Lusitano

Extended neck

2012-02-11T12:57:00.000-08:00

Working with extended neck is essential in the work of a young horse.
The young horse should be trained from the behind to the front. In order to correctly exercise his back legs, the horse must work with extended neck.

Even older horses, more advanced in training, should always start the lesson working with extended neck. This is how they should warm up.

During the lesson, the rider should alternate exercises that require more concentration with work with extended neck.

5 to 10 minutes walking with extend neck in the beginning of each lessons

During the lessons, transitions to alt are often demanded

Going into more concentrated work.

Conquistador (4 year-old). Plan of training.

2011-12-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Conquistador responded very well to the first couple of years of training and he is now loose, supple, forward and engaged with good balance and impulsion. At this stage, Conquistador is ready to do more advanced exercises in order to develop more collection.

Hereunder you can find some recent photos of Conquistador at work.

One of the main exercises more frequently asked until now was shoulder-in.

Another good exercise often demanded is going from shoulder-in to a diagonal increasing the trot, making transitions from working trot sitting to medium trot rising and back again to working trot sitting.

To know more about Conquistador, see the following posts in this blog: "Introducing Conquistador"(sept. 14) and "A lesson with Conquistador" (sept. 26)

A special thanks

2011-11-27T14:02:00.000-08:00

Harro Gurland is a great friend of ours and a regular visit at Quinta do Pilar. His knowledge and horsemanship shills have been very important to us and it is mandatory to mention it in this blog.

Harro Gurland riding his Lusitano "Ulisses" at Quinta do Pilar

Horses in training

2011-11-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

During the last couple of months we have been introducing some of the horses we have currently in training, wich are referred hereunder. What we propose to do in this blog is to keep track of these horses training, namely introducing videos of their work and following their participation in dressage competitions.
If you have visited our blog, we hope you liked our horses and please fell free to contact us if you have any queries.

Horses in training:

Biscoito (HAB)

Conquistador (JUR)

Divagante (HAB)

Disponível (HAB)

Introducing Disponível

2011-11-27T13:12:00.000-08:00

Disponível is a 3 year-old bred by Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis.

He his son of Vigoroso (MV) and grand-son of Dragão (SA).

introducing Biscoito

2011-11-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

Biscoito is a 5 years-old Lusitano breed by Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis. Biscoito was sellected to be part of APSL's Dressage project with Martina Hannover.

Biscoito's video

Conquistador. CDN Beloura (Video)

2011-11-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

Conquistador is making good progress and he is achieving great results in dressage competitions. Recently he made third place at the national competition for young horses (4 years-old) that took place on October, at Lisbon, and he won the CDN at Sintra, Beloura, on the 7^th of October. You can have a glance at his performance in Beloura at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syrhszcymq8&feature=feedu

Introducing Divagante (VIDEO)

2011-11-07T01:58:00.000-08:00

Divagante is a three year-old Lusitano, breed by Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis.
Divagante is a grand-son of the famous Lusitano stallion Nilo (MV). You can see his bloodlines at: http://www.alterreal.pt/STUD/AscDesc.asp?Recno=230593
To see a video with Divagante go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr5IUOUbu8M

Conquistador. CDN Costa do Estoril.

2011-10-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

Conquistador presented himself at the CDN Costa do Estoril (Cascais), on the 1st and 2nd October.

Conquistador performed for the first time a P3 (highest difficulty level for four years old) and achieved 64,1%, which made us very happy about his performance.

Master João Trigueiros de Aragão. Perfect Lightness!

2011-09-29T03:01:00.000-07:00

João Trigueiros de Aragão has been with us since the beginning of our journey breeding and teaching Lusitano horses. He had had a decisive role in the selection of our meres and stallions and in the implementation of our methods of training the horses.

João Trigueiros de Aragão still goes to Quinta do Pilar once a week to teach.

Hereunder you can find some photos of João Trigueiros de Aragão in “perfect lightness” and parts of an article of Miguel Távora which you can find in http://www.migueltavora.com/

“A horse should be relaxed and moving with a correct combination of balance and impulsion. Any resistance or contraction will alter lightness (…).

I don’t need to have pressure to have a good contact, in fact I can have contact even with a loop in the rein if the horse does not change his neck and head position. When the horse is moving in self carriage he is moving with the correct balance and impulsion. He is moving in lightness.

"Lightness also characterizes the condition of the horse who is perfectly schooled and the soundness of the means employed in order to guide him, it follows that the expression ‘lightness’ applies to the schooling of the horse as well as the talent of the rider... harmony will not be assured if the rider is not able to awaken and maintain this play of forces in keeping with each movement. From this it follows that lightness - perfect lightness, of course - finds its formula when the rider puts into play those forces and how the horse makes use of those very forces useful to the movement envisaged. All other manifestations of strength will produce a resistance which, as a consequence, will alter lightness." (Questions Equestres, Chapter 3, translation is of Hilda Nelson).

As we can see, lightness means perfect submission. Submission resulting by the fact that the horse having the correct balance and impulsion to execute the movement envisaged, is comfortable and has no reason to resist. He is confident in himself and in his rider."

A lesson with Conquistador (VIDEO)

2011-09-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

In this video you can find Francisco Abecasis riding Conquistador (to know more about Conquistador please go to the post “Introducing Conquistador”)

Conquistador is doing excellent progresses and we are looking forward to see him in the dressage national cup, for four years old, next November.
LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TllLd-adUI

Riding a three years old

2011-09-17T11:30:00.000-07:00

In the first year of training the horse should work with extended neck to develop a correct balance.

It is a commom mistake to try to collect the horse too soon, which inevitably will cause the horse to develop resistances and irregularities.

good example!

A three year hold should do a lot of circles in each lesson. Gradually the horse will start to bend, give contact to the outside rein and collect. See photos below.

Photos: Francisco Barata riding Divagante, three years old, Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis

"A horse needs to be loose, supple, forward, straight, engaged with good balance and impulsion, to start collected work" (Miguel Távora, "Going into collection laterally" - www.migueltavora.com)

Introducing Alambique

2011-09-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Alambique is a six years old Lusitano, breed by Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis and he has mainly Veiga Bloodlines http://www.alterreal.pt/STUD/AscDesc.asp?Recno=213754

Alambique is a very tipical Lusitano and we feel that, at six years of age, he is now showing all his potencial.

Half-pass done at the walk

Half-pass done at the trot

Francisco Abecasis and Alambique. Sequence of fotos at half-pass done at trot

Introducing Conquistador

2011-09-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

Conquistador is a four year old Lusitano horse. He was breed by Juan Cordeiro, a spanish Lusitano breeder, and he has mainly Alter Real bloodlines http://www.alterreal.pt/STUD/AscDesc.asp?Recno=227064.
We have started riding him last year and we are very happy with the way he is developing .

In this foto you can see Francisco with Conquistador in a dressage competition where they made 1st place, in the first day and 2nd place, in the second day (August, CDN Beloura). In this photo the horse is in the exact attitude a four year old should be.

Photo: Dressageportugal