The 2021 Olympic ride of Portugal’s João Torrão, Equador MVL, has died at the age of 13.

The Lusitano stallion, owned bv Monte Velho Equo Resort, Marc Lebbe and Katarzyna Gontarska, died following emergency surgery for a cervical injury.

“Following a cervical injury, Equador had an emergency surgery undertaken by one of the world’s leading surgeons in France, but despite all the efforts, he hasn’t survived the post-surgery,” said a statement from Diogo Lima Mayer, director at Monte Velho.

Equador burst onto the international grand prix scene with João in 2019, blazing a trail for Lusitanos in the sport at top level. The pair of them were based with Carl Hester during the summer that year, and competed very successfully on the British circuit, including winning the grand prix special at Hickstead CDIO3* in July 2019. They were selected to ride for Portugal at the European Championships in Rotterdam that year, and made history by helping a Portuguese team gain Olympic qualification.

In 2021 Equador and João competed for Portugal at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing 29th in the grand prix with just over 70%, and 23rd in the grand prix special. This was to be their final competitive appearance.

Equador and João Torrão “have developed a partnership difficult to express in words,” said Diogo Lima Mayer. “They have written history for Portugal and the Lusitano breed, breaking records and opening new horizons for our country in dressage. Their history has inspired us and the whole equestrian community worldwide.

“Equador has left no one indifferent with whom he crossed paths, impressing with his adorable character, golden heart and fighting spirit. He was simply the perfect horse to handle, a true champion in all ways. His spirit stays with us in the hearts of his multiple offspring. His soul will be forever present in our minds, this horse was one in a million.

“We will honour his legacy and his memory by continuing the outstanding path he started for our stud-farm in international dressage.”

Charlotte Dujardin and Alice Oppenheimer are among the top names to have paid tribute to Equador on social media.

“He and João were such a magical partnership,” said Alice.

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When Shayne Allise Steyteyieh was growing up, she was advised to abandon her dream of riding horses. However, the Jordanian rider did no such thing, and now aged 30, is on a path to becoming the first female Middle Eastern dressage Olympian.

“I always had the dream, even though I didn’t know much about dressage when I was young, but as a Middle Eastern girl, I was always told I couldn’t do it, and that I should focus on something small in life,” explains Shayne, whose father is from Jordan, but who herself grew up in northern California in the USA.

“I thought I might have more chance of accomplishing my dreams across the country, and so at 18 I decided to move to Kentucky,” she adds. “I showed up at a yard, Woodspring Farm, and the trainer there, Kathy Priest, said that I could work for her, but I would need my own horse.

“That night I saw an advert online for a thoroughbred, and I messaged the owner to explain that I was young and had no money, but I had a night job and would be a working student during the day, and hoped to ride at prix st georges [PSG] by the end of the year. She ended up sending me the horse to ride – and we competed at PSG by the end of that year.”

That horse was Just Livingston, a now 19-year-old chestnut gelding by Loerke, and with him Shayne went on to compete in international young riders in her first year of dressage. But it was being introduced to Thiago Mantovani of Campline Horses, who invited Shayne to visit his base in Portugal, that kickstarted the next stage of her career.

“Immediately after arriving at Campline, I thought, ‘These are my people’,” says Shayne, who is now based at Campline, working alongside the likes of Campline’s Tokyo Olympic riders João Victor Marcari Oliva (Brazil) and Rodrigo Moura Torres (Portugal). She was taken aback by the levels of their support and confidence in her abilities and prospects.

Shayne Allise Steyteyieh: an ambassador for dressage in Jordan

With her new partner, the eight-year-old Lusitano stallion Infinito Campline, whom she describes as “incredible”, Shayne’s ultimate goal started to take shape – riding for Jordan at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“It has always been important to me to ride for Jordan,” explains Shayne, who lost her father in early 2020 but still has extended family in the country. “Growing up, I was always being told I needed to think small, and now I want Middle Eastern women to have a role model, someone to show them that they can achieve their dreams. There is a lot of negativity in the world, but I want to use dressage, which happens to be what I am passionate about, as a platform to inspire others, help them make it through another day, another year – and to represent my people.”

