Couple Seize Chance To Raise Rare Herd -- `Carpe Diem' Farm Near Fall City Has Most Lusitano Horses In U.S.

FALL CITY

"Carpe Diem" seems an unlikely name for a bucolic farm in a quiet, picturesque setting of towering evergreens and fenced fields dominating a hill above Fall City-Carnation Road Southeast.

It's there that a local couple have taken a Latin saying, "Seize the day," to heart, trying to preserve the bloodline of a European horse breed.

What started out as an engagement present - a horse instead of a diamond ring - has developed into the largest herd of Lusitano horses in the nation.

When Mike and Lynn Green became engaged in 1994, she turned down a ring and instead took up Mike's offer of "the finest horse in the world" - a quarter horse.

They never dreamed the gift would evolve into a new career and an expanded view of fine horses.

Lynn, a former psychologist, had been seriously injured in an automobile accident, and after they were married the couple began to talk about retirement. Mike operated Green's Funeral Home in Bellevue before selling it in 1996.

"You don't get any younger, and you begin to really appreciate life. So we seized the day and decided to do something. That's where the name for the farm comes from," Lynn said.

While recovering from the accident, Lynn developed an interest in Lusitano and Andalusian horses from Europe's Iberian Peninsula. No stranger to horses, she grew up on a farm in Alberta's Canadian Rockies, about 20 miles north of Montana. That 160-acre farm and another 160-acre spread in British Columbia also bear the name Carpe Diem.

Lynn found a Lusitano in Texas. Soon after she bought Golilla, she fell in love with the mare's light, graceful carriage.

"She was like a ballerina, standing in a corner looking lovely. But then I saw the enchantment when she moved . . . she was so different when she was saddled," she said.

The Greens now have 36 Lusitanos and 12 Andalusians scattered among the two Canadian farms and their 64-acre spread a few miles north of Fall City.

The couple's sprawling ranch-style home is filled with dozens of photos of their horses and trainers and the Canadian farms.

An elaborate Portuguese costume, worn by trainers during exhibitions, is draped on a chest.

The Iberian horses are perhaps the oldest breed of saddle horses and were prized as war horses in Roman times, Lynn said.

The Lusitanos and Andalusians were used by the Spanish during exploration of the Western Hemisphere, and eventually influenced U.S. horse breeds such as the Appaloosa and quarter horse. In Europe they have been used as foundation stock for Swedish warmbloods, Holsteiners, Connemaras, Irish draughts and Lipizzaners.

The Andalusian horse has a straighter head profile and a more elegant carriage, with a floating stride, while the Lusitano is still bred primarily for functioning in the bull ring and has a rounder head and body, along with quickness and athleticism.

Despite its heritage as the ultimate war horse, the Lusitano has a good temperament and is very trainable, Lynn said.

"Unfortunately, the old tradition of breeding and the pure bloodline of these horses is disappearing," she said.

When the Carpe Diem horses are a year or so old, they are sent to the Canadian farms for about two years and then returned to Fall City to work out in a large, covered arena flanked by a huge man-made waterfall splashing down a hillside.

Four trainers, including Seattle police Officer Scott Hansen, who trains horses for the Seattle department, are on hand at various times of the year working with the stock on the farm.

Depending on age and training, and whether they're old enough to ride, prices range from $20,000 to $50,000. A bench mark in price was hit recently when the brother of Maquiavelo, one of the Greens' stallions, sold at auction in Brazil for $140,000.

Louis T. Corsaletti's phone message number is 206-515-5626. His e-mail address is: lcorsaletti@seattletimes.com