Original text by Chiara Lanari, updated and completed by our editors.
The Lusitano horse is one of the symbols of Portuguese culture, known worldwide not only for its part in the tourada, Portuguese bullfighting, but above all for high-school equestrian displays and dressage competitions, where it often shines.
Origins and characteristics
The Lusitano descends from the ancient Iberian horse, bred in the peninsula for thousands of years and already admired by the Greeks and Romans for its agility; it is therefore closely related to the Spanish Andalusian, from which it became a separate breed in the twentieth century, with its own studbook. For centuries it was the war and riding horse of Europe's courts. In 1748 King John V founded the Coudelaria de Alter at Alter do Chão, in the Alentejo, the royal stud that still breeds the Alter Real line.
It is a medium-sized, compact and muscular horse with an arched neck, a slightly convex head profile and a thick, wavy mane; the most common coats are grey and bay. It stands out for its elegant, collected movements, courage and quick responses, and above all its gentle, generous temperament, which creates a strong bond with its trainer and makes it suitable not only for sport but also for leisure riding.
The Lusitano in the tourada
In Portuguese bullfighting the star is the cavaleiro, the horseman who faces the bull on a Lusitano, in eighteenth-century costume. The horse must let the bull chase it, brush past it and avoid its charges with lightning swerves and changes of direction while the rider places the banderillas. That is why the Lusitano's qualities, agility, composure and obedience, are considered essential, and the tourada played an important part in shaping the breed. The word fidalgo, which gives this page its original name, meant a nobleman, traditionally the only people allowed to fight bulls on horseback.
The Portuguese School of Equestrian Art
The breed is relatively rare: most Lusitanos are born in Portugal, mainly in the Alentejo and Ribatejo, though they are now also bred in Brazil, France and elsewhere, and the best horses are very valuable. In Lisbon the Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre, founded in 1979, is the best-known guardian of the Lusitano and the traditions of Portuguese baroque riding: it preserves the exercises, saddles, costumes and style of the eighteenth-century royal riding school. It rides Alter Real horses and performs regularly at the Picadeiro Henrique Calado in Belém, where you can watch training sessions and shows, with movements such as pirouettes, levades and high-school leaps. Another stop for enthusiasts is the Coudelaria de Alter itself, which is open to visitors.
With its wavy mane and graceful movements, the Lusitano continues to captivate anyone who sees it at work.