Shayne explains that while Jordan is one of the more liberal Middle Eastern nations, many women grow up with a “limiting mindset”.

“I have always wanted to, not prove others wrong, but prove myself right,” she says, adding that she hopes to help the sport of dressage grow in Jordan and the entire Middle East.

“Jordan has not had a dressage rider at top level before – it is predominantly showjumping and endurance there – but I think there is some excitement about it.

“I would love in the future for there to be a dressage team from the Middle East – that is a huge dream of mine,” she says with passion. “I want to help a dressage culture grow within the Middle East, and encourage women in particular to feel a passion for it as I do. Dressage is a sport of discipline, passion and love and it helps give someone purpose every day. I also think that Lusitanos with their great characters and minds really have a place in the Middle East.”

For now, Shayne is focused on getting out competing in 2022 and setting her Olympic dream in motion. She’s been on quite a journey to get to this point, and the next chapter is just beginning.

“I’m here thanks to a little bit of crazy, and a little bit of luck, and an incredible team,” she laughs. “And now I am going to work my absolute hardest.”

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One of the most exuberant post-test celebrations of the first day of grand prix at the Tokyo Olympics came from Portuguese rider Rodrigo Torres.

The 44-year-old Olympic debutant threw both hands in the air as he finished his test with the 11-year-old Lusitano stallion Fogoso. The pair scored 72.624%.

“That’s the best he could have given me, one of the best tests I’ve done with him, and imagine doing that at the Olympics,” said Rodrigo. “He was really fresh, really helping me and I’m so happy.”

The grey, by Rico out of a Raja mare, was bred by Rodrigo’s family and they also use him as a breeding stallion.

“We’ve bred horses for a long time and it’s a big honour for me to be at the Olympics with a horse bred by my family,” said Rodrigo.

“His name, Fogoso, means he’s full of power.”

The rider said the horse passes on his characteristics to his offspring.

“He passes on the way he moves, his trot, his talent to do passage and piaffe. I have some of his sons and they really have his talent.”

Rodrigo said that his Olympic experience is “super”.

“You always dream about this, but sometimes in the middle of the journey, you think it is not possible but in the end, maybe the stars were in line and I’m here,” he said.

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The Lusitano stallion Fenix De Tineo ridden by Maria Caetano was a real head-turner, producing a sparkling test on the first day of grand prix dressage at the Tokyo Olympics (24 July).

The pair are making their Olympic dressage debut as part of the Portuguese team, which is currently lying fifth after day one, and were rewarded with a score of 70.31% to sit fourth in group B.

“He does have a lot of character,” said Maria, adding the 11-year-old (Rubi x Oheide), owned by Yeguada Finca Tineo, LDA, does like to remind everyone he is a stallion.

“He’s been with me since he was a young horse, four years old. So he’s almost like a pet, I know him very very well!

“It was an honour that he’s come here and because I have been qualified with my other horse Coroado, and he got injured, right at the end of 2020. So I had to run with him to qualify.”

Fenix De Tineo’s place at Tokyo has kept the Games in the family, as he shares the same sire with Coroado and is out of a similar mare. Maria considers them “brothers”.

Maria explained how the little stallion rose to the late challenge of qualifying for Tokyo with gusto.

“We started to really take [aiming him for Tokyo] seriously in February,” she said. “We went to Doha Qatar, and he really got in and said, ‘no I’m in the five-star competition now – I will defend my brother, and I will make it!’

“They have really different strong points. Coroado was very clear and good in all the exercises and spectacular in the passage.

“This one [Fenix De Tineo] is really really good in passage and piaffe, but then he has lower points in the canter. But I think with one or two more years of experience, he will get to the Coroado’s level.”

Maria, 34, added the hot and humid conditions were an additional challenge, but she was happy with how the horse went.

