The fame of the horses from Lusitania goes back to the Roman Age, which attributed its speed to the influence of the West wind, who was considered capable of fertilizing the mares.

Members of the breed are of Baroque type, with convex facial profiles, heavy muscling, intelligent and willing natures, with agile and elevated movement.

They have also made a showing in driving competitions, with a Belgian team of Lusitanos winning multiple international titles.

Xenophon, writing around 370 BC, admired the advanced horsemanship and riding techniques used by Iberian horsemen in war, made possible in part by their agile horses.

Called the Iberian war horse, this ancestor of the Lusitano was used both on the battlefield and in major riding academies throughout Europe.

[10] Some sources state that the Andalusian and the Lusitano are genetically the same breed, and the only difference is the country in which individual horses are born.

The landed class attracted political agitators, estates were vacated, and stud farms were broken up and their horses sold to Spain.

When Napoleon invaded Spain in the early 19th century, the Alter Real strain deteriorated due to the introduction of Arabian, Thoroughbred, Spanish-Norman and Hanoverian blood.

[23] In the early 20th century, with the 1910 revolution that ended the monarchy, the Alter Real strain faced extinction, as records were burned, stallions were gelded and the stud discontinued.

Ruy d'Andrade, a specialist in Iberian horse breeds, saved two stallions and several mares, and was able to re-establish the strain, turning his herd over to the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture in 1942, when the stud was reopened.

[24] The Portuguese state has maintained ownership of the stud, and continues to produce horses for use in high school dressage.

The LHAA was formed in 2003 to register and promote the Lusitano breed in Australia and New Zealand, and in June 2005 signed an agreement with their parent organization, the Portuguese Associação Portuguesa de Criadores do Cavalo Puro Sangue Lusitano, to follow that association's rules and regulations.

[29] Lusitanos are generally gray, bay or chestnut,[1] though they can be of any solid color, including black, buckskin and palomino.

The necks are thick and arched, leading to well defined withers, shoulders that are muscular and sloping and a deep, broad chest.

In 2002, there was a Lusitano on the World Equestrian Games bronze-winning dressage team that went on to collect a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The Belgian Brasseur took the gold medal in four-in-hand driving at the same competition with a team composed solely of Lusitanos.

[31] They are still used for mounted bullfighting today, in a form where the bull is not killed and it is considered a disgrace to the rider if the horse is injured.