The Glorious Lusitano Honored at Third Annual Festa Lusitana '06
Equestrian News Release
Tyngsboro, MA. On Labor Day, September 4th, Festa Lusitana ’06 brought together brilliant horses, enthusiastic crowds and even spectacular weather in this third annual celebration of the Lusitano in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts. Throughout a full afternoon of demonstrations, fun and friendship, Casa Lusitana (http://www.casalusitana.com) again shared its love of the Lusitano horse with hundreds of visitors. The crowd was caught up in the day’s joy, the live Portuguese music, the Brazilian food and the reconnections with friends.
The Festa Lusitana program opened with a choreographed pas de trois of horse/rider pairs richly attired in 18th Century costume. The teams – Jorge Gabriel/Sansao, R. Maciel/Quincas and Ricardo D.Silviana/Polo – synchronously glided across the outdoor dressage arena in harmony to contemporary orchestrations. Their beauty set the tone of the day’s presentations of elegant horses and riders.
Next, a selection of Casa Lusitana horses for sale was presented, ranging from a youngster not yet under saddle to a mature, fully-trained Prix St. George stallion. The variety within this collection allowed guests to learn about the conformation, variety, training and development by age of the Lusitano.
Again the classical music turned up as two riders performed in harmony featuring the Royal Court dressage movements of capriole, levade, passage, piaffe, Spanish walk and even a deep bow which charmed the crowd.
Perhaps the highlight of the day was the much-anticipated piaffe clinic offered by Jorge Gabriel. Starting with a trained stallion, Jorge demonstrated the three requirements of a quality piaffe – engagement, impulsion and a true balanced trot. Then, with a youngster and next with a slightly older horse, Jorge showed how these principles are established in early training and then are built upon as the horse matures. Jorge was clear to remind the audience that this is the classical method he learned in his youth from his teachers in Portugal and that others find their way to similar results by different paths.
Then center stage went to the excitement of the Portuguese bullfight. Casa Lusitana was privileged to present as our honored special guest, Alberto Conde – one of Portugal’s premier bullfighters (in Portugal, bullfighting is an equestrian art and the bull is not killed) – who is also past National Champion of Portugal for the new sport of Working Equitation. Sr. Conde rode with the bullfighter’s age-old pride and elegance as he battled the farm’s torrino (a bull on wheels) powered on foot by Jorge Gabriel to much laughter and applause.
Finally, all the riders turned loose in a fast and friendly Working Equitation competition – sending strollers, cameramen and everyone else to the sidelines to give the contestants room. Casa Lusitana’s working equitation course consists of a maze (moved through forwards and backwards), three barrels in a triangle (each circled in a different direction), a noisy wooden bridge with a bell, a small jump, a circular arena and a stake/ball course (pick up stake, stab ball off pillar, replace stake at far end). Someone forgot to keep score so all were declared the winner.
As always, our sponsors make important contributions to the quality of every Festa Lusitana. Our premier sponsors this year included Toyota of Nashua, Crowne Plaza Nashua (host to many of our visitors), Signature Imports (importers of Portuguese beer, wine and spirits) and The Equine Journal (the “voice of the equine industry”). Our vendors included Pelham Saddlery, Tacknology, International Andalusian and Lusitano Association (IALHA), Eastern Region Andalusian Horse Club (ERAHC), Tyngsboro Gardens (providers of Festa landscaping) and Sava Architects (equestrian facilities planning and design). The Brazilian dinner and soda was provided by Brazilian BBQ of Nashua.
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