“He did a very correct test, we didn’t lose points through mistakes, so we could maintain the average we have been doing in qualifications,” she said.

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We’ve seen Iberians excelling in international dressage with Spanish and Portuguese riders, but they are growing in popularity with amateurs in the UK, too. Tessa Waugh charts the growing interest

Thirty years ago, there were very few Iberian horses in Britain and if you wanted to ride one, you needed to travel to Portugal or Spain. More recently, British riders have become increasingly interested in Iberians and many more are being imported and bred here in the UK. There are now several competitions exclusively for them in dressage and showing, and numbers of competitors are rising in both disciplines. So why are Iberians drawing such plaudits and how do they differ from other breeds?

Virginia Draper (pictured) traces her interest back seven years, to a trekking holiday in Andalusia. The holiday started a love a air with Diamante, the PRE (Pura Raza Española, or Pure Breed Spanish) stallion she rode on that occasion and several more times when she returned to the area.

“His owner, Donna, always joked that I should take him home because it would be cheaper than all the holidays,” she laughs, and three years later she did.

Diamante was 12 when he came to London and was stabled in Hackney close to Virginia’s home and the Lee Valley Riding Centre. It is testament to the versatility of the breed and the rapport he had with his owner that this foreign horse, born and bred in the Andalusian mountains, adapted so well to life in Britain.

“He had never been in an arena and as a foal he lived in a garage with his mother,” Virginia explains.

The two of them went on to have success in the show ring alongside TREC, dressage to music and horse agility. Diamante is currently the GBPRE (the organisation representing pure and part-bred Spanish horses in the UK) part-bred performance points champion of the UK for the second year running, and has been crowned the Foreign Breed Festival Shows national concours d’elegance champion. They are now competing in veteran classes and Diamante added reserve champion foreign breed at the Veteran Horse Society Championships in 2019.

“I dreamed of doing one dressage test with him,” Virginia enthuses, “but he has let me do so much more.”

Two years ago, Virginia consolidated her interest by buying another Iberian horse. Caprecossa is PRE crossed with Lusitano.

“He is a hotter horse,” explains Virginia, “but the trait I notice in both Diamante and Caprecossa is that they like their humans a lot. The trust an Iberian gives their owner is incredible and that is what creates such successful partnerships.”

Louise Baker is a more recent convert, having owned her Lusitano, Educado or Eddie, for four years (pictured below). Like Virginia, Louise’s first experience of riding an Iberian horse was abroad.

“I went out to Portugal, and it was the first time I learned that horses could go sideways,” she recalls. “There are dressage centres out there where you can ride a flying change for the first time and piaffe and passage. I had only ridden riding club types and I was smitten.”

Louise was blown away by the Lusitanos’ willingness and ability in the dressage arena.

“They are so naturally capable because of the way they are built. We do unaffiliated dressage and some working equitation. My main focus is schooling and having fun.

“It is all about riding something that is completely tuned into you, that you can trust and that is so easy and comfortable. Eddie is the only horse that makes me smile every time I ride.”

Discovering a Lusitano horse has changed her attitude to other breeds: “I have ridden all kinds of horses but nothing matches the Iberians. They have incredible personalities and their attitude is always, ‘Where shall we go next?’ rather than, ‘Really? Make me do it.’”

Louise’s friend Zoe Paramore started her Lusitano stud in Somerset with her much-admired black stallion Atinado and now has several clients who have bought Lusitanos which they keep at livery with Zoe.

“It is fantastic to have so many Lusitanos in this small corner of Somerset,” she says. “We all enjoy watching each other progress and having fun together at competitions and other outings like fun and beach rides.”

In Zoe’s experience, Lusitanos are more workable than Arabs, which she had previously.

“Arabs can give you an argument but a Lusitano doesn’t,” she says. “But they are not like a cob that’s ridden once a week from the field; they are far too intelligent for that and will end up causing chaos. The ones here are not worked every day but they are worked regularly. You need to keep them occupied.”

