We never really know what life’s going to bring us, what we’re going to co-create, do we? How about 42 hectares housing 13 horses, 7 dogs, 7 pastures, 1 flock of chickens, 1 field of vervain, a hotel, a spa, olive orchards, an orange grove, an organic garden, a pool, a cozy restaurant, (pant, pant) the biggest compost pile I’ve ever seen on private lands, a luxurious yoga room, miles and miles of fencing, fields of hay, bays and barns, sheds and workshops… (pant, pant, pant) Oh! and riding rings and trails. This was a big farm.

This experience was markedly different from everything previous. Of course, every one is unique, but this enterprise was on a much bigger scale than all predecessors. First, it was a business, a hotel and wellness retreat, making it a more structured environment. It came complete with a staff of 25. That’s a lot of souls to commune and comprehend, making this a much more complex environment. Second, a lot of largess was put into all the horses, facilities and equipment (wahoo!), and while that kind of material luxury is somewhat common in the horse world, it’s not at all common in the work-exchange world. It was a welcome change.

On the purely equine side, I learned the foundations of a famous form of natural horsemanship… and finally understood some of the issues people have with this particular version of natural horsemanship. Certainly insightful.

Overall, this was a very gratifying experience.

I’ll share the exploration of natural horsemanship in a blog to follow, for now let’s visit three new places: this rolling farm near Casável, the wondrous waves of Nazaré and the bewildering Horse Fair at Golegâ.

Our first location, the farm, was set in idyllic terrain, gently rolling hills. Not far were verdant lowland fields and vibrant, bird filled wetlands – the former giving way to the latter in mid-November when much needed heavy rains began (and didn’t stop for months).

On the farm itself, the facilities were gorgeous and the horses AMAZING. As always, it was the people politics that were challenging (them with each other and me with them). Since there were a lot of them that created more camaraderie and more complexity. Heating our home was also a bear, but for now, October and most of November, the weather was sunny and warm.

The business, the wellness retreat center, rented a separate house for the volunteers, an easy bike ride from the farm. It was a nice little two bedroom house, and for the first month I shared it with a Frenchman who was working in the farm’s garden.

On the farm, I spent a lot of time here, in the well-lit wash bay, getting these guys clean, then taking them out and exercising them in hand. It was a lot of fun getting to work with so many different horses.

The winter rains started while I was here, slowly at first, so on some days there was a lot of mud to deal with! Danny, here, was so muddy on this day that he had mud balls in his mane. I’d already removed them when I thought to take these before and after photos… Imagine him even muddier to begin with…

Here he is all sparkly clean… It’ll last the hour we exercise him, and then he’ll go out and roll in the mud again. Heh.

Why be black when you can be mud brown? LOL. Spirit was a Dutch warmblood. Super fun to be with and very athletic. One day, when we were bringing out hay, to our complete astonishment, he trotted over, gave us an inquisitive look, suddenly launched himself in the air, twisting around in a complete 180 and cantered away. Delighted, we burst out laughing. We talked about this one for days. What a character.

Unfortunately, he had a large inoperable hernia, which made his life fairly uncomfortable. Like several of the horses on the farm, he’d been brought here to live out his life in peace. He was one of four that died in 2023. I’m sure he’s more comfortable now!

This is Janice, one of the two Miniature Shetland Ponies, on a not so muddy day. Look at how tiny her hoof is! It’s the size of my palm. These guys were super cute!

We exercised them in the big ring, as these ladies are doing with Blue, an Irish Draft, who is white. Haha.

Or we’d take them for walks around the farm.

Or we’d use this smaller ring if it was too wet outside.

And of course, there was the usual daily feeding and poo picking. In such a well appointed setting, working with this large number of horses was really, really nice.

And I actually had a riding lesson! My first in 30 years! Fun. (Please don’t judge my position. I know it wasn’t great. And I don’t have on spurs, that’s sand on the bottom of my boot.)
Despite this lovely start, I only rode three times in three months. Some owners have horses because they like riding them. Others because they like being with them, more as pets, and they don’t ride much, if at all. Riding was definitely not the main goal here. They did lots of ground work, which is how I got to learn the basics of a natural horsemanship method – it’s all groundwork.

