ART OF MARIALVA
A collection assembled by *Joao SerraCoelho
"...OF another likeness of Bucephalas we have
only a well-known anecdote. Alexander The Great once went to see his own
portrait with that of his Horse, painted by Apelles. The Great King did not
praise the picture as it deserved. But his Horse (Bucephalas), on being brought
up, neighed at the Horse in the portrait as if it were a real animal; whereupon;
"Your Majesty", said Apelles, "Your Horse seems to be a good deal better judge
of Art than you are...."
XENOPHON
From the Book , The Art of Horsemanship
IN BIOLOGY THE WORD MUTUALISM OR SYMBIOSIS TELLS US ABOUT TWO SPECIES COMPLETELY
DIFFERENT, THAT INTERACT IN A REALATION + + , OR WHERE BOTH, GET SOMETHING VITAL
FROM EACH OTHER; THE OPPOSITE OF THE RELATION OF PREY, PREDATOR - + , AND OR
PARASITE AND HOST + - . NATURE PROVIDED FOR SOME SPECIES, OTHER SPECIES, AND
MADE THEM HAVE A NATURAL ATTRACTION FOR EACH OTHER, SO THIS WAY THEY COULD
SOMEHOW GET TOGETHER AND COMPLETE THE CYCLE REACHING FULL POTENTIAL.
NOWADAYS UNFORTUNATELY, MOST HUMANS JUDGING SO HIGH OF THEIR SPECIE, PLACED
THEMSELVES OUT OF CREATION, IGNORING, THAT WE ALL BELONG TO THE SAME SPHERE.
LIKE THE ALFALFA WITH THE GRASS, LIKE THE BULL WITH THE CRANE, SO WERE WE HUMANS
AND HORSES MADE TO BE TOGETHER AND IN NATURAL BALANCE.
IN THE NEXT LINES YOU WILL SEE SEE SOME TEXTS OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT AUTHORS FROM
AROUND THE GLOBE, THAT WERE ENLIGHTENED ENOUGH AND HUMBLE ENOUGH TO SEE THE
TRUTH.
*Joao SerraCoelho
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"THE Buffalo will disappear, at last, and another animal will take its place, a
slick animal with a long tail and split hoofs, whose flesh you will learn to
eat.
But first there will be another animal you must learn to use. It has a shaggy
neck and a tail almost touching the ground. It's hoofs are round. This animal
will carry you on his back and help you in many ways.
Those far hills that seem only a blue vision in the distance take many days to
reach now, but with this animal you can get there in a short time, so fear him
not......"
Sweet Medicine, Cultural Hero of Cheyenne
From the Book, Gawani Pony Boy
".......WE are after all a mere part of creation and we stand between the
mountain and the ant. Somewhere, and only there, as part and parcel of the
creation."
Oren R. Lyons, Onondaga
From the Book, Gawani Pony Boy
".......ROMANCE and sentimentality have been responsible for some of the
greatest pieces of Music, Art and Poetry ever created. There can be no passion,
no desire to reach new height without some degree of dreaming and sentimentality
and riders should be the first to recognize that the concept of the Horse has
impassioned some of the strongest men that have ever lived, to the extent that
whole nations have moulded their culture and ideals upon the nobility of the
Horse. It was the Horse, afterall, which led the conquest of unknown lands and
territories. It was the Horse which crossed new frontiers."
"Only by recognising this power within the Horse to move people, both literally
and emotionally can we begin to understand the animal in our care. Once we have
taken this step towards understanding him and humbly recognise those qualities
which, for too long, have only been accepted as human, we may then be closer to
understanding ourselves......"
Lady Sylvia Loch
From the Book, The Classical Rider
"TOO many go through this world and seek the great, the fantastic, and even the
ultimate good fortune, without noticing that they continually trample on the
traces of it. All that they seek basically lies right in front of them, within
reach. In the most minute details lies the miracle, in every moment is the
eternity of creation. Everything is already at hand and in effect.
With everything in their power, the horses want to nudge us towards these
truths, which are so simple, yet so far removed from the human world."
Klaus Ferdinand Hempling
From the Book, What Horses Reveal
"HEAVEN is high and earth wide. If you ride three feet higher above the ground
than other men, you will know what that means."
Rudolf C. Binding
"THE rider rides not only physically but also with his or her mind, spirit, and
innermost soul......
......Since the Iberians work their Horses in such a superlative way, it was
reasonable to assume that they had very advanced ideas about the Horse-Human
interaction. Their degree of intuition, poise, rhythm and unity is
unsurpassed........"
The McCormicks
From the Book, Horses And The Mysitcal Path
"LOOK beyond the high hills!
