A Slight Course Adjustment

After much thought, Robert and I have made the big leap and purchased a black, 100% pure Veiga Lusitano colt. With luck, in a few years, he will be used for breeding. His name is JP Zarathustra and we think he is very special. As with many Veiga colts, he is line bred and so will be very prepotent. Zara is very typey, with a dry convex head, a great top line, clean legs and a baroque head set.



We chose the ancient Iberian horse breed for a number of reasons. The number one reason is their tractability and their native intelligence. They simply excel at learning. We also appreciate their strength, athleticism, baroque form and the Veiga line's natural ability to collect. Finally, we appreciate the history of the world's most ancient breed. The Lusitano is truly an ancient treasure.

We wanted a horse that could be able to be used to create a crossbred (in our case the Spanish Norman) that will excel in driven sports. That includes dressage, pleasure driving and CDEs. The linebred Lusitano is an excellent horse to crossbreed because he passes his strong traits to the next generation. We chose an elegant, refined Veiga horse; that should pass down that wonderful headset, temperament and croup. With our black Percherons, we wanted a black stallion. This way, we can rapidly breed a pair of matched horses for the show ring. So, we went and and searched for the best darn horse that we could find. Unfortunately, that meant getting a colt. The price of a stallion of the quality we desire was just out of our price range.

But beyond the breeding, we wanted a horse that can be used for dressage and driven dressage. A horse that Robert can train and that can take him to the next level in his quest for his own personal growth in horsemanship.

I think we found all that we were looking for and more in our little colt. We purchased him from JP Giacomini, who had not intended to sell him. JP had been planning this breeding for many years, and sees the potential of this cross to be his replacement one day for Hipogrifo, our colt's sire. He has retained rights to a certain number of breedings and we are very happy to have a partner in our new journey with JP.

Hipogrifo is an amazing horse. He exudes the Veiga bloodlines through his every pore; from his convex head, elegance and down to his work ethic. Hipo is now a venerable old stallion, still eager to please and just amazing to watch.

Click here to go to Hipogrifo's website

Click here for a link to HipoGrifo's video

Finally, I wish to quote the Interagro site and their wonderful write-up of the Veiga blood:
http://www.lusitano-interagro.com/blood.htm

Veiga

"The Veiga bloodline produced the most genuine war horse of Ancient Lusitania. 'Veigas' are extremely functional and smaller than the other lineages - excellent for bullfighting.

They have the typical convex head known as the "Veiga head", flat thin legs with prominent hocks, fantastic impulsion and proud flexible necks.

Manuel Veiga describes his horses as follows: "Nervous, full of gallantry, so obedient they seem to outguess the rider's intentions; high thin head, long free-flowing manes, elevated movements and a striking agility challenging all threats and dangers with indomitable courage"

The Veiga is a true race within the Lusitano breed and the stallions when used on mares of any other lineage have the power to transmit to the offspring the most typical characteristics of the Lusitanian race.

The selection criterion was based entirely on the functional qualities, as explained by Alfredo Baptista Coelho:

"not the height, nor the academic morphology, not the color, nor the form of the head. Everything was offered by the race itself: wonderful fine slightly convex heads today known as "Veiga head", ancient rare colors, fine flat legs with strong hocks, flexible backs, uncommon impulsion, beautiful malleable necks... in short, the race offered him [Mr Veiga] a horse that makes our horse loving people vibrate.""

JP Zarathurstra