Visit to the Monta da Tramagueira Stud by Jo Monck
etting up early really isn’t my thing. Getting up early after a late flight into Lisbon is almost unheard of. Getting up early with the promise of seeing some beautiful Lusitano horses at a long established stud is a whole different matter. On the morning of the stud visit I was hugely enthusiastic about getting out of bed. Celia Wilkinson, my travelling companion, who has now accompanied me on a good few equine adventures abroad, and I grabbed breakfast and then a taxi to the other side of Lisbon where we were getting a lift with Maria O’Hare, her husband Michael and Morwenna Hext Howe. The stud is about two hours away from Lisbon but with the promise of a Pasties de nata, a Portuguese custard tart to the uninitiated, and a coffee on route we were in high spirits.
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I had long heard of the Monta da Tramagueira stud and photographed its horses in various places in England including Windsor Show and The London New Years Day Parade. The horses are just pure Portuguese Lusitano perfection and I was very much looking forward to meeting more of them.
At the end of a long driveway nestles the farm, like a horse oasis. The long drive gives breathtaking views over the farm’s extensive pasture and glimpses of the pristine paddocks in which the horses peacefully graze. Those of you who read my articles will know that I have a severe crush on the Iberian horse and the Lusitano at Monta da Tramaguira are some of the finest bred in Portugal.
We have concentrated on a painstakingly strict selection of stallions/broodmares, with the aim of breeding good natured horses with high levels of functionality, typicality, dimension, physical structure and slenderness, while never disregarding the main characteristic which make the Lusitano such an unrivalled horse: RIDEABILITY and CHARACTER. Our endeavours have been rewarded by several prizes in Model and Movements competitions in Portugal and all around the world, in addition to several horses with outstanding performances in dressage (GP Level) and bullfighting.
We jumped in the car and were taken to meet all the horses, I cannot stress how extraordinary the characters of these horses are, from the mares in the field who simply followed us round to introduce themselves, to the comedy behaviour of the colts who all wanted to have their photo taken with us, like a group of teenagers trying to get the best angle, jostling for position without touching or standing on us. How many times have you been surrounded by a large group of colts and felt completely at ease? These horses are brimming with trust and friendliness and sheer enthusiasm for life. It was in one field that I met young Piri Piri, a nine month old young Luso. He followed us round and when I wanted to get some shots of the other youngsters having a little whizz I balanced my camera on him to steady it without thinking. Not a sound was made as my new photographic assistant stood stock still for me to use as a camera stand. I just wanted to pick him up and take him home with me!
The Farm has been in the same family for over two hundred years and is very much still a family business. Jose Filipe Guerreiro Santos, our extremely good host writes;
The stud operates from the Herdade da Tramagueira, in the municipal and county district of Beja, Portugal. As it is an agricultural operation geared to cattle and Lusitano purebred horse breeding activities, with great landscape and environmental principles. The stud’s various areas of permanent meadowland, both unirrigated and irrigated, provide ideal conditions for our animals’ proper development.
The stud has ten own brand Lusitano mares, almost all ridden, with all of the breeding stock being descendants of NILO (M.V.) and OPUS 72 (M.V.), with a breeding programme in the bloodline of FIRME (SA). The following horses, who have proved themselves to be outstanding at the highest levels of the Lusitano breed, predominate in terms of our animals’ genealogy: NILO (M.V.), OPUS72 (M.V.), XAQUIRO (Quina), FIRME (S.A.), UNIVERSO (M.V.), ZELADOR (M.A.C.), ELEITO (M.A.C.), SPARTACUS (CSM), CAMPEADOR (CSM), IMPOSSÍVEL (BN), SOBERANO (GUB), HOSTIL (JGB), GRAN SOBERANO MT (MT), RUBI (AR) and ESCORIAL (BAR).
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Then there was the utterly gorgeous Dun foal we met at the end. His black stockings pulled up neatly to his knees, he showed us how he could jump over a ditch with his dignified mother looking on as if to say ‘you are just showing off now’. He was supreme with huge presence and his movement was to die for as it was with all of them. No wonder there are so many dressage champions that come out of this stud.
Rosettes and medals too numerous to count are displayed in the very comfortable seating area at the end of the indoor stables. Pictures of champions look down from the walls and the smell of freshly cleaned leather mingles with that of the horse. Did we want to leave? No, I don’t think we did. After a fabulous lunch we had to say our goodbyes and I failed to smuggle Piri Piri out in my camera case, though if he ever wants a job he is more than welcome. I’m sure that he would be just fantastic. I can explain to Durante.
Visit to the Monta da Tramagueira Stud
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