To Portugal and Back - Again and Again.

An incident occurred at the beginning of the week. Alberto had been working a stallion loose in the indoor school while I had a lesson outside with Jorge and Dezemfado. At the end of the lesson Alberto asked me to stay outside for a while and walk him round so that he could finish with the stallion before I took Dezemfado to the shower area. The stallion was a new horse to the yard, something of a problem, and they were being extremely careful with him. Dezemfado and I walked round and round. And round and round. And then round and round again. Each time we passed the gate we both stopped and peered hopefully in the direction of the showers, but were waved on. I was walking beside the horse, talking to him and rubbing his neck occasionally, as much to entertain myself as anything else. At the end of about 20 minutes we stopped and I leant against him for a rest before we walked round some more. Finally we were allowed in, he was washed down and put in his box. Most Lusitanos are friendly horses. If you go to them in their boxes they will come up out of curiosity, sniff you and push a nose at you for a scratch. They are not given treats, and don't expect them, so there is no shoving and nipping in a search for Polos. Dezemfado was different; he was an aloof horse and would stand in the corner of his box gazing coolly at me with complete indifference. Every day I would go to see him; every day he ignored me. The first time I went to see him after the incident with the stallion he hesitated for a moment, then came forward and offered his nose. For the rest of that week each time I visited him he came up to me and stood by me for as long as I was there. My interpretation of his spooking changed; I thought that perhaps he hadn't been playing with me after all, but that perhaps he was simply a rather anxious little horse and my nervousness had simply compounded his own worries. His sudden decision to let me stroke him moved me beyond measure.

Dezemfado - with Raphael who works and trains with Jorge.

The week was not all the stuff of fairy tales, however. Jorge told me in no uncertain terms that he could do little more for me until my seat improved and as a consequence I have had a long winter and summer of lunge lessons, working without stirrups and just hacking out in an effort to improve matters. But I shall certainly go back. The experience of riding a schoolmaster is incomparable. In addition there is the benefit of not only having lessons with Jorge but of watching him ride and school his horses.

Christine building a rapport with Dezemfado.

There are many good riders, and in Portugal there are many who are excellent, but I think he is exceptional. He has a quality of stillness in his riding which you often hear of but almost never see. He is as sympathetic and effective a rider with warmbloods as with Lusitanos, and he has an ability to understand what is going wrong and what is needed to put it right which makes him a great teacher. I am certain that the more I improve the more I will be able to learn from him. I will not be able to learn from Dezemfado any more. At the Lusitano Breed Society show this year I was told that he had contracted colic and had had to be put down. One of my most powerful memories of him is of something which in fact occurred on my very first visit to Portugal, in one of my first lessons. Jorge had asked me to canter and for one moment my balance was fine. I asked Dezemfado and I suddenly felt the horse take his weight back on his hindquarters and lift up in front of me. I don't think we completed half a circuit of the school before my balance went and I drove him down on to his forehand. But that moment was unforgettable.