Ridden for over 5,000 years, the oldest saddle horse in the world has reached the threshold of the XXI Century re-conquering the splendor it knew in Greek and Roman times when it was considered one of the best saddle horses in the world.A 'hotblood' like the English thoroughbred and the Arab, the present day Lusitano results from a selection of thousands of years leading to an empathy with the rider superior to any modern breed. Selected as a hunter and for combat thorough-out the centuries, it is versatile, docile, agile and courageous. Thus it can compete in the most up to-date equestrian sport with the best specialists of contemporary breeds.

Approaching towards the year 2000, the Lusitano is once more sought as a saddle horse for sport and leisure, and as a stud horse for its rare qualities of character and genetic ancestry. As only a small group of 2000 productive mares exists, it is nowadays a very rare breed. In Portugal, origin of the breed, there are only about 1000 productive mares, 600 in Brazil, 200 in France and the rest spread over Spain, England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Canada and the USA. Today, the numbers of the Lusitano breed are growing, especially in Europe and Brazil where great progress has been made.
In Portugal, the quality of the production has improved a lot, and everything points to the establishment of new lines within the breed, so contributing to the assurance of its vitality.
In the XXI Century the Lusitano will thrive in equestrian art, bullfighting, jumping, Dressage and Competition Driving. Officially institutionalizing the Stud-Book undoubtedly marked a decisive step ahead. This gave rise to a far reaching and careful selection process which made it possible to gain a deeper knowledge of genealogies and to perpetuate and take advantage of the bloodlines created by insisting on certain stallions (line breeding).