long legs and good feet. If I have to choose a beautiful neck or a beautiful back, I choose the back. I would love to have both. We focus on dressage, but I think a good working equi- tation horse is a very good horse. My type of dressage horse can quickly move from one direction to another. That type of horse is also what you need in working equitation.” Fifteen to twenty foals are born yearly on the farm, which
sits in a green valley surrounded by picturesque mountains. Built in stages both as a breeding and training facility, Haras Vale do Aretê began by importing eight mares from Portugal. Eventually, the eight mares were substituted with mares bred by the Gancs. “I don’t deny the Portuguese blood, because all our horses are pure Lusitano. But I’m very picky about the horses I like. We have invested in mares. We put them under saddle to determine their rideability. Our foundation is our mares and from them we have gotten our stallions.” The main stallions are tall at 16.3 hands, Uruguai do Aretê
and Xangô do Aretê. For a few years, the stallion Sonho was also in the group, but Andre explains that his male offspring proved too determinedly ‘masculine’ and their attention would stray out of the arena when they were supposed to be focused on their work. “When we gelded them they were perfect and his female offspring were perfect. But we decided to vanish his bloodline from the herd.” Most well-known among the mares was Querência do
Top, a four-time halter grand champion. She produced Xangô do Aretê and several of the farm’s most important mares. Comparing Lusitano horses from Brazil to those from Portugal leads Andre to remark, “The Brazilian Lusitanos can
be as good as the Portuguese. But it changes fast, depend- ing on choosing the right stallions. One is better only in the moment. And better for what? For halter, I think some Brazilian Lusitanos would place well in Portugal. Dressage, I don’t think one is better than the other at this moment. And the Portuguese are better at breeding bullfighting horses because we don’t have bullfighting horses in Brazil.”
Beyond Brazil Andre travels occasionally to the U.S., teaching clin- ics in Michigan, Washington, Oregon, California, Texas and Florida. “I love doing clinics in the U.S. because the pupils are seeking knowledge. If you visit a rider in Brazil and go into the living room where the books are, usually you don’t see riding books. I regret that. I think the American riders read and study about the horse. That makes me very happy because with these riders, whether they are very good or bad, they give me something to work with, like I have clay to shape. Usually in Brazil I have to produce the clay itself.” And what about the 2016 Olympics to be hosted in his
Andre teaching in California this past July.
backyard, Rio de Janeiro? Andre looks forward to seeing a Brazilian-produced Lusitano canter down the center line there. But which horse he thinks that will be, he simply won’t say—at least not out loud.
Popular Stallion Fosters American Connection I
n the horse world, one relationship leads to another— sometimes with unexpected results. The Lusitano stal-
lion Quarteto do Top, for example, led California dressage trainer Allison Mathy to Brazilian breeder, trainer and judge Andre Ganc. Quarteto do Top was a popular stal- lion in the U.S. Lusitano world, trained by Andre in Brazil and purchased by the former Carpe Diem Farm of Oregon. The gray stallion had been competed at Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I by Bettina Drummond, Miguel Duarte, Jennifer Schrader-Williams, and after her purchase of the stallion in 2010, Allison’s mother, Carolyn Carroll of Lusitanos Northwest. Allison, a USDF gold medalist, was a fan of Quarteto
his first Prix St. Georges. She also had the opportunity to purchase Quarteto.
Purchasing the young stallion
Allison Mathy and her Lusitano stallion Vaquarius CD, known as “Cielo.”
from first sight and hoped for an offspring. Her wish was granted in 2009 when she bought the 2002 Quarteto son, Vaquarius CD (Cielo), whom she will show this year in
Cielo solidified her connection to Andre. “I knew him by his reputation as a breeder who had trained and exported a number of horses, includ- ing Quarteto and Nimbus do Mirante, who were imported from Interagro Lusitanos. I contacted him about buying some horses and knew him by correspondence for several years.” As Lusitanos became more prev-
alent in California dressage, Allison began bringing Andre to the area
for clinics. “A good rider and horseman can adapt to the Lusitano breed, but Andre’s extensive knowledge of the bloodlines gives him a unique insight. He has trained, ridden, judged and bred Lusitanos for many years and he has a tremendous amount of information to draw from.”
Warmbloods Today 27
Patti Schofler
Kurtz
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