Lusitano Mare Tantra and Her Family: Part 2

Whereby Tantra grows up and becomes first a mother and then a grandmother

So, as detailed in our first essay, the Lusitano mare “Tantra” broke her pelvis when she was a youngster and after a long recovery, it appeared that she had made a full recovery.

We entered her in the Eastern Region Andalusian and Lusitano show in Virginia and she did quite well (photo above). A Portuguese breed inspector flew to the show and she was inspected (and passed) as an approved breeding mare.

At the National Andalusian show in 2015, Jill and I did a historic exhibition using Tantra’s dam and our stallion, Wolf. We told the amazing story of Queen Amelia, the last queen of Portugal. Jill rode sidesaddle on Wolf and I rode Caranja, Tantra’s dam. We thought that one day we would ride and drive these two mares, Caranja and Tantra, together as a team.

Caranja mare (Tantra's dam) in an exhibition of Portuguese history in 2015

Tantra comes from a long line of big mares. As she moved into puberty, around age two or three - she grew and grew fast. However, her right hip’s growth plate had been damaged and that side of her pelvis stopped growing. So, as she grew, one side of her hip became a little lower than the other. She was not “short-sided” - she didn’t favor that side in her gait, and so we thought we might be able to use her as a light riding horse and for driving. Mostly because Jill just enjoyed her relationship with the mare and hoped to be able to ride her on the trails and maybe get her driving with her dam, Caranja, who is pretty much an exact match with Tantra.

With that in mind, Jill and I taught her to long line. We like to teach a horse the basics of riding without being on their back, as well as desensitize them to the tack, then when we get on - all tends to be very “non-dramatic.” This is in line with more modern horse training practices, which focus on “backing” but not “breaking” a horse.

Jill then “backed” her in the saddle. However, after a brief period of a week of being under saddle, Tantra began to favor one side over the other, and we decided that her riding career was over before it began. Below is a photo of her first ride.

Because of her pelvis, we were worried about how she would handle a pregnancy. So, we decided that we would breed her and also do embryo transfer, as we imported expensive semen from Portugal from a very famous stallion. That way if she couldn’t carry a pregnancy, we would continue this fabulous line of horses.

Tantra handled the pregnancy like a champ and we had three foals born the following year (due to the embryo transfer, two from surrogate mares and one that she carried herself):

Two colts and a filly. We knew immediately that the filly was going to be a keeper and we called her Magnolia CAL (Maggie).

Tantra continues to produce wonderful foals, as does her dam. The two are “joined at the hip” and are best friends. They are also the alpha mares of the herd - they rule.

Caranja (now 17 years old) and Tantra (11 years old) Dam and daughter.

Tantra’s filly foal, Maggie went on to the be highest scoring Lusitano at inspection for APSL approval as a breeding mare in the United States (in 2019) as a four year old mare.

Tantra's daughter: Magnolia CAL

Magnolia now has had her first foal.

So, we now have four generations of this amazing line of horses.

Magnolia CAL and her son, Skye CAL. Representing our four generations of Lusitanos.

They never forget.

About three years ago, when running around in a muddy pasture Tantra twisted her right rear.

Jill found Tantra as she lay in the pasture, essentially three legged lame. As Jill approached, Tantra rolled over on her side, apparently hoping Jill would pick her up with tractor and sling, just like she did as a foal when she broke her pelvis.

These many years later, she remembered what we had done when she was so injured as a foal and wanted to be picked up when approached in the field after being injured.

This is why we have to be so careful when raising and training these horses. They remember. They remember kindness, and they remember unkindness.

Just like people.

Please take care of each other and be a good steward of the animals (and people) in your life.

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