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Portuguese saddles
As Portugal has a long equestrian tradition, Portuguese saddles have an ancient origin. As elsewhere, in Portugal the saddles have evolved over the time having in mind what have been consider the main priorities from equestrian activities, moving from a military purpose to the modern sports. Although there several Portuguese saddle models the traditional Portuguese saddle is certainly the best known both internationally and in Portugal. We can establish a parallelism between the Lusitano horse and the Portuguese saddle. In Portugal there are many horse breeds from many countries coexisting with the Portuguese horse breeds. However the Lusitano horse is the main horse breed reference. In the same way there are nowadays in Portugal many saddle models coming from many countries. However the Portuguese saddle is main saddle model reference when one thinks in a saddle in Portugal.
The Portuguese saddle has been use in Portugal for centuries. This saddle is part of the Portuguese equestrian history and due to this is the one used by the Portuguese School of the Equestrian Art (Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre). The Portuguese saddle in current use is very similar to the saddle used by Dom Pedro de Alcântara e Meneses the 4th Marquess of Marialva. There are differences from current Portuguese saddle and the saddle in use in the XVIII century both in the design and in the materials used namely in the tree saddle. At Portugal Web there is more information about the Portuguese saddles.
Despite the importance of the Portuguese saddle amongst the other Portuguese saddle models there are certainly other interesting saddles. The Relvas saddle is also a traditional Portuguese saddle model. It is attributed to Carlos Relvas whom was a wealthy land owner from the Ribatejo region and was dedicated to sports and arts. The main difference between the Portuguese saddle and the Relvas saddle is that the Relvas saddle do not have the leg guards so characteristic in the Portuguese saddle. There are also other Portuguese saddle models, each with its own characteristics, such as the D. Dinis saddle, The Ribatejo saddle, the equitation saddle and the D. Domingues saddle. At Portugal Shop you can acquire all these Portuguese saddles which are handmade in Portugal and which can be done with a customized size.
Tags: Equitation, Horse Tack, Made in Portugal, Saddles
I will like to know what are the types of saddles do you have in stock for sale ?
Hi. We have a Victorino de Sousa saddle that dates back to 1916, I believe. I am interested in how to find some additional historical information about the saddle, and the Victorino de Sousa company who produced the saddle. If you have any information, I would love to hear from you. I can send pics if you’d like. Thank you.
Hi
Nice blog, picture of the saddle is awesome, I have used Australian Saddles they are really comfortable and best in quality but now I m going to buy this Portuguese Saddle it’s looking really awesome and comfortable, can any one send me more images of Portuguese saddle. Thx in advance