Charlotte Crocker-Westlake has been breeding Spanish horses since 2003 and is currently one of the biggest breeders of PRE horses in the UK. Like Virginia and Louise, her story began on holiday. Charlotte was 15 and had just lost her beloved Welsh section D when she first sat on a ve-year-old Spanish stallion.

“My mum looked at me and said, ‘That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile since Andy died,’” she remembers. “We made the crazy decision to buy him and bring him home. We went on to buy two mares and another stallion and never looked back.”

Charlotte has done a lot with Iberian horses since then, not only breeding them but competing in dressage and showing as well.

“There is a misconception that they are easy,” she cautions. “I’ve never known

a nasty Spanish horse, but they can be complicated. They try a bit too hard and can get anxious when they don’t understand your commands. Also, they can be keen and people can misconstrue that. It is usually down to a lack of communication between horse and rider.”

Charlotte adds that they are very stoical physically and will go on trying to give their best even when they are in pain. It is her view that demand has grown because of their increased prominence in the competition world.

“A lot of professionals have taken them on as a pet and realised, ‘This horse is really fun to train and really bright,’ and wanted to do more with them,” she says. “I’ve seen more and more with some really fab riders which get them seen by a wider audience.”

When it comes to training, Charlotte says, the main lesson is to encourage them to relax and slow down. There is also an important management detail.

“They can be quite intolerant to sugar, so laminitis can be an issue,” cautions Charlotte. “In Spain they are used to picking at a bit of grass and not getting a lot to eat so it can be a problem if they are put onto a lush paddock in the UK.”

Also, treatment of horses is different here.

“In Spain they tend to rule with an iron fist and sometimes the stallions can get out of hand when they come to Britain where we are typically softer on our animals,” she says.

Professional dressage rider and trainer Justine Armitage has ridden Iberians for 20 years, alongside her sister, Janine Pendlebury-Lee, who owns the Pen-Llyn Lusitano stud.

“They were a military horse and then bred for bull fighting so they are extremely agile,” explains Justine, who cut a swathe through the competition on both her Iberian horses at the last Masters du Cheval Ibérique (MCI), a dressage league for Iberian horses in Europe.

Justine says: “They begin life as a foal wanting to piaffe and passage, you just have to make them wait. They are so incredibly intelligent and eager to please that you only have to think about what you want them to do and they do it.”

Director and studbook registrar of the British Association for the Purebred Spanish Horse (BAPSH) Mary McBryde has a long involvement with PRE horses and has watched interest grow. In 2009 overall registrations for the BAPSH were just 45, rocketing up to 182 in 2019, and this number continued to increase through 2020.

Mary believes there are many qualities that make them attractive to amateur riders.

“They have a great work ethic,” she says. “Some of the imported ones have had really difficult lives, but they don’t seem to lose their belief in people.”

Their size also makes them an attractive prospect, says Mary, as the normal range of height is 15hh to 16.2hh.

“Many warmbloods are huge and you don’t need a 17hh horse if you are 5ft 5in,” she says. “They give you a big ride for a smaller horse because of their lovely fronts, and even when they buck, they seem to buck in a comfortable way. Most of them jump extremely well, too.”

The Lusitano Breed Society of Great Britain has witnessed a similar surge in registrations. Studbook secretary Julianne Fernandez notes that back in the 1970s, when breed a cionado Sylvia Loch brought them into the country, there were only 20 or so on British soil. This year and last, there were around 80 registered.

“People go to Portugal and fall in love with them but when they get them back to England, they use them for all the things you use an English horse for,” says Julianne.

For all their ability in dressage, Julianne says there is so much more to them than that. “Working equitation is an up-and-coming sport and there are many Iberian horses who do endurance. They excel at super-collected work because of their conformation and mindset but they can do all the Pony Club activities as well.”

It sounds as if numbers will continue to increase.

