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• GOLEGA 2009
• Nov, 2009

As many of you may know, we attended the annual Golega horse fair this year. Golega is a quaint and historical, cobble-stoned village located an hour and a half NE of Lisbon, Portugal. It is the home to the largest traditional equestrian event in Portugal, The Feira Nacional do Cavalo. This horse show celebrates the beauty and versatility of the Lusitano breed and is literally attended by thousands from all over Portugal, people and horses alike, as well as attracting a large number of tourist from places such as America, Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The most remarkable difference between Golega and other horse events is the fact that this show practically runs 24 hours. Here it is not unusual to find riders on horseback standing shoulder to shoulder at the bar or enjoying a drink inside the discos!

Most riders attend in their finest traditional Portuguese dress and ride around the bridle path surrounding the main ring. They show off their horses and riding abilities, often carrying multiple riders. There are also plenty of carriages with horses dressed in traditional Portuguese tack with all the bells and whistles. Here you see everything from beautiful Lusitanos to little Shetlands pulling carriages. In many ways, the bridle path is the equivalent of the show itself! We even managed to spot a black horse with a star on its forehead in the shape of a heart!

Carlos and Trish took horses to ride around the bridle path. Trish’s spirited 5 year old, Zorro did very well performing piaffe and complements for the spectators even with all the distractions.

The main arena is surrounded by breeders’ stalls showing their best Lusitanos as well as retailers, restaurants, bars, discos and independent vendors selling roasted chestnuts. The Lusitano is showcased participating in a variety of horse sports. Fernando Carneiro took part in the work equitation and placed very well in 6th out of so many riders.

In addition to the competitions, there are spectacular exhibitions complete with live music and light shows, which demonstrate equine riding at the highest level of talent, professionalism and accuracy. Luis Valença attributed his performance this year in honor of the great master Nuno Oliveira.

Portuguese music plays almost constantly from the arenas or the discos adding to the atmosphere of electric enthusiasm and a genuine feeling of excitement at Golega.

 Everything went really well apart from the weather, which could have been a little better with nearly constant light rain towards the weekend making for a very muddy bridle path. But luckily it was the last days of the show so everyone could go home and get cleaned up.

All in all a great event! It was lovely to see friends again from all over the world and to enjoy the Lusitanos and other horses with everyone there. Hope to see you all again next year!

• Our website is completed
• 16 November 2009

Our web site is still very new, so please bear with us as it undergoes final construction.  Our German content is now available and our other language content will be available soon! We hope you enjoy looking around!