How long have you been breeding Lusitanos? Are you focused on specific bloodlines and what are they? What are your breeding philosophies?
I found my stud in 1989. Nowadays on 50 hectares of pasture we keep totally 100 horses (including 25 brood-mares and three stallions). The Lusitanos have always been my great passion and I knew if I wanted to be one of the best I had to start with very good breeding material. Therefore I started with a high quality stallion who gave a begining to breeing at my stud. My first stallion used in Coudelaria Felix da Costa was Oficial (bred by Vasco Freire). This stallion, as his sire Neptuno, was using for bullfighting. It was important for me to find powerful, strong bullfighters and this stallion descends from such a line. He produced very good horses for bullfighting and valuable broodmares for my stud. My second stallion for Costa’s breeding was Universo, bred by famous Manuel Tavares Veiga. Universo improved the type, beauty and charm, and his offspring inherited very good movement. I just won the descendent class (five products) with a gold medal in the last festival with Universo. Then I bought Nostradamos do Top in Brasil and I am very proud to say that Nostradamos has now been selected to be part of the Portuguese team for the European Dressage Championship. As every Lusitano lover knows, these horses have been using for fighting during the many wars many centuries ago, and later for bullfighting. Of course I know that Lusitanos have excellent character, they are very willing to perform, and if you have a horse gifted with these features you can train it without a problem. Lusitanos are very agile, have a very strong croup, and extraordinary basic gaits which make them very useful for dressage. But all of these attributes are acquired thanks to selection for bullfighting. In my opinion horses should be mainly functional, not only beautiful for showing.
Are you breeding for the passion or for the commercial interes? What are the economics of breeding Lusianos in Portugal?
Most important is that horse breeding should be a passion. But this is not enough. Breeding involves a lot of time and money and cannot be faced any more as a hobby. The great majority of Lusitano breeders have another profession, but more and more we have a professional approach in this business, and the result of this new mentality is that quality and international demand have increased dramaticly in recent years. Portugal is not the best area for horse breeding, as you know we have a great problem with absent rain, but we have a very strong tradition from many centuries. Almost all breeders in Portugal are irrigating their pastures and meadows. Our Lusitanos are very famous in the world, we have one of the best bloodines and we can sell our horses abroad to professional breeders even for very good prices.
Is there a lot of support – both financial and/or advisory – for breeders in Portugal and where does this support come from?
No, I do not know about any support for Lusitano breeding in Portugal. We have only our Association (APSL) which promotes the breed internationally, controls the breeding rules worldwide, and manages the studbook....
BACK TO INTERVIEW PAGE
