Zerbino Interagro Wins GCDA Year-End Championship in AA Prix St George

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Johnny Robb riding Zerbino Interagro, winner of the GCDA Adult Amateur Prix St. George Championship for 2012. (Photo courtesy of Susan J Stickle)

Wellington, FL (January 23, 2013) – Zerbino Interagro, a nine-year-old Lusitano gelding imported from Interagro Lusitanos in Brazil, topped the field in the year end awards at the banquet for the Gold Coast Dressage Association, winning the GCDA Adult Amateur Prix St. George Championship for 2012. He was ridden by Adult Amateur Johnny Robb, who became acquainted with Lusitanos through her work. Robb owns an equestrian PR firm. One of the accounts the firm began working with a few years ago was the Lusitano Collection International Horse Auction.

Robb, an avid warmblood junkie, found the Lusitanos interesting, but never realized she would own not one, but two of them. When one of Robb’s Hanoverians was on stall rest with a stone bruise and she borrowed Zerbino Interagro from Peter van Borst, the US Representative for Interagro Lusitanos.

Peter van Borst and Cherri Reiber were using Zerbino Interagro in a tandem act that they traveled all across the country, including Equine Affair and other events. Zerbino Interagro was ridden by Reiber and while line driving another Interagro stallion, Vistor Interagro, in front.  The horses both performed the entire range of upper level dressage movements with the long reins connecting to the stallion in front.

Zerbino Interagro’s career took a different route when Robb borrowed him, and decided to compete him in dressage.  Robb and Zerbino competed at the Prix St Georges and the Intermediaire I level last year and had a very successful season, culminating with winning the GCDA Year End Championships at Prix St George.

Robb’s Lusitano story does not end there, as after learning on Zerbino Interagro, she developed a fascination for the breed and soon found herself in Brazil at Interagro Lusitanos, where she bought another young Lusitano, Delicioso Interagro, that she imported and brought to her farm in Loxahatchee.  “These horses are addictive. They are so willing to work and seem to bond with their riders. I was a die-hard warmblood girl, but now other than my old retired Dutch warmblood I see only Lusitanos in my future.  Interagro has made an art of breeding exceptionally athletic Lusitano horses. I simply can’t say enough good things about these horses,” Robb gushed.

Already making his mark in the US, Robb’s Delicioso Interagro, a four-year-old, went to his first show at the Global Dressage Festival with trainer Kerensa Muller and won the Training Level Test 2 with a 67%. “It is obvious that he has a large dressage career ahead of him,” said Muller who now has three Interagro horses in her training string.

The Interagro horse is a modern Lusitano, a horse that excels in many disciplines, from dressage and driving to jumping and working equitation. Interagro horses can be seen driving, working, and training on the farm in Brazil every day. Interagro is committed to preserving the pure bloodlines of the Lusitano breed, and Interagro bloodlines include some of the most respected bloodlines in the breed such as Farao (JHC), Nirvana Interagro, Ofensor (MV), Xique-Xique (CI) and Yacht (SA).

Robb took a trip to the Interagro farm in Brazil on something called Destination Lusitano. Destination Lusitano is a unique concept Interagro offers to friends and clients, a way to truly immerse a person in the breed by going to the farm, staying in beautiful villas and riding Interagro horses through the rolling countryside, taking dressage lessons, going driving, working on equitation. Almost 600 horses call Interagro home. Destination Lusitano gives a rider a chance to see the living pedigrees. It is the ultimate equestrian getaway.  Robb warns, these horses are extremely addictive.  They are enjoyable for dressage and just about anything you would want to do.

For more information on Destination Lusitano or to learn more about Interagro Lusitanos, visit their website at www.lusitano-interagro.com.

About Interagro Lusitanos

Founded in 1975 by Dr. Paulo Gavião Gonzaga to preserve the Lusitano breed, Interagro Lusitanos is now recognized as the world’s largest breeder and exporter of Lusitano horses. Dr. Gonzaga started with a small band of four mares and one stallion imported to Brazil from the breed’s native Portugal; to date over 600 horses populate the 1200-acre ranch outside São Paulo. Today, Cecilia Gonzaga manages the farm and operations. Interagro Lusitanos are handled, prepared, and evaluated from birth, with a handful of the best stock presented at auction each year.

For more information contact:
Johnny Robb – JRPR, Inc.
561-753-4608
jrpr@mac.com

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