by Keron Psillas | Jul 8, 2012 | Brazil equestrian trips, classical dressage, horses for sale |
Hello Friends,
It’s been too long between blog posts, so this is going to be a long one! We are just back from Brasil, again, and of course it was a wonderful time. But let’s start with the May Expo trip….
We visited our favorite farms and spent many hours looking at beautiful Lusitanos. We spend a lot of time each year checking on the progress of the young horses. Debra keeps all her notes from trip to trip and year to year…so we know exactly which horse to recommend to our clients and we plan our visits accordingly.
After the farm visits we had a great three-day clinic at Manege Sant Adelaide with Davi Carrano, our guests, and clients from Brasil. Riding beautifully trained horses helps students to replicate the feel and movement when they go back home to their equine partners.
Then, it was on to the Expo. The big event moved this year from downtown Sao Paulo to the Helvetia Riding Center in Indaiatuba, just south of Campinas. The facility was beautiful, and much nicer for the participants, equine and human. It was great to see the Lusitanos of all ages, and watch our friends celebrate victories! Congratulations to all the exhibitors….looking forward to next year. Abraços e beijos.
Late June found us back in Brasil for a couple of reasons. We had a wonderful group from BUSHTRACKS Expeditions that were interested in seeing the culture of the Lusitano in Brasil. We visited our a few of our favorite farms and enjoyed carriage rides, working equitation, riding gorgeous Lusitanos….and of course, legendary Brasilian hospitality! Another of the highlights was filming an episode for the Masters Series with Tribuna Lusitana. I’ll post details and airing time on the blog soon! Thank you to Andrea and Jose and all the Tribuna Lusitana Team. It was a great pleasure.
And the best part (for DEBRA)….we visited her babies on several different days! We have wonderful babies and young horses (1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 year old Lusitanos) from the legendary Do Top bloodlines! We’ll be adding more images and video to the Horses For Sale page, but I’ve included a few shots in the gallery below. Enjoy!
Now….time for the July Symposium. It’s not too late to sign up….there are spaces available! Click on the Symposium link above and join us for all the learning, fun, and great food….and Vive La France! (We’ll celebrate Bastille Day on Saturday!) And speaking of FRANCE….sign up NOW for the trip to see the Four Classical Schools in Paris…..late September, early October. The link is above. Registration must close soon!
Thank you to Keron Psillas for the wonderful photographs.
by Keron Psillas | Dec 29, 2011 | Brazil equestrian trips, horses for sale |
Here are some pictures of our latest family additions. Debra and I are delighted with these gorgeous fellows. They are wonderful examples of careful breeding from great bloodlines (and they are awfully cute too).
They are out of Debra’s exceptional mares (as all her wonderful babies have been) and represent the best of the Portuguese and Brasilian bloodlines. Contact her about the older fillies and colts that are available now. Several of the babies are here in the US now, working happily as three and four year olds. Domina was featured earlier on this blog so scroll down for pictures of her!
First up:
Herodes DB by Bailado do Top out of Somatoria do Top. Bailado is an amazing young stallion with a great work ethic, huge movement, and BIG, but he retains all the finest qualities of the Lusitano of character, expression and gentle temperament. Bailado do Top is by Quadro out of Nubia. Somatoria do Top is the sister (by mother…Largaticha) of some of the most important Lusitanos in Brasil: Nicotina, Orador, and Oceano do Top. Clearly, a very finely bred baby.
Second baby:
Hermes DB by Bailado do Top out of Successão do Top. Successão do Top is the top awarded mare of her year, champion and vice champion ahead of stallions at the International Lusitano Expo. She is by Quadro do Top out of Herancia.
Come with us to Brasil in May (check the tab above for the Brasil 2012 trips!) and you can see them both, along with the other babies in the herd. It’s a highlight of our trip each time we go and is THE highlight for proud Mom Debra.
Thank you to Davi Carrano for the beautiful photographs. Hermes was less than 10 hours old when the photos were taken!
by Keron Psillas | Sep 27, 2011 | Brazil equestrian trips, horses for sale, Well-being of the Horse |
We have just returned from Brasil (The 3rd Annual Lusitano Festival at Aguas de Lindoia) and are preparing for the 3rd installment in our Classical Series here in Healdsburg. A few of the special things we’ll be doing this weekend include a reception featuring the latest horses from Brasil, including Capaz do Mito, and a Brasilian-themed dinner in the barn Saturday night! There is space available for auditors and a very few spots for the clinic afterward on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Contact us if you are interested. We would love to have you join us. Click on the September Symposium link ABOVE for all the details.
We have some exciting news to share: A Larapio son (our breeding stallion) is headed to the World Championships for Working Equitation in Lyon, France! Unico HS, owned by Hilda Toledo Piza, will join the best horses in the world and showcase the versatility and spectacular temperament that make the Lusitano such a joy. Congratulations to Hilda, Mariana, and Fabio. Boa sortie!
Congratulations are in order too for the team behind Xama Do Top. Xama (sire of Debra’s gorgeous filly Graphica) was Champion of Champions at the Lusitano Festival in Lindoia. Xama Do Top was bred by Tonico Pereira and is owned by Victor Oliva of Coudelaria Ihla Verde. Victor’s son João Victor rode Xama for the championship and was named Champion Rider of the festival. What an outstanding achievement for this young man! Congratulations to Tonico, Victor, João, and all the team behind this marvelous horse.
