She looks lovely!! I owned a Brazilian Lusitano and second/third all the suggestions about hooves. Make sure all parts line up in the legs and feet. My guy was hot, but never dangerous and didn’t have a spook in him. Relaxation, first and foremost, every single day, or you were sitting on a coiled spring.
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Lovely! Noble profile… and strong straight legs!!
That is a very nice horse.
you are fortunate. I remember the stallions and the trainer. He was a pleasure to work with at the shows. Last I heard he was back in portugal .
Miguel Ralao Duarte
OP - Lusitano owner here with some thoughts:
I love my guy, these horses have great work ethic and try hard, but sometimes try too hard. His brain is often much quicker than mine.
First - you may find the mare’s gaits /quick/hurried/tense when you begin riding her. What you want is to slow the front end of her down while encouraging the back to be active - serentines, circles, loops, etc are your friend. As she relaxes the strides will get bigger, and as she gains confidence in her balance and you (ie not worrying) they will get bigger.
My horse was pushed hard by a trainer prior to when I bought him. He is incredibly safe (no spin, buck, spook) but when he is faced with increased training pressures, is brain would go into overdrive. Quick/tense/heavy in hand/not listening. Tempe changes, lengthening/extending canter, etc. Given some of your comments re her background you may run into something like this. Take a step back or a walk break. I did a lot of this…
You get her trust and understand her brain and you may never want any other breed…
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Oh yes totally agree.
My trainer’s wife rode mine a while back and she said two very funny things to him in the course of her ride:
- You need lower voltage batteries…
- I’m driving, you’re not…
He was a bit uncertain of her - so she asked for trot, got passage. asked for changes, got a bunch - “look, here’s what I can do”, lol.
Yes! He was wonderful, I was only there for a short time but learned so much from him. He is back in Portugal and competing successfully at GP all over Europe. His daughter, who was very young at the time, is also now a gorgeous rider and I believe the two of them train together.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹I did just see an update this morning - the stallion Andiamo is competing at GP with his new owners 😊
”‹”‹”‹”‹
Relaxing these horses is everything. It’s not just a big deal, it’s the go to for almost every problem you’ll encounter…they try so hard
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The few lusitano mares I’ve known were exceptionally smart and very tricky to ride because of it. I think it’s true with many horses but especially lusitanos–you need to earn their respect and trust. If you don’t have it they can be a nightmare but if you do they’ll walk through fire for you.
I have trouble with vaccines and shoeing as others have mentioned. They’re all easy keepers. They come from a climate that has barely any grass and are fed yellow straw. I’m sure the non-thrifty ones died off a long time ago.
Don’t be afraid to go behind the tempo. I know in dressage you get “forward” screamed at you like it’s the prime directive. But IME if you push for forward whilst sacrificing relaxation and throughness you’re going to end up with a mess with these horses. Going under tempo can help give the time for the hind leg to swing under and the back to relax. As they gain strength you can then begin to ask for regular tempo and then for a truly forward gait. But if you ask too early you will get scrambled eggs.
They are people-horses. By that I mean they are bred to keep their eye or their ear on you and what you are doing. It’s my favorite thing about them. But I think it’s also easy to take advantage of their nature.
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Just an observation, IME riding in various European countries, the Portuguese horse culture is wonderfully quiet, soft, harmonious and horse and rider work in partnership with a mutual respect. There is no domination of horse by human. The Portuguese delight in their horses.
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Everything Shiaway said, x2.
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NIce! Enjoy the journey with her.
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