How a Lisbon horse riding school keeps the 18th-century Portuguese art of dressage alive
At Lisbon’s Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, riders and a unique breed of horses are guardians of dressage recently listed by Unesco
Stable hand Catarina Cabaca carefully braided the mane of a Lusitano thoroughbred in the distinctive Portuguese style that has just been added to Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
She was weaving the mane at the prestigious Portuguese School of Equestrian Art in Lisbon, where dressage is taught as it was practised at the Portuguese royal court in the 18th century.
“We prepare them just like in the old days,” she says while crafting a traditional three-strand plait ahead of a dressage performance at the school.
Unesco, which added Portuguese traditional dressage to its list in December, called the practice a “source of collective identity” characterised by the rider’s traditional outfit and position on the saddle.
One of the bastions of this practice is the school in Lisbon, where equestrians ride on chamois or tapir skin saddles while dressed in burgundy velvet coats, high leather boots and black tricorn hats.