Studbook registration and lineage from the breed's home system
A registered Lusitano should come with his studbook registration documentation, recording his registered name and number, date of birth, breeder, colour and markings, and sire and dam, supported by a lineage listing. The breed's studbook is maintained in Portugal, its homeland, and entries there are the anchor for Lusitano registration worldwide. Because many Lusitanos are bred and sold outside Portugal, papers may pass through more than one country's paperwork on their way to you, so ask the seller to show you how the documents connect — birth record, registration, and any foreign registration or recognition — and check that names, dates, and parentage agree at every step.
Read the family lines with the seller if they are unfamiliar. Lusitano families are associated with particular studs and types, from more compact bullfighting-bred horses to taller sport lines, and those recorded lines are your evidence for which kind of Lusitano you are actually buying.
Grading: the revision record breeding buyers should ask for
Lusitano breeding stock is traditionally presented for a studbook revision or grading, in which the horse is assessed and scored for type and movement before being approved for breeding. If your horse has been through that process, the outcome belongs in his file: ask for the grading record, any scores or comments, and confirmation of his breeding approval status as it appears in his documentation. A horse sold as approved breeding stock should be able to prove it on paper, and a horse who has not been presented is not a worse horse — but the paperwork should reflect the reality so you are not paying for a status he does not hold.
For a gelding or a horse bought purely to ride, grading may never have applied; in that case the file should simply make his situation clear rather than leaving you to wonder what is missing.
Passport, transfer, and identity checked in person
Every Lusitano should also carry an equine passport recording his microchip number, description, markings, and year of birth. Scan the chip before completion and compare the description with the horse, remembering that many Lusitanos are grey and lighten dramatically with age, so an early description may sound darker than the horse you see. The seller should sign the transfer or ownership change documentation for the registration, and you should agree who lodges it.
The bill of sale should identify him by registered name and number, state the terms and the purpose he is sold for, and record the seller's disclosures on health, soundness, behaviour, and training. Where a pre-purchase veterinary examination is part of the purchase, its written report joins this packet, chip number noted by the examiner.
Working, breeding, and health history behind the description
Ask for the records that back up how he is described. A Lusitano sold as schooled should have a training history — the level of work he has genuinely reached and the kind of riding he is used to. A breeding animal should come with coverings, offspring, and, for a mare, foaling history and current breeding status. Competition records, if claimed, can usually be verified and should be filed as evidence rather than repeated as stable lore.
The health file should run continuously: veterinary visits and findings, routine preventive and dental care, treatments and recovery from any injury, and the test results and certificates prepared for travel or export. International sales are routine for this breed, so collect prior export and transport documents as well — they complete his movement history and smooth any future border crossing.
One consistent file for an internationally travelled horse
Once home, keep the originals safe, file copies for travel, and add dated veterinary, training, and competition entries as they accumulate. The value of a Lusitano's papers lies in their consistency across studs, countries, and owners, and storing the set in KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps his studbook record, grading, and health history together in one portable packet wherever he goes next.