One of the first weekends, my housemate and I decided to go visit the coast, about an hour away. We picked Nazaré, which was almost due west of us. I knew nothing about it, which just made the discovery even more wonderful…

We parked and decided to walk across the beach to the fort on hill, overlooking the ocean. There were quite a few people up there… must be worth the view.

We had to pay to get in. The view must be really good! But when we walked in we saw all these surfboards with photos of surfers and their stories under them… all with the same theme. They’d all surfed impossibly HUGE waves. Wait a minute! They did it here! Wow!

It turns out, the point that we were standing on sees some of the biggest waves on the planet. WOW. Why do they get so big here? It’s a complex set of geologic and climatic factors. I’ll tell you a few… Get ready for some impossibly big numbers, and the awesomeness of Gaia. You have to think BIG. Planet sized. GAIA sized. (Then all of this seems quite small, but you get the picture.)

The waves here are so big in part because the point that we were standing on juts out into the ocean, causing the prevailing winds, and the water they drive, to change course, creating a dynamism not seen on a straight shore line. Second there’s a deep water canyon that ends 20km (12mi) away. And when they say deep, they mean deep. Here the sea floor is only about 20m (65ft), but we’re at the tip of an incredibly large submarine canyon that goes 210km (130mi) out to sea. At it’s deepest it’s 5km (3mi) deep. That’s 3km (1.8 mi) deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Ever seen to the Grand Canyon?
That puppy is deep.
This is deeper.

Deep ocean currents and storms push huge masses of water up the canyon towards shore, and instead of the waves losing height as the sea floor rises to meet them, the sea floor stays relatively deep. Thus the waves don’t diminish as they normally would. When these waves combine with the redirected waves (mentioned above) they can double or even triple in size, et voila, some of the largest waves in the world.

The record for highest wave surfed (2020) currently stands at 26m (86ft)! Pause a moment and contemplate just how gargantuan that is. Imagine a 7 story building in your area… now imagine that height in water… moving water… roaring towards shore… and then you on a tiny sliver of fiberglass…
LOL. Yeah, me either.
(Benoit and Todd, we know you’re excited about the idea!)

These crazy, brave men and women love it. And this museum was dedicated to them, the surfers and also the jet skiers who tow them out to the tops of the huge waves and se them free. Their boards, jet skis, photos and stories all here. Truly amazing.

Who knew? We thought we were just heading out to take in the fresh sea air. And boy did we. The view, the ocean and the energy was extraordinary.
There weren’t any big waves in 2022, so though I went many times, as you’ll see, and it happened to be big wave season, I didn’t see any giant waves. Just large ones, 2 meters (6ft) or so. Big. But not Gaia big. The surfers who were hanging around waiting for BIG were, understandably, not impressed. :) It was a beautiful day and a wonderful discovery. Another way in which Gaia displays her brilliance, creativity and splendor. We live on such an amazing planet! Thank you, Gaia!

On another weekend, a friend from the farm and I went to the huge horse fair in Golega, just north of the farm. Ohmygod, that was enthralling. And kind of horrible. On the plus side… Horses everywhere! And elegant traditional riding habits. A feast for the eyes.

We watched this beautiful horse-woman team compete in working equitation, a combination of skills needed during a “typical working day” like opening gates, handling poles, moving through tight spaces – challenging things that take significant training and no small amount of agility. Lusitanos, the Portuguese breed, bred for agility, are perfect for this. The handsome riding habits don’t hurt either.

At the end of this particular part of the multi-day competition, which is timed, they gallop as fast as they can towards the finish line. After all that fine movement work, a thrill of excitement!

A feast for the eyes, the whole village of Golega is full of horses and riders in their finest. Everyone comes out to compete or parade around.

And there we have it. Three nice spots on the planet.
Next up, Benoit appears on the scene, we visit some lovely towns, I have a crazy bleed-through-time experience high up on fortress wall and we dive into natural horsemanship.
Have a lovely day, and see you next time!