Ref: 4 February 2021

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At next week's Olympia Horse Show (13-19 December) the elegant Portuguese Lusitanos will be in action demonstrating their power and athleticism. Get yourself up to speed on the breed with these fast facts

1. As the indigenous Iberian horse from Portugal, the Lusitano is thought to be one of the oldest breeds of horse in the world. The breed’s existence can be traced back to 1700BC, shown by cave paintings in the Escoural Caves in Alentejo.

2. They tend to be of a lighter, more workmanlike build than Spanish breeds such as the Andalusian, reflecting the fact that the Portuguese Lusitano was traditionally bred for bullfighting and equitation, rather than parade.

3. A piece of fur called a Xairel is worn behind traditional Portuguese saddles, covering the horse’s loins, the original purpose of which was to prevent the tils of the rider’s jacket coming into contact with the horse’s coat, and becoming dirty.

4. It is common for children in Portugal to learn to ride on Lusitanos — many riding schools don’t have ponies. “They are spirited but sane,” says Sherene Rahmatallah of Sussex Lusitanos. “They would never buck or try to get a rider off.”

5. Lusitanos tend to mature late — a horse wouldn’t be expected to reach the peak of its training until the age of 12, and many continue to work to a high standard well into their 20s.

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6. Lusitanos are still used to manage cattle on huge estates in Portugal, and were primarily bred for their canter — very little trotting is required when out working on the land. The talent for the canter, and collected work, has translated into the dressage arena, where many Lusitanos excel.

7. The first Lusitano to win an Olympic medal was Guizo, ridden to team silver in Athens by Spain’s Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobo. In London 2012, Rubi became the first Lusitano to qualify for the Olympic kür, delighting the crowds with rider Gonçalo Carvalho. More recently, all four members of the Brazilian dressage team at the 2016 Rio Olympics rode Lusitanos.

Find out how our writer fared when she tried riding a Lusitano in the 8 December issue of Horse & Hound magazine, out on Thursday

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

The luxe red jackets, hats worthy of a fancy dress box and gleaming stallions might look familiar — but what is the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art all about?

1. It’s one of the big four

Along with the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Royal Andalusian School of Jerez and French Cadre Noir in Saumur, the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art (EPAE) is considered to be one of the four elite classical riding academies in the world.

2. What’s its purpose?

Its aim is to preserve and teach Portugal’s long and renowned heritage of classical horsemanship and equestrian art.

3. How did it begin?

The EPAE was founded in 1979 by the Ministry of Agriculture, with Guilherme Borba and João Costa Ferreira responsible for setting it up. The school was temporarily housed at the Portuguese Equestrian Society in Campo Grande, Lisbon, and later moved to the stables in the Gardens of the National Palace of Queluz when construction work was competed in 1996.

It is a reconstruction of the Royal Riding School, the equestrian academy of the Portuguese court that was closed down in the 19th century.

3. Promoting Lusitanos

The school aims to raise the profile of the Lusitano horse through its public performances. The horses are bred at the Alter Real Stud Farm. The stud was established in 1748 by King João V to supply the royal household and its riding school with horses. Today the EPAE has around 50 Lusitano horses, all of which are stallions.

5. The kit

The riders’ kit includes a black felt tricorn hat; a bordeaux velvet coat with a black collar and gold and black braid, complete with large gold buttons with the arms of King João V; yellow metal spurs; black leather gaiters; breeches with gold buttons and a long-sleeved collarless shirt.

6. The exercises

Starting with “Baixa Escola” (or low school), the horses learn to perfect walk, trot and canter in perfect balance. Later, they go onto the Haute École exercises such as the passage, the piaffe, the pirouettes, the timed half-pass and also the airs above the ground such as the levades, the pesades, the courbettes, the balotades and the caprioles — demonstrating the splendour of baroque riding and 18th century horsemanship.

7. How you can watch them in action yourself

Like the sound of it? You can watch the school’s public shows and training at the Picadeiro Henriqe Calado in Belém, just outside Lisbon. Visit arteequestre.pt to find out more.

