Explore Portugal on a Lusitano horse

By: Virginia Imberti Posted: 29/07/2021

In this article, we invite you to discover Portugal on a Lusitano horse. Take the opportunity to discover the amazing Portuguese beaches, its riding trails and warm climate, and embark on an equestrian holiday in this incredible country, where you can also enjoy a wine-tasting experience surrounded by expansive vineyards.

Portugal is a land of endless possibilities, where you can mingle with the crowd in one of the most sophisticated beach resorts, or explore the most distant places and stay in a romantic inn, an old farm, an age-old monastery or an ancestral house enjoying a wonderful environment.

People are friendly and take pride in their wonderful Lusitano horses, which are perfect to explore Portugal’s magnificent landscapes and hidden trails.

The emblematic Lusitano horse from Portugal is the heir to the Iberian horse. Today is one of the favourite and most famous horse breeds in this country. This horse is extremely efficient at different activities such as war fronts, in the past, or bull fighting, currently.

As regards its temperament, this is an intelligent, calm and brave animal. At the same time, since they are docile and easy to ride, they are capable of working in close coordination with riders.

Equestrian tourism in Portugal

Among the trails offered for Equestrian Tourism, a highly recommendable region is Alentejo, where you have two different alternatives that are worth considering: Quinta Do Rol and Raides Vicentinos.

Another interesting option is a visit to the farming lands and their estates. Rural activity in Portugal has an exquisite cultural richness and you can experience it first-hand in Monte Velho Equo Resort.

Quinta do Rol

Quinta do Rol is a century-old family property located in the Lourinhã region, 60 km north of Lisbon and 7 km from the Atlantic Ocean.

The equestrian centre Quinta do Rol aims at contributing to the promotion of horse riding activities in this region, by combining an innovative comfort concept and rural modernity with the renowned Portuguese equestrian tradition.

It offers four different holiday options:

• Wine: They have a high-standard productive vineyard.
• Events: A well-equipped and qualified convention centre.
• Tourism: Guests can spend a few days relaxing at their amazing resort.
• Equestrian Centre: which we will develop in this article.

Activities in their Horse Riding Holidays

You can choose a riding clinic (one or two lessons a day), riding lessons with rides in trails, or you can just enjoy their self-guided rides.

On the tours that take you along the old trails of the farm, you can visit an incredibly dense and varied nature reserve and several neighbouring farms.

All riding lessons are on a one-to-one basis.

If you attend one of their Riding Clinics, they include accommodations, all meals with full board in the main house of the estate.

These clinics are designed for beginners, intermediate and advanced riders. Before booking, you must indicate your experience level and expectations. When you arrive, their instructors will assess your riding abilities to see which the right clinic is for you.

Since there are many options, you will have to decide whether you want half-day or full-day clinics. Their duration ranges from one day to one full week of training.

What are their routes and Horseback Trip Programs like?

This area of Alentejo is gorgeous and has a perfect climate. You’ll be pleased with the peacefulness and seclusion of its equestrian routes and trails.

If you explore it on horseback, what most people enjoy here is the tour that takes you to the city of Évora (a 30-minute ride), which was declared a UNESCO Heritage Site.

There are many optional day rides, with the modality called Mobile or Star Routes, where you go for a different horse ride each day and, in the evening, you go back to the estate where you are staying.

Riders can choose the length of their stay, the number of hours they want to ride each day, and if they want to ride every day or prefer to relax in the comfortable facilities of the estate.

This is a really natural area and you travel with your horse large extensions of land covered with grass, many beautiful lakes and along trails that go into the cork plantations.

Their beach rides are a must and they are included in their programs.

Where will you stay?

You will stay at the ‘Monte’, the main building of the farm that dates back to Roman times with several additions throughout the years, a traditionally famous country house in Alentejo.

Each room is like a fully-equipped house and they can accommodate from 2 to 8 people. Excellent design and comfortable facilities.

What other activities do they have?

Another activity that they offer is enotourism, the quality of their wines is their outstanding feature.

