Lusitano Horse

The country of origin of the Lusitano horse breed is Portugal and is also called the Portuguese, Peninsular, National and Betico-Lusitano horse. It is one of the oldest breeds in the world, related to the mighty Andalusian horse, sharing the same ancestries, which were developed on the Iberian Peninsula, thus sometimes both are called Iberian horses. Some people think that they are genetically the same breed and the only difference is the country were they are born. The main differences between these two are that the Andalusian has a more Oriental head shape and that Lusitano was bred and built for bullfighting. Till 1966 the breed was under the Andalusian name, when the Spanish and Portuguese studbooks split and the Portuguese strain was renamed to Lusitano, after the word Lusitania (ancient name for Portugal). Breeders made great steps in the improving and monitoring the breed.

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The Iberian Peninsula is famous for its long and rich history of horse breeding. It's been known that horses existed on the peninsula even back 20000 BC. During the 8th century Muslims brought Barb horses, which were crossed with native horses, producing a breed that is athletic with strong presence suitable for wars, dressage and bullfighting. The average height of the Lusitano horse stands around 15.2 hands, but can range a height over 16 hands. They weigh approximately 500 kg. The most often coat colors are grey (being the most appreciated), chestnut, bay and some cream dilutions (Cremello), which are rare but in growing demand. They can also be of any other solid color, except for the Alter Real strain, which is always bay.

Depending of the type, the Lusitano can slightly differ in their conformation. The Baroque type has a large head with almond shaped ears; curved, Roman nose; and pronounced convex profile. It is heavy muscled, intelligent, agile and willing, with high action. Generally the Lusitano has a narrow, long, noble and well proportioned head with huge and projected eyes. The neck is strong, thick and arched; withers are well defined; the body is deep and short-coupled; and it has a sloped, rounded croup. The shoulders are muscled, powerful and sloping; the chest is deep and broad; and the back is short and strong. The legs are muscular, clean and sturdy with excellent dense and short cannon bones and Lusitano has high degree of flexion in the hind legs. As the Andalusian, the Lusitano also has a luxurious, silky and extremely thick mane and tail, due to the hot weather. The tail is lower set. As we said, the Lusitano was originally bred for bullfighting. Today it is used in a bloodless bullfighting where neither the horse nor the bull must be injured. The Lusitano is also used as show horse, for general riding, driving and as performance animal. Many representatives of the breed have competed in dressage at the Olympics and World Equestrian Games.

Today the breed is mainly bred in Portugal and Brazil, though can be find in many other countries, such as the United States, Australia, South Africa, United Kingdom etc. Despite the purebreds, crossbreds of Lusitano and Andalusian, Arabian or Thoroughbred horses are also very popular throughout the world. There are six foundation horses of three main lineages within the breed. These horses are: Agareno, Primorosa, Destinado, Marialva II, Regedor and Hucharia, all of them stallions, except Hucharia, which was a mare. The breed lineages are: Andrade, Veiga and Coudelaria Nacional. There's also one other strain, called Alter Real, bred only at the Alter Real State Stud in Portugal and used exclusively for performances and royal purposes. During the Napoleonic invasion of Portugal in the 19th century, the Alter Real strain was crossed with Arabian, Thoroughbred, Spanish-Norman and Hanoverian bloodlines, but later reestablished by adding further Spanish blood. There is a legend that claims that Iberian mares were sired by the wind and that's why their foals were incredibly swift. A modern hypothesis suggests that the bond between the Iberian horses and humans was the inspiration for the creature that is part human and part horse, called centaur (click here to play a fun Centaur free online game).

Today Lusitano horses are symbol of respect and prestige and are considered as an art of their native country.

Enjoy playing hundreds of free online horse games. The Lusitano is intelligent, affectionate, high spirited, kind and courageous horse. The Lusitano has an elegant springy action and agile gaits, it is balanced and disciplined, generally comfortable to ride, by some opinions the best riding horse ever. What a beauty of a horse!

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