The sacred scene that to your eyes come.
All the Mares to Zephyr* turned
Motionless drinking the delicate breezes
Just that and slowly the miracle happens
With no Stallion, Pregnant, just by the wind."
Virgil, Georgics 29 BC
*Zephyr - Southwest wind that blows through the flat land of Portugal where the
Lusitano mares still roam these days
"IT was this effortless Horsemanship where Horse and rider seemed joined
together as they feinted, circled, poised, piroutetted away from and around the
bull's horns, often in an arena not much bigger than a large sitting
room.......I began to see how the Greek and Roman concept of the Centaur lived
on in this country of white sunlight and purple shadows, of golden port and
crimson claret, of stark contrasts, of rich and poor, and of Horses and
Bulls.........
......The past seemed to merge with the present and I realized that here in
Lusitania, alive and intact, existed a form of Horsemanship, a Living Treasure,
known to Xenophon, Alexander The Great and Marcus Aurelius......."
Lady Sylvia Loch
From the Book, The Classical Rider
".......SEE to it that the colt be kind, used to the hand, and fond of men....
.......For if this be done, colts must not only love men, but even long for
them......
......In my opinion, the man who neglects this matter is neglecting himself; for
it is plain that in moments of danger the Master gives his own life into the
keeping of his Horse....."
Xenophon 23 Centuries Ago
From the Book, The Art of Horsemanship
".......THE Templar Knight and his mount are a fearless warrior, who, as the
body is covered with iron, so the soul is the defense of the faith. Without
doubt, fortified by strength, he fears neither man or demon......."
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
From the Book, The Knights Templar
"TRUSTY steeds they fly like the wind, rider and beast stretching the sands,
under the falcons watchful eye, he with his procarious hold above cries his cry
of nature wild, and he, Horse and Man are caught in a flicker of time. Riders of
the wind and sand."
From the Book, Spirit and Traditions (Jordan and Oman)
".......THE Equestrian Art Ends where Competition Starts......."
Nuno Olivera
Portuguese Master
Follower of MARIALVA
"..........OF the campaign to Castella, Your Excellence should know, of the many
victories, of our Cavalry through the enemy territory;
..........All the strength of the Army moved to Badajoz, where 1800 paid
cavaleiros and 600 of our Royal Masters, being on them, the Last, the true Power
of Warfare due to the ability and art shown in the recent encounters with
Castella in Battle.......Said of them, to move in such ease, that each of our
Cavaleiros can take several mounted enemies to chase him for a few miles, and
after such fake retreat, turn around and one by one Harvest these soldiers from
their Horses, keeping his Horse in such calm, that immediately rushes himself to
the Battle field to quick repeat the same hard task........."
From the Letters of --- His Greatness D. Joao IV, KING OF PORTUGAL, to the
Marquis of Niza and Count of Vidigueira
(Ambassador in France) 1624
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THE ART OF MARIALVA
During the Renaissance most of the Arts became more refined than ever, it was a
time for intuition and self development. In Portugal the Equestrian Art was at
its peak as an Art. The Marques of MARIALVA, Brave Warrior for the King and
Royal Master of the Horse, inspired Noble Art of Cavalry. An Art that looses
itself in time. From the neolitic on, the inhabitants of the Western Iberian
Peninsula rode like this first to hunt, then to battle, and around the
seventeenth Century MARIALVA brings it to the stage of pure Art in the Royal
Menage and Bull Arenas. Thanks to him that secret survives until today, despite
all the confusion nowadays with Dressage or the so called Classical Riding,
there is still a little corner in the world where this unique way of riding
survives, the ART OF MARIALVA. The very few Cavaleiros that ride this unique way
are called MARIALVA in Honor of the Great Man he was, not only in the
battlefield, but in the Bullring where in one afternoon he killed with his own
sword the bull that killed his son.
MUCH MORE HAS BEEN WRITTEN OF THE MIGHTY CREATURE THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES.
THERE IS AN URGENT NEED TO LOOK TO THE PAST INSTEAD OF THE FUTURE, IN A WORLD
WHERE COMPETITION AND ARROGANCE BROUGHT SADNESS TO THE HORSES EYES, ONLY US
HUMANS HAVE THE DUTY OF FOR ONCE LOOK BACK AND RECOVER THAT BOND, SO PRECIOUS,
THAT WE ONCE HAD WITH OUR ANIMALS AND LET AT LAST, THE HORSE SHOW US THE WAY!
A NEW RENAISSANCE IS NEEDED, SO WE CAN SEE AGAIN THAT SHINE IN THE HORSES
EYE......
*Joao SerraCoelho