We’ve been in Brasil several times this summer and our visits are not complete without seeing Debra’s herd of babies. Yes, I said HERD. Graphica, her filly by Xama Do Top, is turning into a spectacular horse. Her movement is beyond stunning and she is very lovable and easily handled. This is easy to understand given her exceptional breeding. But all the babies (and now young horses) are bred exceptionally well. Here’s a gallery of images from “the herd” including pix of Graphica, Dynastia, Fado, Fadista, Escritoria and Esperanza.
Equestrian Brasil is a-buzz with the anticipation and excitement of preparing for the Pan Am Games. It was a long and arduous selection process with outstanding teams competing for just a few slots. Rocas do Vouga will be sending Olympic Veteran Luiza Almeida with her mount Samba and rising young star Manuel Almeida with Viheste; Coudelaria Ihla Verde will send Olympic Veteran Rogerio Clementino on Sargento Do Top; Haras Juliana sends Mauro Pereira Junior to compete with Tulum Commando SN; and Fazenda Santa Izabel returns Olympic Veteran Leandro Silva with new mount L’Acteur VDL. Boa sortie and boa viagem to all the teams headed to the Pan Am Games!
After all the fun and learning in the Symposium is over we will be back to teaching in the US and our first clinic in South Africa! Click on the Clinic Schedule tab to stay updated….and contact us if you are interested in a clinic for 2012. Dates are filling very very fast.
Amities~
DDBarbier
by Keron Psillas | Aug 23, 2011 | Brazil equestrian trips, classical dressage, horses for sale |
We endured some freezing temps (literally freezing!) in Brasil in early August but our guests, visiting friends, and lots of baby horses made the trip truly enjoyable. Here is a small gallery of images to show you a bit of our trip, including a few with Debra and her babies in the herd!!! Visiting Allegria dos Pinhais and seeing the spectacular stallions Tenor, Ventus, and our old friend Mistral (MAC), along with Signo dos Pinhais (prospective Olympic mount for 2012) with Marcelo Alexandre riding was a real treat. Our friend, noted equestrian artist Beatrice Bulteau, just finished a commission there to paint along the length of the arena a mural of dancing Lusitanos. It was a marvelous surprise to find!
During our trip we had some great fun practicing on a working equitation course. And Keron, always behind the lens, finally got to ride! She had a great time on Xerife do Top and Rinete do Top! Those flying changes were a tiny bit contracted but clearly lots of fun for her. We visited Coudelaria Rocas do Vouga and saw ONE -DAY- OLD BABIES!!!! Best of luck to all the team at Rocas do Vouga, along with our friends at Coudelaria Ihla Verde, Fazenda Santa Isabel and Haras Juliana for the Pan Am Games! We finished up with a few days of teaching at Manege Santa Adelaide….and a marvelous dinner at Fogo de Chao. Thank you to all our friends in Brasil, especially Raul Silva, Davi Carrano, and our friends at Japu Top, who always make us feel so welcome.
If you’ve been dreaming of a Brasilian experience, contact us. Flexible itineraries, nature programs, and cultural experiences will satisfy all your family members and you’ll get to see AND RIDE amazing Lusitanos.
Looking forward: we are preparing for another great Symposium here in Healdsburg on September 30 and October 1 and 2. If you haven’t already done so, click on the Symposium link at the top of the blog and sign up! Spaces are going quickly, especially for dinner on Saturday night. Don’t miss this opportunity for in-depth study with both Debra and Dominique…..and an opportunity to ride a number of gorgeous Brasilian Lusitanos.
We’re excited to be going to South Africa for a clinic in early November….help spread the word! There is an email and contact info for our sponsor, Eleen Allison, on our clinic schedule page. She’d be delighted to hear from you and we’d be delighted to see you.
by Keron Psillas | May 29, 2011 | Brazil equestrian trips, classical dressage, horses for sale |
Though we can’t believe the trip is over, we are so grateful for such a wonderful time! The horses were glorious, as they always are, but the best part of the trip was the old friendships renewed and the new friendships created. With great companions on the trip and marvelous farms to visit….the excitement of the Auction and then the Expo….we’re exhausted but happy. Back to States tonight…then a clinic in Canada this weekend, then off to Spain and Portugal. Debra and I hope you’ll join us soon. Whether it’s a clinic in Germany or England or Chicago or New Jersey, better still the Symposium in September, there are horses to learn from and friends to meet all around the world.
by Keron Psillas | Mar 16, 2011 | Brazil equestrian trips, horses for sale |
As a reminder for the wonderful trip we have coming up for Brasil we have posted a short video from our trip last May. After the Auction and before the Expo we hold a three-day intensive clinic at Manege Sant Adelaide, home to our friend Davi Carrano. Have a look on the “BRASIL TRIP DETAIL” page here on the blog for an itinerary.
If that isn’t enough excitement, how about this: There are SEVEN, yes SEVEN horses from Brasil arriving here beginning tonight. I’ll be posting images and descriptions beginning tomorrow. During the APRIL SYMPOSIUM we will introduce “The Magnificent Seven” during a champagne reception on Saturday evening. All the registered attendees are invited….it’s not too late to sign up! Call Debra ~ 707-696-2828. Amorosa Bella Wines has generously supplied their Amorosa Bella Sparkling Brut and we’ll have light hors d’oeuvres while the Seven are being introduced. They won’t last long, people are already slated to visit beginning next week for a sneak preview.
