Ticket to ride

The Portuguese have been in Thailand for more than 500 years as merchants, soldiers and envoys. Now Portugal is bringing its famed Lusitano horses  to the Kingdom for a world-class horse show called "Passionata".

It's a performance that promises to both strengthen ties between the two nations and fascinate Thai horse lovers.

Organised by Horseshoe Point and the Thai Polo Club, "Passionata" is being held today at Horseshoe Point in Pattaya as part of the Thailand Horse Festival. The show is a celebration of Portugal's traditional equestrian art by a team of riders from the legendary family of Portugal's master rider Luis Valenca Rodrigues, and also features opera singing and dance artists.

"Passionata" offers the Portuguese embassy a chance to promote the Lusitanos in Thailand, and Portuguese ambassador Antonio de Faria e Maya is more than happy to explain the tradition of gallantry that lies behind Portugal's national symbol.

"The Lusitanos were part of the efforts to build Portugal as the first nation in Europe. And in history, Portugal's weapon was the Lusitano," says the ambassador.

A horse lover himself, he always keeps his coffee-table book about the history of the Lusitano handy, adding that the book has travelled with him to Chile, Ukraine, South Africa and now Thailand.

He's hoping that even those who don't count themselves horse fans will travel down to Pattaya for tonight's show, not just to help develop the bond between the Thai and the Portuguese, but for the wonderful spectacle.

A breathtaking performance of horsemanship, the classic "Passionata" features world-renowned riders Mario Miguel and Luisa "B" Valenca who'll be joined by Thai riders Chaikhiri and Chanya Srifuengfung, the father-and-daughter team who founded Horseshoe Point.

The Valencas are critically acclaimed for their equestrian performances in the US and Europe, and received a standing ovation at the opening show for the FEI World Dressage Championship in Las Vegas last April.

One of the best known riders in the Valenca family is Luisa, or "B" as she is referred to by her fans. A student of the great master Nuno Oliveira, B won her first medals at the tender age of six and went on to claim the National Championship in dressage in 1998 and 1999.

As a young rider, she helped her father run the Equestrian Centre at Leziria Grande, which is dedicated to the teaching of the traditional Portuguese equestrian art. Nowadays, she runs horse-riding programmes for foreigners, having mastered the technical terms in French and English as well as in Italian and Spanish.

She is also a frequent visitor to Horseshoe Point where she has trained several Portuguese horses and facilitated horse-riding programmes.

The Lusitano is a "Baroque" pedigree with 17,000 years of history. Known as "the horse of kings", up until the 1960s this ancient Portuguese breed shared its registration with the Spanish horse, the Andalusian. Both are sometimes called Iberian horses - their land of origin being the Iberian peninsula - and they were originally bred for use in war, dressage and bull fighting. Lusitanos make excellent riding horses due to their temperament and tendency to bond strongly with humans. They are intelligent, sensible and have exemplary balance.

"There will be 15 Lusitano horses performing in the 'Passionata'," says Horseshoe Point director Chanya. "I can tell you the Lusitano horses are intelligent, responsive, friendly and handsomely built with well-muscled legs. They're also known for being level-headed, which makes them easy to train."

Tickets for the Passionata show cost Bt2,000, Bt1,500 and Bt1,000 at Thaiticketmajor.com.

Manote Tripathi

The Nation