l5th Century by the Carthusian monks of Jerez, who during the following three centuries looked after it with great care until they obtained one of the moat famous and appreciated horse breeds in the world. This work was interrupted at the beginning of the l9th Cenfury, by the War of lndependence.

The miniature aheet which is being put into circulation has twelve stamps which reproduce six different images of the Carthusian horse. The pictures on the stamps have been drawn using the technique of wash drawing with colour pencils by Felipe Sánchez Pedrero (FESANPE) - an employee of the Post Office and Telegraphs and author of the first issue of this same series in the year 1998- and Miguel Ángel Plaza, of the Royal Mint House, also an artist. All the designs are based on photographs by Miguel Ángel Granados, a photographer of the Post Office and Telegraphs. Appearing along the perforations of the stamps are the stockbreeding irons used by the owners to mark their horses.