VIDEO: Meet Antonio Borba Monteiro, master rider at the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art

Classical trainer Jenny Rolfe from Naturally Classical, who hosts clinics with Antonio at her Devon base, talks to him about the school’s traditions, how he got involved and his way of training.

Sadly Dr Guilherme Borba, who Antonio talks about, passed away on 4 January aged 84.

If you would like to experience your own taste of the EPAE, Antonio will be holiding a clinic in Devon on 16-17 April 2016. Visit naturallyclassical.com for more information.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Lorenzo, the “Flying Frenchman“, will be headlining the Adrenaline show in London’s ExCel centre next month (16-18 November).

During the show Lorenzo will appear with his troop of 12 grey Lusitanos. Other leading equestrian artists will be performing alongside various acts including dance, circus and acrobatics.

Lorenzo will showcase his “extreme riding skills and natural horsemanship“, including performing while standing on the back of bridleless horses.

Speaking about the show and getting involved with horses, Lorenzo said: “In the beginning I was a bit afraid of horses, there were always horses at home, but they were a bit frightening, they were big, impressive.

“By about six years old though I was happy to go riding alone around where I lived.

“In the life of any horse rider, their first horse is the most important. Like my little horse, Niasque, from the Carmargue, who gave me confidence and allowed me to grow up.”

His high-risk routines, however, can end in injury: “There was once when I injured myself during a show. It was down to me, I made a mistake — I hurt my back, badly.

“It was in London. They said I had nothing wrong but actually I had a compression of the vertebrae and could have been paralysed.”

Lorenzo explains the preparations that goes into a performance like the Adrenaline show: “I start [training the horses] once a day and after two or three months it’s several times a day. Afterwards, the horse is schooled to consolidate what he has learnt.

“I manage all the horses in turn, so they recognise when I am talking to an individual or the group. They are now 12 years old and their names, errr, I don’t really use their names.”

His act at the Adrenaline show is described as “action numbers, all based on balance, with horses and obstacles”.

The Adrenaline show runs from 16-18 November at the ExCel centre. For more information head to www.EquiCirque.com or call 0203 514 0908.

• Fancy trying your hand at being Lorenzo? Try out the new facebook game

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A Shire mare has stepped into the breach to foster a purebred Lusitano colt foal, orphaned shortly after birth.

Generoso, bred by Roger Barnett and Sherene Rahmatallah of Sussex Lusitanos, was born on 2 March in Loxwood, West Sussex.

But his dam Jaca died suddenly 12 hours after his birth, of a suspected ruptured artery.

Roger contacted Johanna Vardon of The National Foaling Bank who found a foster dam — a six-year-old Shire mare called Barley Mimms Lady Sarah.

Owned and bred by John Perkins of Manchester, Lady Sarah had given birth to a shire foal that died within hours of Jaca dying so she was an ideal match for Generoso.

Debbie Dunger, who runs DD Horse Transport at Pulborough, was called in to help and drove through the night to collect Lady and bring her to Sussex.

And within 24 hours, with the help of vets, Lady Sarah and Generoso were carefully introduced to one another.

This was initially done in-hand and with 24-hour surveillance. Within days, the mare and foal had naturally bonded and Lady Sarah had accepted Generoso as her foal.

“Before they bonded we were really concerned that she would accidentally step on the foal and kill him, the size of her hooves is amazing, but she is a lovely mare and they are very happy now,” said Mrs Rahmatallah.

“As a thank you to Mr Perkins we will send Lady Sarah back to him in foal to our stallion, Numerario. He has become very interested in the breed,” she added.

Pictures by www.horsedreamsart.co.uk

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Dapple-grey stallions will spring from every doorway, alley and garage, and clatter their way down the darkened streets towards the town centre in Golega this weekend. This small town, 11/2hr north of Lisbon, is the “Portuguese capital of the horse” and celebrates the native Lusitano breed in an annual fair every November.

