“Only stallions have the right temperament,” says the man in the shiny black riding boots, tight tunic and black sombrero, with just a glint and hint of sexist arrogance. “They are thoroughbreds, just like the All Blacks.”

Except that the horses in the equestrian school are mostly greys, magnificent Carthusian pure bred horses, their line going back to the 15th century, when local monks began the genealogical line. Like any top class sportsmen, the horses were in prime condition and rude health, all toned muscle and sinew and shiney coats, and carried themselves magnificently.

Rafael Soto, the top rider in Jerez’s equestrian school – La Fundacion Real Escuela Andaluza Del Arte Ecuestre – is explaining to me why they only have stallions for their exhibitions of horse dancing and dressage. He knows a thing or too about horses as he has competed in three Olympic Games and was a Silver Medal winner at the last in Athens.

We were being shown around the stables during the interval of the twice weekly exhibitions (Tuesdays and Thursdays 12 noon tickets from £10). The smell of hay and horse and testosterone (and not just from the horses) was palpable, but I did notice that one of the dozen or so riders was female.

And the choreography of the exhibition, accompanied by classical and Andalusian country music, was a delight – horses and riders as one – demonstrating skills of trotting and turning and rearing and jumping that go back centuries. The equines, with their arched necks and tossing manes, pranced and filtered and swept around the vast ‘stage’, the sand-filled arena with tiered seats for 1,600.

The horse dance show is the most spectacular result of what goes on at the equestrian centre. For besides the training of dressage riders, there is other training too. There is a carriage training programme and museum – the carriages themselves are authentic works of art, and they become living art when the horses are harnessed up.

There are also courses for saddlers, stable grooms and veterinary science with diplomas offered in Sport Technicians in Equitation and Occupational Professional Training.

Jerez is also famous for flamenco. There are numerous restaurants in the city of 200,000 that put on shows. We went to the La Taberna Flamenca. With a meal the evening costs £20. The six singers and dancers, (two women, four men) and guitarist looked a pretty motley crew as they stubbed their fags before sauntering on to the stage just before 11pm (Spaniards eat late – only the Brits go to restaurants at 8pm).

Fortified by a glass or two of sherry they fairly exploded into their first number with foot stamping and hand clapping and manic guitar playing. In turn, the men and women danced, and contrary to what I had expected there was not a single castanet among them. The percussion was skin on skin and leather on wood.

The finale – all thrilling hand movements, shaping the human form, hip jutting, shoulder swiveling, head tossing sensuousness – with the scruffy group dancing up a storm - reached a passionate crescendo. A standing ovation was spontaneous.

Passionate too was Ignatio, who showed us around the Bodegas Tradicion (£10 with a tasting and a visit to the art gallery). His colleague whispered to us as we awaited the start of the tour that he “had sherry in his veins.”

Unapologetically, Ignatio told us that the new bodegas was concentrating on the top end of the sherry and brandy market – “We count our sales in bottles, not cases. Each is hand numbered and supplied with an extra cork as you are unlikely to finish the bottle in one sitting. Last year we sold 10,000 bottles. This year we aim to sell 13,000.”

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