Tess Hardy imported the first Lusitano stallion to England in 1974. His name was Moscardo from the Pinto Barreiros stud. He was a bright golden dun, standing at 15.2hh.
Although he was undoubtedly a pure bred, his breeder never registered him or his parents. 20 years ago this was nothing unusual.
From the time Tess first saw Moscardo in Portugal, it took 6 weeks to arrange all the veterinary checks and paperwork. He was crated up and lifted onto a ship, on which he travelled as deck cargo for a 4 day trip to Newport. The crew fed, watered and cared for him. He was then unloaded from his crate into a trailor for his 300 mile journey to Suffolk.
A few years later, Tess imported two mares Troia and Sozinha, who Lady Sylvia Loch found. Troia was covered by Moscardo, producing two foals. The oldest being Guilherme, born in 1988, then Henry born in 1989. We later found out Sozinha was barren
Tess then sadly lost Moscardo. She then relied on her good friend Jane Hodge whose stallion, Opalino, then covered Troia, producing Jose, born in 1991 and Nabucco born in 1995.
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