Nadège Labrecque and her husband run Keberica Lusitano Farm in Quebec City, Canada, where they have been breeding Lusitano horses since 2010. What started as a passion for the breed has grown into a dedicated breeding program with horses imported from Europe.
“We have been raising Lusitano horses since 2010. This year will be our fifteenth foal. I used to ride warmblood horses, but as an amateur and a small rider they were sometimes difficult for me. One day we went to see a Lusitano stallion and we immediately fell in love with the breed. The temperament is amazing.”
— Nadège Labrecque
For Nadège, the temperament of the Lusitano is one of the breed’s most important qualities.
“They are horses that suit both amateur riders and professional riders. At first we bought a stallion simply because we loved the breed. Then we added a mare and slowly the breeding program started to grow.”
Breeding in the Great North
Today Keberica Farm has around fifteen Lusitano horses. Breeding Lusitanos in Canada brings its own challenges, especially because of the climate and the complexity of importing horses.
“You need to be a little crazy to raise Lusitano horses in Canada. Importing horses into Canada is not easy, but we kept building our program step by step.”
Despite the growth of their breeding program, the farm remains a passion project. Both Nadège and her husband work full-time outside the farm, but they travel regularly to Portugal to stay connected with the origin of the breed.
Connecting with the Figueiras bloodlines
It was during one of these journeys that Nadège first became closely connected to the Figueiras bloodlines.
“We had been following Dragão das Figueiras for quite some time. In 2018, we decided we wanted to add a Figueiras horse to our program.”
They travelled to Belgium where they discovered a young mare, Marquesa, who captured their hearts. After winning a gold medal at age one, she went on to win a silver medal at the Belgian Championship before being imported to Canada. This success led the couple to look for another Figueiras horse. They eventually imported a young colt, Prodigio MVL, a son of Dragão das Figueiras.
“I saw the photo when he was only 24 hours old and I immediately fell in love with him.”
Future in the sport
Today the stallion is in training with international rider Béatrice Boucher in Florida with the goal of reaching Grand Prix level. For Nadège, the qualities that impressed her most about the Figueiras horses remain their character and rideability.
“The temperament is exceptional. Oscar das Figueiras is also an amazing horse. Even though I already own a son of Dragão, I would still like to use Oscar in the future. Oscar brings something different through his dam line.”
While the Figueiras bloodlines are not yet widely known in Canada, Nadège hopes that will change.
“Our goal is to develop more Dragão bloodlines in our breeding program. The story of Keberica Farm is ultimately about passion for the Lusitano horse and the people who dedicate their lives to breeding it.”
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