Lusitano

Book excerpt: A visual story of the Lusitano horse adeptly told through the lens of Keron Psillas Oliveira. Keron tells her story of meeting, photographing, and ultimately living in the land of her beloved Lusitano horse. Includes four essays - one at each chapter beginning, and an index of images providing the names of all the horses, riders if depicted, and the date and location the photographs were made. Lady Sylvia Loch, author of The Royal Horse of Europe and recipient of The Order of Merit from Portugal, describes Keron's work in this way: Keron's photographs depict a horse that is unique in terms of how he touches us. In them we see a true artist at work, delivered in the form of photographs that not only captures the soul of the Lusitano horse, but also that of the photographer.An excerpt from the Introduction by Keron Psillas Oliveira: Photographically I felt that I began to show the Lusitano in their environment and in a way that transcends time, discipline, or breeding. In other words, despite my tremendous respect for the breeding programs of Senhors Braga, Freire, Veiga, Torres, and so many others, I want my photographs to represent the eternal qualities that emanate from the horses. For these horses are noble and courageous. They are dignified, kind, trusting and engaging. And yet, there is something more, an ineffable quality found in the Lusitano that I have not found in other breeds. I believe that this horse is a direct channel to what we might call the spark of the Divine. Horses have been our partners for millennia. For centuries they have worked for us, carried us, and more recently, for those who seek a personal connection to them, they have uplifted us. They are our mirror. They show us our best and worst qualities in equal measure, without judgement. And they are always waiting for us to join them in a higher consciousness, the consciousness of now that is also eternal.