FNC'21 – OUTCOMES & HIGHLIGHTS

GOLEGÃ HORSE FAIR 2021

It was an emotion’s roller-coaster to be back to the worldwide known ‘Portuguese Capital of the Horse’. After the break imposed by the pandemic, the excitement and expectation around this event were through the roof! The moment we arrived at Golegã village, you could feel it immediately – a bursting crowd of horse lovers gathered to live this horse week intensely. Lusitano World Team was there experiencing all in firsthand and now we’re ready to bring the highlights to you!

MODEL & GAITS COMPETITIONS

This year the Model and Gaits contest gathered a total of 45 Lusitano stallions, divided in three classes: 3-year-old males, 4-year-old males and males with 5 years or more. The gold medalists of each class got the opportunity to run for the ‘Champion of Champions’ of this year’s Fair title. We will guide you through each class in detail!

3YO class: On a class with 11 animals competing, the winner with gold medal was Ofensor MAC (Hábil da Brôa * Princesa) bred by Manuel D’Assunção Coimbra. Ofensor MAC had already made an impression on the International Lusitano Festival where he also competed. At Golegã this young stallion 'wowed' the crowd with his tremendous beauty, faithfulness to the breed’s standard and charisma. Oeste D’Atela (Escorial * Guhapa D’Atela) bred by Francisco Bessa de Carvalho also impressed the audience and conquered the second place, also being awarded with gold.

4YO ridden class: On a highly competitive class with 13 fantastic horses, Nilo TVF (Fogoso * América) bred by Coudelaria Torres Vaz Freire, snapped up the first place with gold medal. Under the saddle of Maria Amaral the duo stood out by their superb elegance and finesse. The second place was granted by Nilo das Arcas (Ulisses * Bandarilha) bred by Dr. Manuel Maia Correia who also conquered the gold medal. Piloted by Mafalda Galiza Mendes, the pair made an impression with their class and irreprehensible presentation. Stepping on the third place of the rank, Notável do Lagar (Escorial * Zica) bred by Manuel Teixeira, charmed the public and made sure to grab his gold medal.

Ridden Horses with 5YO or more: This class was, for sure, the most competitive of this year’s Fair and it ended up with a total of 4 gold medals. Morante SS (Pioneiro SS * Paquita SAG) made sure to shine on the ring alongside his rider Gilberto Filipe and stepped on the first place of the podium, making the delights of the audience and judges. The second place with gold medal went to Marfim do Penedo (Viscoso da Broa * Destinada do Penedo) bred by Resina Antunes Stud. In third came Miura de Cais (Riopele * Glicinia de Cais) bred by Casa Agrícola Irlanda Saraiva – a gorgeous perlino stallion who dazzles with his presence and also took home gold. The fourth place with gold medal was awarded to Levante da Brôa (Quinteiro da Broa * Descarada da Brôa) bred by Manuel Tavares Veiga and presented by Manuel Borba Veiga. Champion of Champions Title: Morante SS summed up his victory on his class with the coveted ‘Champion of Champions’ title! This title was decided on a dispute with all the horses who obtained the gold medal on their classes.

Ofensor MAC

Nilo TVF

Morante SS

WORKING EQUITATION

As usual, the finale for the Portuguese Working Equitation Championship was disputed during Golegã Horse Fair. And this was a memorable year for Gilberto Filipe! Not only he got the title of Champion of Champions, as he summed up three titles at the working equitation competitions – Morante for ‘Debutantes’ class, Luar da Caniceira for ‘Consagrados’ and the worldwide known black horse Zinque das Lezírias renewed the title for Masters class. At sub-20 class Nicole Silva and Hábil de Sena were the best pair. You can check the complete results HERE.

DRESSAGE

The National Horse Fair also hosted the finale for the Portuguese Dressage Cup. All competitions took place at HIPPOS High Performance Center, allowing the horses to stay away from the busy Fair environment.

The preliminary level was the class that gathered a larger number of participants – 7 pairs competed with their 4-year-old horses. The best in the show was Nobre do Saramunheiro, a son of Craque das Figueiras, piloted by Nuno Chaves de Almeida. The same rider won the elementary class on the saddle of Marquês do Liz. On the Medium level João Embaixador, riding Lancelot do Monte conquered the first place in the podium. In advanced level, the warmblood Firefly was the best horse, ridden by Mateus Abecassis. The always elegant Rita Ralão Duarte competed in the small tour with Irão - the most recent addition to Team Rubi – the pair had a beautiful performance stepping on the highest position of the podium. Check out the detailed scores of the dressage competitions HERE.

NIGHT SHOW

One of the most awaited moments of the Fair is the night show – a dance of lights and shadows, that enchanted the many visitors that drive to the small village to see the beautiful and fearless power of the Lusitano Horses. This year the show commemorated the 450th anniversary of the Fair.

‘Goosebumps’ - this is the felling each and every time we see the power of our tradition and equestrian heritage being lifted by many well-known riders who performed that night to warm up our hearts! As an image is worth more than 1000 words, we close this article sharing some of the images that better illustrate the highlights of the show.