Portugal, the land of the beautiful Lusitano horse, plays host to the FEI General Assembly for the second time in its history this week. The Portuguese Equestrian Federation, the Federação Equestre Portuguesa (FEP), celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2007 adding to the significance of the occasion, and the lovely town of Estoril has been chosen as the meeting point for representatives of equestrian sport who have travelled from all around the world to join in the discussion and decision-making process.

Bordered by Spain to the north and east and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south, Portugal's maritime history is inescapable and Estoril's Baroque Church of the Navigators and its 16th Century Fort of Cascais, one of a long line of fortresses along the Tagus Estuary built to protect the capital city of Lisbon from invasion, are just two reminders of this country's fascinating past. Lisbon is home to the FEP's headquarters, and current President, D. Luiz Vaz de Almada, heads up the organisation which affiliated to the FEI in 1928.

Four years earlier, in 1924, a Show Jumping team that included Jose de Albuquerque, Antonio de Almeida and Helden Martins claimed Portugal's first-ever Olympic medals when taking bronze in Paris, and the newly-affiliated Federação only had to wait another eight years before Jose Beltrao, Antonio Marques do Funchal and Luiz Mena e Silva repeated the feat at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. In 1948 Luiz Mena e Silva was back on the podium once again at the Olympic Games in London, but this time the versatile rider earned his bronze medal as a member of the Dressage squad that also included Francisco Valadas Jnr. and Fernando Paes and Portuguese Jumping riders also finished seventh individually at the Stockholm Games in 1956 and fifth individually in Tokyo in 1964.

Medals at the FEI World Equestrian Games evaded their grasp until last summer in Aachen however when Joao Raposa, Ana Margarida Costa and Ana Teresa Barbas put in a superb performance to take bronze in the Endurance discipline ably guided by trainer Paulo Branco who is also a popular and prolific film producer and a former member of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Portugal's success on the international equestrian stage is all the more remarkable for the fact that, in a country of over 10 million people, only 4,381 carry a rider's license and the vast majority of those are leisure riders. In fact 3,025 people are registered with the Federation as "non-competition" riders, 1,356 have national licenses and only 359 have a license to compete internationally – a tiny number when compared with many of Portugal's neighbours. However these figures represent a significant rise since 1999 when only 500 licenses were issued. The majority of riders currently licensed are in the Senior category which numbers 1,676 but the future of the sport looks promising with 1,075 registered in the junior, 15-18 years, division. The most popular discipline is Jumping, following by Dressage, Eventing and Horse Ball but Endurance numbers are sure to grow after last year's triumph at the FEI WEG.

Big steps have been taken to raise the standard of equestrianism with the introduction of a new certification and classification programme for riding centres and, apart from hosting the FEI General Assembly, Portugal also runs the FEI Endurance European Championships in September this year and will take centre-stage as the themed country during Aachen CHIO this summer.

SOME FACTS AND FIGURES ABOUT PORTUGAL :

Population: 10,576,000
Capital: Lisbon
Native Breed of Horse: The Lusitano
Land Area: 35,655 square miles
Languages: Portuguese, Mirandese
Largest River: The Tagus
Currency: Euro