There have been two types of horses in existence on the Iberian Peninsula since time
immemorial.
A small, upright or concave pony which is normally not mounted and which can be found in
the cold, mountainous regions of the Peninsula.
A larger horse with a convex profile, which can be mounted and is to be encountered on
the warm, dry plains of the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula.
Mounted some 5,000 years ago and considered as being the oldest saddle horse in the
world, the latter was chosen as a warrior horse and animals were selected from this
original herd for the armies of Carthage and sparta and for the hippodromes of Rome.
The Lusitano Thoroughbred is a "hot blooded" horse of the Pure English Thoroughbred
and Arabian type which is the product of a selection process lasting for thousands of
years, thus ensuring a higher degree of empathy with its rider than any other current
breed.
Selected both as a race and warrior horse over the centuries, the Lusitano is an all
rounder whose gentle nature, agility and courage allow it to compete in almost all types of
modern equestrian sporting events in competition with the finest specialists.
Horse races can be considered as being the modern version of "Gineta" horse-riding
which has earned so much fame and praise for the armies which have used it in wartime.
The current profile of the Iberian horse is similar to that of its ascendants as can be seen
through the similarity with ancient statues, engravings and descriptions which we have
inherited from the days of Iberian Pre-history, having traversed the Roman Period, through
the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Its natural capacities have their origin in those qualities which have already been
described and so praised by historians with breeders being interested in their
improvements through the introduction of morpho-functional tests.
Almost all of the modern breeds of saddle horses can trace their bloodline back to the
Iberian horse.
According to several authors, the most significant factor in the currently existing
difference between the Lusitano Andalusian Horses is in the origin of the appearance of
bullfighters on foot in spain at the beginning of the 18th centuary, as a symbol of popular
revolt over King Filipe's prohibition of bullfights.
From then on, owing to the lesser use of the Andalusian horse for bullfighting purposes,
the selection thereof centred more on a light horse for riding whereas, in Portugal,
breeding activities continued to be centred on producing fine bullfighting horses.
Since 1967, by agreement reached between Portugese and Spanish breeders, there have
been two seperate Stud-Books, leading the breeders of the two countries to follow parallel
trajectories using their own selection and classification methods.
The Lusitano Breed Stud-Book was entrusted to the Portugese Breeders Association of
Thoroughbred Lusitano Horse Breeders which was created during the year in question for
exclusively promoting and defending the Lusitano horse.
The official certification of the Lusitano Breed Stud-Book was undoubtedly an important
step in the advancement of the breed by constraining the admission of breeders to the
minimum respective characteristics, giving rise to a generalised and painstaking selection
procedure and facilitating detailed knowledge of bloodlines allowing for the perpetuation
of specific profiles through a concentration on specifying studs (line pairing). In any
efficient and relatively rapid zoo-technical process there is an obvious advantage in
aspects which are of interest to the breeder such as purity and uniformity of the breed and
the consequent predominance of the studs obtained.
Only colts which are the offspring of animals which have already been approved as
breeders, and upon which paternity tests have been performed, are eligible for
registration. The obligatory nature of this test for the registration of colts further increases
the Stud-Book's credibility as it totally excludes the admittance of animals whose
bloodlines differ from that of the breed. When reaching adulthood, the animals are
submitted to the inspection of a Commission of Breed Experts and, if achieving the
minimum standards, will be registered in the Breeders Book, with their offspring therefore
also being eligible for the registration in the Book. Functional tests have been added to
this cycle which regulates the normal operation of the Stud Book of the Lusitano breed.
At the dawn of the year 2000, interest is once again being shown in the Lusitano
Thoroughbred as a sporting and leisure mount and for breeding purposes, owing to his
qualities of character and genetic lineage. His rarity is the result of the existence of a very
small number of around 2,000 mares of breeding capacity. In Portugal, the birthplace of the
breed there are only 1000 mares in foal giving age in production, 600 in Brazil, 200 in
France with the remainder being divided up among Mexico, belgium, Germany, Italy,
Canada and the United States of America.