They offer guided tours where you can see the entire winemaking process, visiting the vineyards, the distillery and the winery. And round off your tour by enjoying a wine-tasting experience. Together with Quinta do Rol and their well-regarded wine experts you can increase your knowledge of Portuguese wine making. You will learn a lot about this ancestral art.

Their facilities include professional tennis courts and soccer fields. Another option is surfing – their beaches are great for this activity.

If you combine their riding offers with their facilities, you can relax, ride and, if you are travelling with non-riders, they will have more than one option too.

For further information about them and their Portugal horse riding holidays, please go to their web site: https://quintadorol.com

Raides Vicentinos

Located in the city of Portela, just 10 km from Lisbon, Raides Vicentinos has offered the best horse riding holiday programs in Portugal since 2002.

Ride the world famous Portuguese Lusitano.

Their team is responsible for your safety and all aspects of your horseback riding vacations.

Your guide Miguel and the support team have a special kind of knowledge and skill that includes matching riders to the right horse, ensuring the food and accommodations are top quality and providing the opportunity to learn about Portugal and its culture.

This, combined with their professionalism, horsemanship and dedication, makes their horse riding holidays perfect, fascinating and memorable. All their guides speak perfect English and French.

Gallop on endless beaches, canter through many different types of forests, trot along ancient trails, admire their beautiful landscapes and enjoy local food and culture!

What are your horseback riding vacations like?

Their trails begin south of Lisbon, in Alentejo. capital city of Lisbon, in Alentejo. It is a region filled with beautiful landscapes and wide open spaces to ride.

Whether you ride inland or near the coast, this area is mostly free of highways and traffic.

These equestrian trails are the best way to enjoy the scenery as you traverse quiet country roads, trotting and cantering your way through the Mediterranean oak, pine, cork and eucalyptus forests.

Sandy trails near the coast provide lots of opportunity to explore at a free canter. Their beaches are deserted with kilometres of beautiful sand to have our horse gallop on them. Here you will get to know beautiful, sunny Portugal.

They offer rides from Sunday to Sunday, there are more than eight different possibilities to see real Portugal on horseback.

What programs do they offer?

They have various alternatives. All the routes have a duration of about seven days, different themes and difficulty levels.

Of all of them, in this article, we will briefly describe two so as to give you an overall vision of their characteristics.

Lusitano’s Kingdom Trail

This is a 7 day / 6 night program.

Its trails will take you along rivers and creeks meandering through spectacular scenery of rolling hills and pastures. This central region of Portugal is very rich in flora and fauna.

In the spring, flowers are abundant in the meadows with a spectacular colour range.

You will stay in beautifully renovated private estates that used to be the residences of Portuguese noblemen.

Beautiful antique furniture and art create a special atmosphere that makes these accommodations a highlight of this exclusive trail.

This ride takes you over hilly meadows without any fences or roads to Lake Maranhão. You cross several bridges, many of which were built by the Romans, until you reach Alter do Chão, a Portuguese villa that remains intact and preserves the best of the country’s tradition.

This area is also home to two of the National Portuguese Lusitano stud farms and the largest breeding area for fighting bulls in Portugal.

Here you will visit one of the headquarters of the two national Portuguese Lusitano stud farms. This will be a highlight particularly for lovers of Portuguese horse breeds.

Hundreds of mares and their foals graze on large meadows, while the stallions can be viewed in the spectacular barns.

Alentejo Coast Trail

This option includes magnificent horses, spectacular scenery and outstanding accommodation which make this horse holiday one of the most enjoyable.

The Costa Azul (Blue Coast), is the southern stretch of Portugal’s west coast. Enormous and beautiful beaches are waiting just for you. There are charming villages along the coast.

However, here you do not have to worry about running into lots of tourists. Here you can find deserted beaches. If you want to go to Portugal and avoid the crowds of the Algarve, the Blue Coast is your destination.

In this program, you ride across old paths through the untouched landscape of southwest Portugal, through vast green valleys and trails to the Atlantic shore with rocks and dunes, which are an invitation for a refreshing canter, amidst rocks and dunes.

Overnight stays are a dream in country hotels with traditional Portuguese cooking.

The Alentejo Coast Trail is offered starting in two directions – from North to South (Alentejo Coast N‐S) and from South to North (Alentejo Coast S-N).

