bailey wrote:Not to highjack the thread, but question inspired by these horses...if you were going to buy a Lusitano, what web sites would you use? I looked on dreamhorse and only see 40 horses in listed in the whole database.... I'm I missing something, looking in the wrong place or ??
thanks in advance!
I think i'm somewhat qualified to answer this since I bought one last year. Part of the problem is that lusitanos are relatively rare (low supply), the other part being that spanish horses (lusitanos and andalusians) have a reputation for people-oriented dispositions and gaits that are easier to ride than your average warmblood (high demand). It does not necessarily mean they are everyone's cup of tea but they are neat horses. Consequently, the good ones are expensive, with lusitanos being generally even more expensive than andalusians.
The vast majority of good lusitanos in this country are imported - most of them from Brazil, some from Portugal (although import from Portugal can be tricky). If you get lucky, you find one already in the US being sold by an individual for some reason but more often than not, to get a good one you either buy one from an importer/import auction (Lusitano Collection, Casa Lusitana etc) or you go to Brazil yourself (Sucandi, Interagro).
Silverbridge actually found me my horse (who is a Brazilian import) in the US by trolling youtube for "lusitano for sale" videos, so somewhat random. There is no way i would have found him. The only reason the horse was for sale was because his first owner developed a debilitating degenerative disease. If I hadn't bought him, I most likely would have gone to Brazil.
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