With fairytale flowing manes and tails, and compact, agile bodies, Lusitanos are your archetypical equine film stars. You will have seen them in Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, the Mask of Zorro and even the Vicar of Dibley to name but a few of their silver screen appearances.

We arrive late on Thursday night but things in Golega are just getting going. On every corner barbecues are sizzling, chestnuts are roasting, and makeshift restaurants are hives of activity. Fresh from protracted dining and drinking, Portugal’s equine movers, shakers and stablehands have donned their traditional dress. The design of their sombre embroidered costumes and wide brim hats dates back to the seventeenth century. Through a veil of smoke, they begin to emerge on horseback, ready to socialise, show off and do business over a glass of vinho tinto.

In the town square the annual focus of activity is a large floodlit sand oval, ringed by a 250m track open to anyone with a horse. To a stream of Latin music — with the occasional interruption from Elton John — the horses and riders exhibit the screeching halts and hairpin turns that they employ so effectively in the city’s bullrings, as well as the elegance of classical dressage to mesmerising effect. The square is lined with wooden horse stalls, and over the weekend of the festival these will be filled with the progeny of Portugal’s finest studs.

Our friends have arrived a few hours before us and have managed to organise a carriage ride for the following day. The days here are less hectic, and we browse the shops for riding equipment, pottery, coats, handbags, and free samples of finest Port, before boarding the carriage for a spin around the track.

The day comprises of breed classes, but any formal entertainment is provided after dark. On the Saturday evening a classical display by the Portuguese National Riding School beckons comparisons with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna. This is followed by the conclusion of a national tournament of “Horseball”. At gallop, the riders must pass to each other and weave towards the goal, with any dropped balls dramatically retrieved by means of swoops to the ground.

Away from the ring the Portuguese make their own amusement. On every street corner crowds are gathered. An accordion player entertains one group who dance and drink oblivious to the chilly air. There are all ages present at the festival, and we visit a disco in a marquee just off the square. As Iberian pop music pumps out, we feel thoroughly outdone by the impromptu flamenco and salsa of the denim clad party-goers. When we finally leave at four in the morning, and drift back to the apartment we have rented in town, there are still horses and riders lapping the town centre track.

If you have a fondness for health and safety, a compelling need for fine cuisine, or an aversion to horses I would not recommend a visit to Golega. Our stay has been a blur of fun and activity, and after three days we are deservedly exhausted. This “Festival of the Horse” is one event that unequivocally lives up to its name.

• Golega Horse Fair takes place on 4-6 and 10-13 November 2005. Visit: www.horsefairlusitano.org

“I’ve had better horses for competition, but if I could have only one horse to be my best friend it would be a Lusitano,” says George Bowman snr, one of Britain’s top carriage drivers, who has been a fan of Lusitano horses for many years now.

The Lusitano is bold, clever and handsome, and it is generally accepted that it makes the perfect riding horse, but is it the perfect competition horse? George thinks probably not. He enjoys riding and training Lusitanos in-hand, as well as using them for driving, but admits that he wouldn’t choose them as his competition team.

“Lusitanos are good all-rounders and enjoyable to work with because they’re so intelligent. I have found them good at the dressage element of driving, but when they go across country they get over-enthusiastic, start firing on five cylinders and take over — they react too quickly.”

For pleasure

Probably one of the best known aficionados of Lusitanos is Sylvia Loch, who, with her late husband Lord Loch, was the first to import Lusitanos into the country in numbers.

“They’re an exceptional pleasure horse and are built to produce the collection for advanced dressage, but they can easily be written off at the lower levels because, to the uninitiated eye, they can look tight in the back,” she says.

“However, a horse needs strong loins and tremendous tension in the hindquarters to hold collection and, for this reason, Lusitanos don’t have the looseness of young Thoroughbred or warmblood horses, which find the opposite of collection — lengthened strides — so much easier.