• N-S trail: starts near the Atlantic Ocean at Melides and continues by rice fields to finish inland in Serra do Cercal with its hills covered by eucalyptus and cork forests.
• S-N trail: starts inland in Serra do Cercal and ends at Melides near the Atlantic Ocean.

Please, visit their web site to learn more about their equestrian tourism offer: http://ridingholidaysinportugal.com

Monte Velho Equo Resort

The Monte Velho Equo Resort is a boutique hotel located 7 km from Arraiolos. It is a Lusitano stud breeding farm.

The architecture of the house and the Equo Resort is by Diogo de Lima Mayer, the owner, and the interior design by Margarida de Lima Mayer, his wife.

Each room opens to a furnished balcony with an amazing view over the countryside and the dam. The rooms include ensuite bathroom which is separated from the bedroom by a glass wall and features a modern shower cabin at ground height.

Lusitano Breeders

Diogo Lima Mayer, owner of award-winning Monte Velho Equo Resort is famous at a national and international level for being one of the best Lusitano breeders and his horses have excelled in different dressage exhibitions throughout Europe and Brazil.

The stud farm, constituted from a group of five Alter Real mares, which were crossed initially with the stallion Xaquiro, a very famous certified stallion, pure blood Lusitano, descendant of the best dressage lines, with a superb temperament and a unique control of Spanish walk, passage and piaffe. An amazing specimen with a very broad movement, great suspension and a lot of style.

These crosses are the basis of their herds. They have always had the goal of creating well conformed horses morphologically and especially with very good gaits, which would guarantee its rideability in equestrian routes.

They have excellent infrastructure for horse riding at the highest level, including two indoor arenas and a Carriere with Olympic dimensions (60mx20m).

What special activities do they offer riders?

Blending with the surrounding countryside, the resort provides training and riding lessons on request with specialists to improve your abilities, technique and style.

In this riding centre, they offer the following equestrian programs:

• Dressage Program (1 hour lesson daily)
• Intensive Dressage Program (2 x 1 hour lesson daily)
• Mixed Program (1 hour lesson and 1.5 hour trail ride)
• Trail Riding Program (1.5 hour daily)
• Intensive Riding Program (2 x 1.5 hour trail ride daily)

With these programs, riders can perfect their skills and then, put put them into practice on their trails.

Besides these training infrastructures, they have unique terrain conditions in their property with over 250ha of land. In addition, the landscape in its surroundings, classified as National Ecological Reserve, is absolutely stunning.

You can ride for several hours without ever crossing paved roads, going through various dams and experiencing a typical Alentejo’s landscape, with its cork trees and holm trees, the various herds of cattle, in an idyllic environment.

They offer 7 day / 6 night horse riding packages with 5 days on horseback and not only in Portugal but also in other parts of the world.

What are your horseback riding vacations like?

As regards their equestrian routes and trails, they have more than 10 optional day rides, under the Mobile or Star Route modality– you can choose a different ride each day and go back to the resort in the evening to sleep.

Programs are flexible. Riders can choose the length of their stay, the number of days spent riding and the number of hours in the saddle per day. They can also choose different activities for the rest of the day.

They are excellent hosts and will adjust their programs to your wishes and organize everything in agreement with their guests – made-to-measure riding holidays!

Activities for non-riders

For non-riders, Monte Velho organizes themed meals, outdoor picnics and canoeing in the dam.

The outdoor swimming pool offers panoramic views. There are relaxing areas with beach umbrellas and deck chairs in the garden, where guests can enjoy a spectacular sunset.

Évora, a UNESCO Heritage Site, is 30 km from Monte Velho Equo-Resort and it is a highly recommendable ride.

For further information, please go to their web site: https://www.montevelho.pt/index.html

/ Photos: https://quintadorol.com/, http://ridingholidaysinportugal.com/ y https://www.montevelho.pt/index.html /

Are you also passionate about the idea of travelling Europe on horseback?

And if you want to learn about other horse breeds for a fantastic horseback tour of Europe, download our eBook on Horse Riding Holidays in Europe and choose your next destination.

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