Equestrian activities in Portugal
The country of Portugal is located in the south western part of the European continent and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean in the south and west and the Spaniards in the north and east. Portugal became a member of the European Union in 1986 and the country has established itself as one of the premier first world nations with a soaring economy. In fact the rising economic prosperity of the country has had very positive effects on its social life with the quality of living being researched as one of the best in the world. Such healthy social life allow the Portuguese some amount of leisure time and one of the most popular leisure activities in Portugal is equestrianism or horse riding. Although in the early times, horses were used for transportation, it was during the times of warfare and battles that the art of horse riding evolved to aid the army in winning battles and this art finally evolved to form what is known as equestrianism.
Though the sport has its origins in the ancient past, it has greatly evolved in the recent years and its growth prospects look promising now. The traditional horse breeds participate in these activities are the Sorraias, Garranos and the Lusitano horse breeds. They in their turn are said to have been evolved from the ancient Iberian horses and ponies which were found in the Iberian Peninsula. In fact the Portuguese art of horse riding is so true to its primitive origins that they use the traditional attires, dressing, saddles and bridles even today in equestrian activities. The kinds of ancient attires and traditional gears used have been depicted in books like Manoel Carlos de Andrade's 'Luz da Liberal, e Nobre Arte da Cavallaria'. Equestrian today is a popular form of sport, with recent innovations like equestrian bullfighting also being introduced and it has good prospects of its fame increasing with time.