Begin your year in Portugal with a retreat designed to restore your balance, deepen your riding, and reconnect you with what truly matters. Over six transformative days, you’ll train with classical Lusitanos, explore your Seat of Presence, visit the legendary Veiga Stud Farm, experience the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, enjoy a sunset wine tasting, and close your journey with a soulful live Fado lunch.
This is classical riding, culture, and inner stillness woven together in one unforgettable week
Under the guidance of classical master Nuno Cavaco, founder Teresa Burton, and wellness specialist Ian Lopez, this retreat weaves together classical riding, embodied training, and mindful presence — creating a clear, refined, and profoundly connected way of riding and living.
10 Classical Dressage Lessons with the Lusitano Heritage team, tailored to cultivate softness, balance, and a deeply connected seat.
Daily Wellness Practices blending tai chi, breathwork, mindful movement, journaling, and body awareness to support clarity, presence, and embodied riding.
Heritage Immersion Experiences including:
A private visit to Veiga Stud Farm
A guided visit to the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art
An evening Wine Tasting Experience
A soulful Fado Lunch on the final day
VIP Horse Viewings
Charming Accommodation in Ericeira, a seaside fishing town known for its beauty, calm atmosphere, and ocean air.
Daily Transfers between hotel and stables for a seamless, relaxed experience.
Organic Farm-Fresh Lunches and nourishing refreshments designed to support energy, vitality, and mental focus.
Connection Circles & Reflective Practices to integrate learning in a grounded, meaningful, and embodied way.
Nuno brings a lifetime of classical horsemanship, taught through patience, precision, and feel.
His approach helps riders develop a lighter, more intuitive seat, awakening a dialogue of softness and subtle communication with each horse.
Nuno was a rider and performer in the Portuguese School of Equestrian fro 25 years. He had the honor of learning with and observing some of the greatest modern day classical masters.
Ian guides the wellness pillar of the retreat, weaving together Tai Chi, Qigong, breathwork, and mindful movement to bring riders back into calm, grounded awareness.
His teaching is rooted in the principle of song — the deep relaxation that unlocks natural strength, softness, and clarity.
Through gentle practices that restore balance and ease, Ian helps you reconnect with your body, soften the mind, and cultivate the joy and lightness needed for true presence in the saddle and in daily life.
At Seat of Presence, every element is woven together with intention.
Wellness practices, classical riding, home-cooked fresh organic food, and daily journalling form a gentle rhythm that supports mind, body, and spirit.
Each day blends movement, breathwork, mindful awareness, and nourishing meals with deeply connected riding sessions — creating a retreat that restores balance, awakens clarity, and nurtures presence from the inside out.
Through gentle practices that restore balance and ease, Ian helps you reconnect with your body, soften the mind, and cultivate the joy and lightness needed for true presence in the saddle and in daily life.
Free the Seat. Clear the Mind.
A 5-Day 7 nights Immersive Classical Riding & Wellness Retreat in Portugal
Join us for an intimate retreat at Lusitano Heritage, where the Lusitano horse becomes both your mirror and your muse. This programme blends world-class classical riding with mind-body integration practices to help you soften the seat, free old patterns, and rediscover joy in the saddle.
We begin by softening the seat — the true doorway to connection.
Through tai chi and mindful movement, the body settles, the breath lengthens, and awareness becomes sharp yet gentle. This is the foundation of the Seat of Presence: arriving fully, without force.
As in all mindfulness work, today is about meeting yourself exactly as you are, without judgment. A softened seat doesn’t come from trying harder; it emerges when effort dissolves and the body releases what it no longer needs.
In this space, the conversation with your horse becomes lighter, clearer, and kinder.
With balance-focused riding, journaling, and bodywork, we tune into the subtle messages our horses offer — and to the quiet intelligence within our own bodies.
This is where refinement begins.
Heritage · Artistry · Integration · Connection
The day begins with a deep immersion into Portuguese classical tradition.
At the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, you’ll witness the precision, softness, and timeless artistry that have shaped Lusitano heritage for centuries.
It’s a moment of inspiration — a quiet imprint that stays with you throughout the week.
Returning to the farm in the early afternoon, you’ll have space to rest and integrate before stepping back into practice.
Later in the day, we return to the saddle for a gentle, attuned riding session.
This is not a demanding workout — it’s an integration ride, giving your body a chance to reflect the harmony and balance seen at the School.
After riding, Ian will guide a short embodiment session to reconnect breath, centre, and awareness — helping the day’s impressions settle in the body with clarity and ease.
Day 2 is a blend of heritage, subtle riding, and warm connection — the perfect bridge between inspiration and embodied practice.
Image Nuno Cavaco riding in the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art
Breath · Balance · Subtle Communication · Celebration
Today we move deeper into feel and flow.
The morning begins with tai chi and breathwork, allowing the body to organise itself around softness and centred presence.
Your Seat of Presence session focuses on early lateral flow — how breath, weight, and intention shape the horse’s balance and rhythm.
