Quinta Maresia

“João is our incredibly dedicated and passionate in house horse trainer and coach. With a world title in Equitação de Trabalho and an active career as a competitive GP rider he has brought the Q for quality to Quinta Maresia”

Elizabeth Killi

He spent his first years working and training both dressage and show jumping with him and eventually started competing. He showed a huge talent and quickly started gaining results in the junior national events. 

As he grew older he spent a year in Holland, working showjumpers, but he soon started missing his home country of Portugal, and the beautiful Portuguese horses that is the PSL – Puro Sangue Lusitano. This is when he really started dedicating himself to the lusitano horses and eventually the beautiful Portuguese tradition of the Working Equitation (equitação de trabalho)

He decided to take a educational degree also in this field, and classified as Treinador Grau II Equitação from EPDRA in 2014.

He quickly rose in the sport and started competing on the higher levels. In 2016 he was national champion and 2018, European champion and 2019 he won 2nd place in the worlds championship. 

Today João is an actively competing GP dressage rider and part of the national working equitation team for Portugal. Weekends are mostly spent competing. He is also part of various show groups that travel and perform with their horses showing the Lusitano horse to the world. Apart from that, he is the head trainer for somewhere between 10-15 horses. 

He trains all the horses at Quinta Maresia as well as being the in house coach for all the riders. 

Did you think this was enough already? Well it isn’t. João also very much plays an active role in developing the PSL horse for the future. He is involved in breeding and his trained eye helps breeders chose amazing stallions for their mares. Next he will be your trainer when you come visit! 

If João ever has a day off he also surfs, rides his bicycle for miles and miles and works on his own farm project. 

The entrepreneur behind the project. With a life long dream of working and living with horses, this is her all time passion project and she will not rest until the mission is accomplished and the farm is full of horse loving smiles and life long connections between horses and riders are made.

Bernardo – Horse Groomer

She is the manager of the farm, and all the activities at the farm. Elizabeth is originally from Oslo Norway, where she spent the major parts of her childhood riding, dancing and snowboarding. But when it was time to go study, she had to leave the horse life behind. 

After university she travelled the world with work before she landed in Portugal. There, something changed. The beauty of this country, the waves in the ocean and the mesmerizing Lusitano horses that she saw there made her decide to stay in 2007. She took up riding and dancing again, and she also started surfing. 

15 years later she is still there, and has spent the last 5 years working on building her little paradise; a horse farm right next to her local surf break. And now she wants to share this with you.  

Today she runs a small dance school in Ericeira, trains her horses with the help of João and if she has some time off she goes surfing.

The farm would not function without Thiago. He is both the left hand and the right hand of the operative functions of the farm, and the best handler of all our beloved animals.

Elizabeth Killi – Owner

Thiago is the farms horse groomer and all over Mr. Fix it. Originally from Brasil, he now lives close to the farm.

He is the “nutritionist” of our horses and logistically responsible at the farm. He takes care of all the buildings and equipment and we could not have this farm running without him.

He is also a passionate climber so if you are interested in an outdoor climbing experience in amazing nature, talk to Thiago. He and his twin brother Matheus will take you on an amazing session in beautiful surroundings.

On the farm, he is Joãos trusted right hand making sure all the horses are clean and ready for work, and that the riding arenas are prepped. He is Elizabeths trusted left hand and make sure all the horses are happy, clean and healthy.