COUDELARIA HENRIQUE ABECASIS

I believe the way things are born and grown shape the culture of the organizations all throughout its maturity.
In our case, breeding and training horses started as a family project, with the idea of creating an intimate and passionate environment bringing us together.

From the very first moment we have been trying to produce fine horses, with outstanding rideability and powerful enough to carry the rider and perform difficult exercises of dressage, with ease and little apparent effort.
We base our selection on character, solid conformation, and the gentleness of forms that purifies the breed and also lightness of gaits and capacity for collection that so strongly characterizes the Lusitano horse.
As it happens with other horse breeders in Portugal 40 years ago, the ultimate test for rideability, both physical and mental, for the horses we were producing was to see how they were able to perform in the Bullfighting arena.
At that time the Lusitano horse was not yet so popular in the world, and the demand came mainly from Portugal, Spain and South America.
Only years later, when dressage became more popular, also in Portugal, and our horses started to show their potential at this level, it was possible for the breeders to test themselves as breeders in the dressage ring.
For us in Coudelaria Henrique Abecasis, the transition to dressage came naturally. We were already seeking knowledge in riding, according to the best masters we could find, and we were already producing strong horses, both physically and mentally, with the principal aim being rideability.

The Lusitano horse excels providing an empathic and collaborative experience with his rider, and has proven throughout his millenary existence its amazing ability to perform difficult exercises under saddle.

With our mind on the sport and spectacularity of dressage, we decided to cross every year a couple of our Lusitano mares with outstanding dressage horses. The idea is to use a small sample of our group of mares without any strains. Just aiming at the best possible horse, through the crossing of a very good mare and a very good stallion.
As stallions we have used horses with performance results and with bloodlines that have proven both in the sport and in the characteristics we value most already in our Lusitano horses – character, rideability, strength and willingness for collection.