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.
Good evening and welcome to the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art.
The show will begin briefly.
Photos and videos are not allowed during the presentation.
Please be informed that using the QR codes on the chairs it’s possible to access the Gala program for free.
To follow the exhibition in real time you may download the app “Arte Equestre”, with descriptions of the numbers presented and to learn more about our horses and riders.
Welcome to the Opening Gala of the International Lusitano Horse Festival.
Founded in 1979, the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, now managed by Parques de Sintra Monte da Lua, acts to interpret the centuries of heritage embodied in this artistic style and follow the model bequeathed by the Picaria Real – the equestrian academy of the Portuguese court of the 18th and early 19th centuries.
The Portuguese Lusitano Horse Breeders Association (Associação Portuguesa de Criadores do Cavalo Puro-Sangue Lusitano - APSL for short) was founded in 1989, having been granted by the Portuguese State the management of the Lusitano Breed Studbook, which is unique and functions in Portugal, the birthplace of the breed, on a worldwide basis.
The APSL has the goal of defending and promoting the Lusitano purebred, ensuring the breed’s ethnic purity and concurring for the zootechnical and sanitary improvement of the breed, approving its breeders. In 1995 it was recognized as Public Utility Entity for the performance of these functions.
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.
Carousel of Young Horses
Coming from Alter, the foals arrive at the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art at the age of four.
After being assigned to the riders by the Master Chief Rider they evolve up to the highest level according to a teaching method in which each horse is always taught by the same rider. When learning the basics, termed Basse-École (Low School), they start off with the core principles and exercises done in a riding ring, with the weight of a rider, the walking, the trotting and the cantering. The end goal and objective is towards achieving the splendour of the equestrian art and the countless presentations that awaits them throughout a career, desired long, and for which they are trained.
Picaria Real
Pas de 2: 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:::
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!
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 journey through the “Light of the Liberal and Noble Art of Cavalry”, today for the occasion of the opening of the International Lusitano Horse Festival.
We invite everyone to attend the International Lusitano Horse Festival which will take place from tomorrow until Sunday in the Manuel Possolo Hippodrome, in Cascais.
We also take this opportunity to inform you that tickets are now available for the Gala commemorating the 45th anniversary of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, on September 13th, in Campo Pequeno, which will feature the Real Escuela Andaluza del Arte Ecuestre, from Jerez de la Frontera, with Abu Dhabi Royal Equestrian Arts, from the United Arab Emirates, and with the Lezíria Grande Equestrian Center, founded by Master Luís Valença, who will be honored during the show
Parques de Sintra and the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art thank you for your presence and wish you all a good night.