Portuguese horses and breeds
In the magnificent country of Portugal, equestrian activities are today entangled with the social life of the Portuguese and while football continues to be the most popular sport in Portugal, horse riding has emerged too as an admired form of spending the leisure hours. It is well known that in the ancient times there were no motor vehicles available and human beings took the help of animals in order to travel long distances with their wares. This is a truth even today for the people who reside in the very remote corners of the world and who often cannot afford the usage of these high priced vehicles. Therefore, animals were the cheapest and only available modes of transportation in ancient times. But today animals are used in satisfying one's leisurely desires and many animals are employed in sports.
The most popular horse breed in Portugal is the Lusitano. Its name owes its origin to Luso, who was the son of the roman god Bacchus and it is also to be noticed that Portugal was once a part of the Roman Empire and was called Lusitania at that time. Lusitano is well known in Portugal and much valued as well among the other horse breeds. There are also two another r breeds of horses which are indigenous to Portugal only. These are the Garrano horse breed and the Sorraia horse breed. The Sorraia horse breeds are characterized by their u-shaped heads like a convex and it is believed that the Lusitano horse breed must have evolved from these Sorraia breed. The Garrano horse breeds are said to have developed from the Iberian ponies having concave or straight head profiles. All these horse types therefore owe their origin to the prevalent Iberian horses which as logo to prove that equestrian activities have their roots dug very deeply in the pages of history when it comes to Portugal.