Stud Farm Interagro Scoops Two Age-Group Championships on the First Day of the International Lusitano Festival in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Equestrian News Release
Sao Paulo, Brazil – May 24, 2006 – By virtue of their Portuguese ancestors, it’s hardly surprising that much of Brazil’s equine breeding industry today revolves around the production of Lusitano horses – especially in the region surrounding the city of Sao Paulo. For the majority of breeders it’s a passion supported by alternative financial means, because no one can say that the industry represents a good investment given the years and economic outlay required to produce what are considered to be some of the best Lusitano horses in the world.
Founded by Jesuits in 1554, Sao Paulo sits on a plateau that rises to 2,493 feet (760 metres) above sea level just 45 miles (72 kilometres) from the Atlantic coast. Sitting virtually on the Tropic of Capricorn, it remained a small town until 1850 when the state’s economy began to benefit from the highly productive coffee plantations. Later, the income from coffee exports provided the capital and manpower that launched Sao Paulo’s industrial and financial base that today generates more than 30% of Brazil’s GNP.
Supported by the ABPSL (the Brazilian Association for Pure-bred Lusitano horses), every year breeders gather together – the majority from the Sao Paulo region – for an international show that takes place during the last week of May. Everything from foals to Prix St. Georges dressage horses come under the scrutiny of a team of judges from home and abroad, while their nervous owners hope and pray that their precious offspring will become champions in their respective categories, and even accomplish the supreme victory of ‘Best In Show’.
Remarkably, Clube Hípico de Santo Amaro, where the show takes place, lies in a beautiful botanical park in the middle of downtown Sao Paulo, the world’s third largest metropolis, housing close to 20 million residents. Breathtaking by it’s sheer size, Sao Paulo ranks only behind Seoul (South Korea) and Mumbai (formerly Bombay, India), and just ahead of New York in terms of population, although the precise statistics vary according to geographical boundaries.
With classes running in chronological order according to age and gender, the first day of Brazil’s Lusitano show is devoted to young fillies whose names begin with the letter ‘A’, reserved for all Lusitano horses born between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005. In the southern hemisphere the breeding year begins on July 1, contrary to January 1 in the northern hemisphere. As one might expect, the previous year was a ‘Z’ generation before they necessarily returned to the beginning of the alphabet.
For many of these young horses, this is the first time they have been exposed to a competition arena where they are required to demonstrate their gaits, in hand, around a 20-metre equilateral triangle. One judge stands at each corner in order to also assess each individual’s morphology (shape and form), while trying to ignore the gymnastic antics of the handlers as they occasionally struggle to control their charges’ paces.
All the entries in each age-group first circle the judging triangle, then each individual returns and must display walk and trot in-hand within a specified time limit. At the end of each class, the judges eliminate all but 10 finalists, and although at this time they have already selected the champion for each category, the owners and breeders are held in suspense for several hours until the name is announced during a special presentation ceremony at the end of the day – or sometimes the early hours of the next morning, as classes continue late into the night under floodlights.
This year, at the request of many of the Lusitano breeders themselves, the ABPSL invited a judge representing the German Hanoverian studbook, Mr. Cord Wassmann to officiate, in order to ensure that the Brazilian Lusitano horses maintain their quality of movement. Mr. Wassmann has been involved with warmblood selections for the Hanoverian studbook for some 20 years, so brings a wealth of experience and a very knowledgeable eye to the proceedings.
The youngest age-group category was also the largest class of the day with 36 entries, representing the major stud farms: Haras dos Pinhais of Luis Ermirio de Moraes with five fillies, followed by Brazil’s largest Lusitano breeding enterprise, Interagro Ltda., with three, including the first champion of the show, the steel grey Alba Interagro, born in October 2004. She is a typical, classical model of a Brazilian Lusitano, with a rounded outline and uphill trot with well-engaged hindquarters. Alba’s sire is Ofensor (Danubio II) and she is out of Nevada.
Surprisingly, a popular choice to win this class from among a group of knowledgeable spectators was Azeitona do Retiro, owned and bred by Eduardo Fischer. This very pretty filly, currently wearing a coat that could best be described as dappled grey buckskin, demonstrated very elegant movements, but her outline was perhaps a little too modern for the judges and she failed to qualify for the top ten. Such are the trials and tribulations of results based on subjective judging!
In the second age-group class, for fillies born in the 12 months after July 1, 2003, two stallions were noticeably represented by the largest volume of offspring: Afiancado de Flandes, a five-time Supreme Champion, and Yacht, considered to be a legendary foundation sire, each with nine, including one daughter apiece plus a variety of granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Interestingly, though, a stallion that was represented by only two offspring in the first age-group and one in the second, produced both champions. In the second class it was Zainha Interagro, half sister to the first champion through sire Ofensor, out of Rainha. It will be fascinating to see whether, in breeding terms, Ofensor becomes the sire of this championship, stamping his genetics on future generations of Lusitano bloodlines.
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