The afternoon riding session explores awareness in motion:
Where you subtly drift
Where ease emerges
How the horse responds when you release effort and invite clarity instead
This is the day where riders begin to “hear” the horse more clearly.
As the light softens, we gather for a sunset wine tasting — a warm, joyful moment of connection, reflection, and Portuguese flavour.
A perfect closing to a beautifully embodied day.that presence begins with how we care for our body.
Just as we teach in our mindfulness writing:
Strength is not force; it is the calm centre that allows everything else to move with ease.
After a gratitude lunch, we explore how mindful strength-building enhances the rider’s posture, confidence, and ability to feel the smallest shifts in their horse.
Riding sessions bring it all together with stability, softness, and deep listening.
Day 4 is where everything begins to settle into the body.
The morning Seat of Presence session is dedicated to integration — gathering the feel, softness, and insights from the last two days and bringing them into a clearer, more refined dialogue between seat, breath, and intention.
We work with rhythm, balance, and the quiet micro-adjustments that allow the horse to release into self-carriage.
This is the moment where riders often begin to say,
“Now I can feel the difference.”
Video feedback offers a powerful mirror — not as criticism, but as clarity.
Seeing yourself ride from the outside reveals patterns, strengths, and subtle shifts that can transform your understanding of alignment and communication.
In the afternoon riding session, we revisit key elements with more precision and more softness:
flow in transitions
lightness in the rein
balance through the corners
and quiet self-organisation of the seat
The pace is calm, steady, and deeply focused — allowing body and mind to absorb, integrate, and refine.
As evening arrives, guests have space to rest, journal, enjoy Ericeira, or simply slow down and let the work deepen from within.
Lineage · Precision · Possibility
This morning we visit the iconic Veiga Stud Farm, a cornerstone of Lusitano heritage.
Walking among these horses — their presence, courage, and unmistakable Veiga expression — offers a rare opportunity to feel the living lineage behind classical equitation.
It is a place where tradition speaks softly but powerfully.
The visit is private, unhurried, and deeply inspiring.
After returning to the farm for lunch and a short rest, the afternoon takes us into a very different but equally compelling world.
We travel to a VIP dressage facility for a curated viewing of premium riding horses.
This experience is designed for riders who are exploring future partnerships or simply wish to deepen their understanding of athleticism, training quality, movement, and temperament at the highest levels.
You will be guided in evaluating:
biomechanics and balance
natural aptitude for classical work
temperament, expression, and rideability
suitability for amateur or competitive riders
how a horse’s personality aligns with your own riding journey
This is not a sales pitch.
It is an educational, elevated experience — an insider’s window into Portugal’s premium dressage scene.
We return in the late afternoon, giving you time to reflect, unwind, and enjoy a quiet evening after a day rich in heritage, insight, and possibility.
Possibility · Celebration · Embodiment
The morning opens with a second VIP horse viewing — an exclusive opportunity to meet and observe premium dressage prospects in a calm, curated setting.
Whether guests are exploring a future partnership or simply expanding their knowledge, this session reveals the nuances of quality, temperament, biomechanics, and training at a high level.
It’s an inspiring, elevated experience that closes the loop on the deeper classical themes explored throughout the week.
We return to the farm for a beautifully prepared Fado lunch, where soulful live music sets the tone for reflection, emotion, and celebration.
Fado brings something rare: a sense of authenticity and depth that resonates with the Lusitano spirit itself — proud, expressive, and profoundly felt.
After lunch, the retreat returns to the body with an afternoon riding session focused on ease, expression, and connection.
This final ride is not about achievement — it is about integration: everything softened, everything clearer.
We close the day with a gentle wellness practice led by Ian — breath, awareness, grounding — allowing the week’s insights to settle into a centred, quiet, present place within you.
A beautiful, expansive day that blends possibility, culture, and embodied riding.
Your final morning is calm and unhurried.
We gather for a relaxed breakfast, sharing last reflections, warm conversation, and the gentle sense of completion that comes after a week lived with presence, partnership, and depth.
There is space to breathe, pack, take a final walk, or simply sit with the stillness and let the experience settle into your body — where it now belongs.
As guests depart, we offer a heartfelt farewell and the reminder that the Seat of Presence is not something left behind in Portugal —
it is a way of riding, living, and leading that travels home with you.
A soft ending to a profound week.
Co-creating these retreats, guiding riders toward their dream horses, and celebrating the handmade artistry of Portugal fills me with deep gratitude. Our team works with heart and purpose to protect what is timeless: the Lusitano, the land, the craft, and the culture. With UNESCO’s accolade shining upon this heritage, it feels like a blessing — a reminder that what we cherish is worth preserving, sharing, and honouring every single day.
Contact me teresa@lusitanohorsefinder.com
www.lusitanoheritage.com
Beautiful apartments with sea views. You and the Sea has great facilities with a spa, heated swimming pools, gym, garden, restaurant, ocean views. easy walk to town centre and many restaurants bars, cafes and shopping.
