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2008 Portuguese Championships CEI*** 160km
Saturday April 20 2008 - 2008 Portuguese Championships CEI*** 160km
It rained throughout the night, was raining when we left the hotel at 4:15 AM, and was raining when we arrived at the stables in Golegă half an hour later. Pedro, the vet for Antonio and Vasco, went to work on Trovador de Oliveirinha with a calming technique he learned from Michael Baxter, the physiotherapist in Germany, working mostly around his head and neck, using pressure and flexion. Vasco said last time that Pedro did this, their two horses were quiet at the start of their ride. Indeed, after Pedro had finished with Trovador, the horse stood there with his head and eyes and lower lip drooping.Riders and crew began gathering around their horses, arranging rain gear and headlamps on helmets, and at 5:45 AM the saddling began. The rain had let up for the moment, but even in the dark you could feel the heavy clouds hanging over us. The horses warmed up around the arena - you could tell where Trovador was by his bellowing - he was awake now!
Friday April 19 2008 - Golegă Vet In
Framing the central arena and square of Golegă are stately Portuguese mansions - and hidden behind almost every one of them are big stables. Through a tunnel in the middle of one of these, the "Clube do Criador", the endurance horses for the Golegă ride were stabled.This year's Portuguese Championships were put on jointly by the City of Golegă, the Feira Nacional do Cavalo, and the Federaçăo Equestre Portuguesa. Thirteen horses and riders were entered - 10 from Portugal, 2 riders from Japan - Mitsuko Masui and Yanada Yukio, and Valerie Clark, who rides as British, though she's been living in Portugal since she was in her teens - she is in her 70's now and still enjoying endurance riding. Reining Portuguese endurance champion for the last two years, Ana Margarida Costa, was returning this year on a different horse. She said "Not this year!" when those successes were mentioned. Turns out I knew one of the horses in the ride, and in fact had ridden him in France on a training ride. Jasmin De Lap, one of two horses owned by Stephane Chazel, arrived with Gaella and two grooms from France after two 10-hour days of driving. They brought Jasin and Kiria for the 2 Japanese riders.
Friday April 18 2008 -Welcome to Portugal: Golegă and Alpiarça
Golegă, Portugal: "Capital of the Horse" - as signs at the city limits to the city will attest, and home of this year's Campeonato Nacional de Resistencia Equestre - the CEI3* 160 km Portuguese National Endurance Championships.If you are a fan of the Lusitano horse, (and even if you are not), you will want to come here in November. Every year since the 18th century, the "Feira de San Martinho" - dedicated to the Bishop of Tours (later St Martin) - has been held in honor of the horse - www.horsefairlusitano.org). It is still one of the most important horse fairs in Portugal, and features the Lusitano breed in equestrian games and competitions. A million visitors are expected this year.
The Lusitano is the result of selection over some five thousand years, according to Manuel Viega, one of the early 20th century breeders. It was primarily used in battle; today it is competitive in a wide range of sports, and is the primary horse breed used in bullfighting. For those of you squeamish about bullfights, in Portugal, the bull is not killed. Several hundred years ago, Queen Marie of Portugal forbade killing of the bull; that tradition still continues today.