Voice Over - Gala of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art
We inform you that it is possible to download the free app “Arte Equestre” and follow the gala in real time as well learn more about our horses and riders.
Parques de Sintra and the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art welcome you and wish you a great show.
As occurs around the world at the beginnings of each year, we at the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art are celebrating the New Year with classical music. The novelty, however, is not in having classical music, which we usually have at all our galas, but in having a real artistic dialogue between equestrian art and the musical art of the "3Actos" Association, which is there and for whom we would like to invite your applause.
With more than 40 years of history and 300 years of equestrian tradition we invite you to travel through the equestrian values and ideals of Kings and Masters. Tonight we invoke Manoel Carlos d’Andrade, author of the treatise that guides us every day. We ask that he be our companion in this journey through the history of the equestrian art and the Lusitano horse. We also thank the presence and favour of his Excellency, the Marquis of Marialva, Chief Equerry of the Kingdom, whom immortalized the equestrian art in the Portuguese court.
Horse Running Free
All of the horses of the Scholl are born in the stud farm of Alter and they are male, bay, Lusitanos and their history goes back more than five thousand years.
Agile and of docile character, its ancestral characteristics distinguish it from other races by its physical and psychic balance, versatility and agility.
From the battlefield to the elegance of the Portuguese court, here is where it shows its full splendour.
Picaria Real
Pas de 4: It is after much teaching, training and dedication that horse and rider are ready to perform before the public. And what an important moment this is! Here the past is found again, in a whispered memory; the present in a built affirmation and the future, in a hope projected in the dedicated and attentive generations.
Long Reins: Behold, now, a moment of rare equestrian knowledge and beauty: the long reins.
Airs Above the Ground: Finally, one of the most anticipated moments: the airs above the ground. Here, horses and riders are in perfect sync. Going through exercises such as the piaffe and the passage, through the terre-à-terre we prepare these magnificent animals for other great exercises such as the Pousades, the Levades, the Ballotades and the Caprioles.
::: INTERMISSION:::
Celebration of the inscription of the Portuguese Equestrian Art in UNESCO
As a result of the cooperation protocol signed between Parques de Sintra, the Portuguese Association of Purebred Lusitano Horse Breeders and the Golegã City Council, in 2021 Portuguese Riding was inscribed in the Portuguese Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The decision to inscribe the Portuguese Equestrian Art on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was taken at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, which took place between the 2nd and 7th of December 2024, in the city of Asunción, Paraguay.
Academic Riding is one of the forms of expression of Portuguese Equestrian Art, and its main guardian is the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art. Managed by Parques de Sintra, for 45 years it has undertaken the mission of preserving and disseminating the centenary legacy of the Equestrian Academy of the Portuguese Court from the 18th and early 19th century, preserving, to this day, the same type of horse, the Lusitano from the Alter stud farm, the same harness and the same outfits.
Using progression methods in teaching, based on the harmony and spirituality of a cooperative horse, it is possible to teach him in such a way that he himself will enjoy being ridden, moving in a natural and elegant way, in the arena or in the field.
We congratulate all the riders from the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, as well as all the practitioners of Portuguese horse riding, in Portugal, and across the four corners of the world.
We are convinced that maintaining this heritage in this inventory will depend on the collective wisdom of never forgetting that the only constant in the history of humanity is the change.
Court Games
We reached the moment of fair demonstration of dexterity. There, the quintain, figure of curious importance. Over there the Medusa, remembering the ancient myths. Further ahead the head and the rings for the training of expertise and aim. Together, they simulate the battle exercises and others that recreate the universe of tournaments, jousts and a riding style very Iberian and Portuguese: the gineta.
And now a challenge to our audience, at this time we are allowed to lose some of our knowledge of being in society, dictated by the treaties of civility, and we can make public our preference for the riders. I ask you to support them and may the best one win! Let the Games begin!
Orchestra
The 3Actos Association aims to promote art, providing concerts where music is combined with poetry, theatre, graphic and performing arts in general. In a time of permanent immersion in digital technology, all of them are fundamental for the re-humanization of existence, as the complementarity of artistic dialogue encourages and enriches this return of humanity to itself.
Believing deeply in this, 3Actos presents itself with varied formations, such as Piano Trio, String Quartet or Chamber Orchestra, always with a perspective of adaptability and artistic synergy with its cultural partners.
Solo
Marquis de Marialva, what a journey! I must say it is good to have you with us teaching equestrian art, in this unique moment of trust and dedication between ridder and horse. Your moment has come: the solo.
Carousel
Thus invoking the figures of Manoel Carlos d'Andrade and the Marquis of Marialva we bid you farewell with the grand finale of the royal performances of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the carousel.
Thus, is completed the New Year Gala.
We invite everyone to attend one of the "Mornings of Equestrian Art", which take place from Monday to Friday, between 10:00 and 13:00.
Parques de Sintra and the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art would like to thank you for your presence, wishing you all a good weekend and sincerely applauds the 3 Acts Association-Orchestra on this truly New Year concert.
Best wishes and a Happy New Year 2025 to everyone!