This year the sister institute for classical dressage of the SRS, the Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre exists 30 years. Once founded in the 2nd half of the 18th century as "Picaria Real" of the Portuguese royal court, and located in the magnificent baroque riding hall of Belem (Lisbon), the Picadeiro Real de Belém (nowadays the Coach Museum). Founded by King Joao V, who was married to a daughter of.... Austrian Emperor Karl VI (yes, the same one whose painting is always saluted by Andreas c.s. in Vienna)
As so many comparable institutions, the royal ridingschool disappeared in later, revolutionary times. But was refounded in 1979 by Dr. Guilherme Borba and the present director, Dr. Felipe Figueiredo, Marquis de Graciosa (a.k.a. Felipe Graciosa). Both were students of the famous Portuguese ridingmaster Nuno Oliveira.
Of course there are some relations with Vienna: in the beginning 80-ies Dr.Guilherme Borba, Dr. Felipe Graciosa, and Joao Pedro Rodrigues (present 1st Oberbereiter) stayed in the Spanish Ridingschool for some time, and were trained by Mr. Kottas and Riegler.
In November 2007 both institutions met in Paris, in a combined program, also with Saumur and Jerez (Les Quatre Ecoles)
The Portuguese ridingschool is exclusively using brown stallions of the former royal stud at Alter, "Alter Real" (founded 1748). This stud and his breeding material has a comparable breeding history as the Lipizzaner! At this moment the school has more than 60 stallions in training, with 17 riders. The stables and (only outdoor!) training arena is located in the palace garden of the baroque Queluz-palace, the Portuguese version of Schönbrunn (only in pink...)
In the summer season, every Thursday morning a show is offered in the palace gardens. The schedule of the show program is comparable with the performance of the SRS.
A great wish of the institution (and Felipe Graciosa personally) is the use the baroque riding hall of Belem again. There are far going plans to realize this !
Recently a very nice video appeared on You Tube, which offers a good impression! Beside this, a very nice new picture gallery can be found on www.dressageportugal.pt
The official website of the school can be found here: EPAE
The website of the Alter stud is: AR
A very nice picture gallery of the stud can be found here: dressageportugal.pt
Atjan,
AntwortenLöschenMany thanks for posting this! I loved all the historical background, and of course the photos of the beautiful horses! The last photo shows a gold plait in the mane of the horse...do you know why the mane is plaited in this way? I noticed the first horse in the first photo has a "gold" forelock...is it because he is the "head" horse?
Very nice! It must be so hard for them to work always outside. They accomplish much in tough conditions.
AntwortenLöschenThose guys are incredible! They are so nice, friendly and competent. We had such a great time in Paris. I loved to perform together.
AntwortenLöschenAtjan,
AntwortenLöschenThank you so very much for the information about the Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre. The saddles they use look to be very much more structured than that used by the Spanische Hofreitshule, a higher pommel and cantle.
The shabrack looks to be made of fur. Is that a tradition?
Romy
The saddle which they use is a very traditional 18th century model, just like you can find on all European paintings and pictures from that period. It survived in the Portuguese traditional classical dressage and bull fighting during the centuries, and is now commonly known as "Sela Portuguesa". But it is similar to f.e. the "Selle Royal" as described by Gueriniere.
AntwortenLöschenThe school saddle which is used in the SRS is an early 19th century model, which is actually an evolved version of the 18th century saddles.
Beside the "Sela Portuguesa", the Portuguese school also uses the "Sela Relvas" (Relvas saddle), which is a combination of a underside of a traditional school saddle (with very wide cushions) but with an "English" upper side (without pommel and cantle). This saddle is used for daily training.
Indeed, traditionally to the Sela Portuguesa and the Sela Relvas a piece of fur is used as a sort of shabrack. About the the historical and practical background of this habit are different stories (like a protection of the loins of the horse for attacks, or a protection of the coat of the rider against dirt). This piece of fur can be already seen on the ancient Portuguese engravings
Does the width of the band on their hats show their rank as riders, as at SRS? The place they ride is very beautiful. I would very much love to see them.
AntwortenLöschenThank you for sharing this. I saw them in Paris and was very impressed of the
AntwortenLöschenterre á terre never seen that before.
Do you now why they do the school jumps with stirrups ?
The bands on the tricornes are different, depending on the rank of the rider. A student wears only a button, a rider a red-white-red band, a chief rider a gold band, and the director a decorated gold band.
AntwortenLöschenThe Escola Portuguesa de Arte Equestre wants to reestablish the court-riding school of the late 18th century completely. Verbal passed tradition (among the Portuguese nobility and High School riders), ancient literature (King Joao, 13th century - Manoel Carlos de Andrade, stablemaster of the Marquis de Marialva, 1790) and ancient paintings and etchings are the historical sources.
According to those sources, airs above the ground were performed w i t h stirrups. That is why the Portuguese School is performing them likewise.
http://www.tribunalusitana.com/programas/escola-portuguesa-de-arte-equestre
AntwortenLöschenHello All,
This is a link to see an interview with Dr. Filipe Graciosa, Director of the Escola. It's in Portuguese with English subtitles.
Thank you Atjan!
AntwortenLöschen