People are, I am sure, asking why Jody Hartstone has strayed away from warmblood horses and has travelled to far off Portugal to bring back a Lusitano stallion to New Zealand. Well it all started about two years ago with a chat to my good friend Reisa Bonetti from www.DressageTraiingOnLine.com I was telling her that I wanted to invest in a new competition and breeding stallion but I was dismayed that the New Zealand warmblood stallion market is flooded with non-performance tested, non-european approved stallions who undercut those who are the "real-deal". Stallions such as Landioso, Whisper, Ramazotti and Donnerwind cost an absolute fortune and have proven their worth as both competition and breeding stallions around the globe. But when New Zealand breeders are happy to use non-approved stallions at reduced stud fees it makes the breeding industry in New Zealand somewhat of a joke compared to the high standards set in Europe.
It was time to import something different. It was Reisa who said to me "Have you thought about a Lusitano?" and I said a "Lusi- what?!" I kind of knew it was some exotic breed - but I have to admit I knew very little else. I got straight on to Google and up popped a video of a US based Lusitano stallion called Sansao and the video was accompanied by the most exquisite song I think I have ever heard - in Portuguese - "Chuva" by the Fado singer Mariza. I was in love, and from that day my journey to find myself the Portuguese stallion of my dreams was set in place.
I got onto Google again and read about an Australian girl Sarah Warne who was based in Portugal and who was very keen to help out anybody from "Down Under" who was wanting to buy a Lusitano horse. I emailed Sarah and from there the journey began.
In July of 2011 my good friend Michelle Zielazo and I set off for Spain and Portugal for an unforgettable few weeks. We had rung agents in both countries who all promised to show us the Lusitano stallion of our dreams. We searched high and low, and tried many many horses of Lusitano and PRE heritage.
The vision in my head was unwavering. I wanted a tall, grey Lusitano stallion, preferably with a flowing mane and tail. Capable of competing internationally at Grand Prix level. The budget was not huge - although I must admit I am more than blessed to have the support of Erin and Warrick Mortimer from Warkworth to help in the purchase of my dream horse.
My previous blogs have documented some of the trials and tribulations of our travels, the wonderful people and horses that we met along the way. I would find a horse and think "this is the one" only to have the dreaded blood tests fail. Or go as far as getting it Xrayed and the Xrays were not so good. Another had a tongue issue I just couldn't go past, some had terrible feet and others just weren't my type.
I tried PRE horses in Spain, and some of these were quite nice, but New Zealand already has many of this breed and I wanted to do something different. Besides, when I got to Lisboa (Lisbon) for the very first time I felt instantly at ease and had a sense of being at home - I later found out that Portugal is the anti-polar of New Zealand - stick a knitting needle thru your globe anywhere in New Zealand and you pop out in Portugal - a strange connection through middle earth.
After watching the Lusitano horses in the bullfighting arena at Campo Pequino I was totally in love with the bravery and heart that the Lusitano horse shows. After riding more and more horses in Portugal, learning the history of the breed and its people, I became more and more in love. Never have I felt horses with such "vibration" - that's the best word I have to describe the energy and power that comes from within these horses. Never once did I see or ride a Lusitano that was unwilling to work, and work hard. There is never any heavy leaning, no snatching at the reins, no napping out the gate or dullness to the leg aids.
Some Lusitano's I tried were too small for what I am used to - the Portuguese people are used to smaller horses, but I always feel like Penny the Pony Clubber on anything under 16hh. So many horses we tried got put aside simply on height alone. Good bloodlines were a very important consideration - I wanted Grand Prix in the pedigree - but the focus of the breed has been on the bullfighting ring - not the dressage arena, until the last 20 or so years, so that was something we may have had to look past.
Lusitano's are very smooth gaited horses and as a general rule move without the high knee and lack of extension that the Spanish horses are stereotyped as. Many people have said to me "agghhh they can collect, but can they extend!?" - well YES - actually they can. The Lusitano is the complete package, athleticism, heart, brain and the ability to both collect and extend!
I think in the end I had about eight horses blood tested over the period of nearly a year of looking. I travelled to Seville, Barcelona, Madrid, Segovia and Salamanca in Spain to name only a few places. In Portugal I travelled north to Porto three times, and to many, many farms within three hours of Lisboa. I even tried a wonderful Lusitano stallion in the South of France, but he soon told me that New Zealand was not where he wanted to be - a lovely horse that I just didn't click with straight away. I also rang the USA and looked at videos of Lusitano stallions there - there was talk of importing one from Brazil - no easy task I can assure you.
My wish list went like this:
- Grey if at all possible (Who knows how I was to keep him clean!)
- Licenced and approved breeding stallion
- Over 16hh
- Training up to PSG level and with some talent for the Grand Prix
- Kind temperament
- Good looks and conformation
- Sound with great xrays
- 10-14 years of age
- Free of the dreaded blood disease pyroplasmosis
I scoured the globe by plane, train and automobile. I Googled and Googled till my fingers could Google no more... The Lusitano of my dreams was out there somewhere - I just needed to find him.
And then, one day, in the town of Estoril - not far from Lisbon - I met my dream horse - Ali Baba was there waiting for me...
(The photos on this blog page are a small selection of some of the wonderful horses I tried on my travels before finally finding THE ONE!)