Countries with a rich heritage of equestrian sports and leisure as well as a military cavalry from its historic exploits would have a complementary tradition of making fine horseback riding accessories for rider and horse. The country of Portugal nestled on the Iberian Coast is one such country that carries centuries of handcrafted leather saddles, bridles, breastplates and other horse tacks.

Various Saddle Types

Of all the equestrian accessories, the saddle takes the most focus as it creates the intimate riding contact between horse and rider, providing comfort and protection to both. There are traditional and modern Portuguese saddles that are a favourite among equestrian aficionados. Designed primarily for its native thoroughbred, the Lusitano horse, Portuguese saddles retained much of their historic designs and construction techniques handed down from one generation of craftsmen to the next.

They are made only from the finest leather hides and suede cloth materials and come in different sizes to accommodate various horse breeds and age.

A historic saddle-making print dated 1790 entitled "Luz da Liberal, e Nobre Arte da Cavallaria" by a Portuguese author Manoel Carlos de Andrade illustrates the first known image of the traditional Portuguese saddle as it was used at the time. It was from this saddles the modern Portuguese saddles owes its heritage from.

• Portuguesa – the traditional handcrafted Portuguese saddle that has evolved from its roots with 18th century baroque saddle designs.

• Relvas – one of the best known traditional Portuguese saddles whose unique design can be traced to Carlos Relvas, a 19th century aristocrat with a passion for bullfighting and photography and can be used to saddle-up both horses and bulls.

• Mista – a Portuguese saddle that combines the traditional look and construction of a Portuguese saddle with the Relvas and comes in various colors dyed into either leather of suede seats.

• Ribatejo – a relatively more contemporary Portuguese saddle that takes an intermediate design approach from the Portuguesa and the Relvas saddles and is considered one of the finest and most expensive of Portuguese saddles in the market today.

• D.Dominguez – a contemporary multipurpose saddle whose design and construction is a blend of English equestrian saddles and the Portuguese Relvas. It uses all-leather construction from the frame to the seats while retaining the marine plywood saddle tree reinforced with steel.

• D. Dinis – a modern Portuguese saddle that combines innovative saddle-crafting techniques with traditional design following closely the Portuguese equitation standards. GP