“The Lusitano’s balance is very different to that of a Thoroughbred or warmblood, their natural carriage is up and back, and their centre of gravity further back; they’re naturally collected horses.

“In my experience pure-bred Lusitanos make better show jumpers than eventers because, with their short-coupled bodies, they have great stamina and are able to offer short, fast bursts of energy, but are not built to cover the ground over distance.”

Dressage success

Seasoned dressage trainer and rider Andrew Murphy, who has competed the Lusitano Jalisco IV for the past seven years from elementary level up to grand prix, agrees.

“He’s been a rewarding horse to train,” says Andrew. “He’s such a quick thinker and offers so much. Unfortunately, ‘so much’ is sometimes ‘too much’ and he takes over in the test to put in some impromptu tempi changes.”

The Portuguese do not breed the Lusitano specifically as a competition horse. The breed’s original purpose was as a warhorse and later for bullfighting. Performance in the bullring is one of the most important factors in the breeding and selection process of the Lusitano, so the characteristics of the breed have been preserved.

The horses are noble, brave, powerful and quick, with compact conformation. They have a well set-on head and neck, strong loins and a well-developed second thigh — all attributes sought in the modern sports horse.

Lusitanos range from the larger, heavier-set, Spanish-looking ones, to the more traditional, finer, agile, almost ethereal and “hotter” Veiga type. Breeders often keep their stock pure for a particular discipline, such as Veiga horses for bullfighting, but they also cross them to take the best qualities from each line and produce more of an all-rounder.

Sport horses

The eye-catching Novilheiro, who

formed a formidable partnership with John Whitaker and went to grade A in one season, is probably the best known pure-bred Lusitano show jumping stallion. Bred in Portugal by Manuel Veiga at his stud in Golega, Novilheiro was out of a Veiga mare by an Andrade stallion.

Johanna Vardon, who stood Novilheiro at her Meretown Stud in Shropshire, bred her own stallion, Crown Cornelian, by Novilheiro out of a sport horse mare. Cornelian went on to sire many talented jumping horses, including Anne Burnet’s The Tourmaline Rose (right), ridden by Pippa Funnell to win Hickstead’s Eventers’ Grand Prix three out of the four times they contested it.

He also sired Crown Tungsten, who has been with John Whitaker and is now with young rider Ryan Prater; the stallion Crown Rhodonite, who is on the BSJA Accenture young rider squad with Emma Shaw, and Crown Derby, who is on the junior event team.

“Pure-bred Lusitanos are brilliant for bullfighting and classical dressage, but crossed with a Thoroughbred they become the ultimate sport horse,” says Johanna.

Multi-talented

Englishwoman Zoe Harrison recently took over the running of the Veiga stud in Golega. She persuaded her mother, Christine, to buy a Lusitano stallion and the pair now hunts regularly with the Devon and Somerset Staghounds. Christine’s sister, Veronica Ward, also hunts a Lusitano stallion.

She says: “I’ve been a fan of the breed for a long time. I owned a Lusitano mare more than 20 years ago and she was a wonderful all-rounder and a capable jumping horse, taking part in riding club eventing and often giving the lead over fences out hunting.”

Another breeding stallion who is making his mark on both the dressage and showing scene is O Conquistador, or “Luxo”, who stands at Helen Edmonds’s Broomford Stud. The champion stallion at the Lisbon show in 1996, Luxo is also a gold medal-winner, which means that he holds the highest grading level. His other successes include supreme champion at the breed show and best Lusitano stallion at Royal Windsor in 2002.

He has done well in dressage up to advanced medium and Helen is aiming to qualify him for the national championships at prix st georges later this year. “Lusitanos are a fantastic, intelligent, athletic breed and the most comfortable horses I have ever sat on,” she says.

The following websites offer more information on the breed:

• www.sussexlusitanos.co.uk
• www.lusitano.co.uk
• www.turvillevalleystud.co.uk
• www.carregdressage.co.uk
• This feature was originally published in Horse & Hound’s first shows issue of 2004 (19 February 04)