Portugal
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My name is Pedro and I run an Equestrian tourism business, recieving guests from overseas for riding holidays including trail riding and dressage clinics. The business also buys, trains and sells Lusitano horses.
The stables and large indoor arena are set beside a beautiful former monastry whose courtyards are planted with orange trees and hydrangea flowers, where our paying guests stay. The 15 stall stables provide accommodation for our own horses as well as those of clients. We need your help mainly within the stables, where we require help with daily tasks such as feeding, mucking out and grooming. And depending on your level of experience, you will also be able to help prepare the horses for riding and get the opportunity to help with training and exercise as some of our horses will be preparing for competitions and sale. Additionally, you may accompany me to horse fairs and sales, and learn more about the Lusitano breed.
During periods where we host guests on riding holidays, we will need your assistance with hosting. Daily tasks will include: helping to set the table for meals, picking up and delivering meals from the local restaurant (5 minutes away) and helping with cleaning up after meals. It is a good opportunity to learn more about how an equine tourism business works on a day-to-day level and to meet people from all over the world. We will also try to allot these tasks on a shift basis so everyone gets a chance to do a bit of everything.
We are near the lovely historical city of Golegã - the capital of Portuguese horse culture. People really live from horses here: there are frequent horse fairs, including the famous Lusitano festival in November, which people normally attend on horseback, as well as the Festival of Mares and Foals at the end of May. The capital of Portugal, Lisbon is only an hour away by car or 1,5 hours by train (station nearby). If you want to work with Lusitanos and have an unforgettable experience in Portugal then this is the place!
Gardening
Building
General Maintenance
Cooking / shopping
Farmstay
Other
Help in the house
Animal care
Language practice
Help with Computers / internet
You can experience the Lusitano lifestyle, improve your riding and horse care skills with Pedro who is very knowledgable and experienced. You can relax in the monastry gardens and by the pool (when we don't have guests), relax by the river, in the village cafe, and improve or learn some Portuguese language. This is also the village where Jose Saramago was born for volunteers with literary interests. You will get to experience Portuguese traditions, attend horse fairs, learn about local Lusitano breeders and how horses are handled here. This place offers a unique opportunity for the true horse enthusiast or for thoses who want to start a similar business as Pedro will take you with him whenever he can to meetings with other farms, breeders, clients.
This host offers accommodation and payment.
Daily Tasks: general yard chores i.e. mucking out, feeding, grooming, lunging, riding, feeding the dogs (we have 3 Greyhounds and 2 Jack Russels). Additionally, when we have guests, helping to set the table for meals, picking up and delivering meals from the local restaurant (5 minutes away) and helping with cleaning up after meals. Please let us know if you have any dietry requirements we should know about.
Provided: Room and board. Staff and workawayers stay in a seperate house away from the stables in the neighbouring town of Golegã (10 mins by car). If it is a busy time for volunteers, you may have to share a room with another volunteer, so if you are not comfortable with this, please let us know before hand. Please note that workawayers have access to the staff car if they can drive and there is another car available if people want to go to or from the stables during the day. There is little public transport to speak of so if you´re not a driver then you will have to ask one of us for a lift.
When we are not hosting guests, there is plenty of down time which you can enjoy with the horses, recieving riding lessons from Pedro who is a top classical dressage teacher, and who will teach you the Portuguese riding style. We also have a pool in the gardens of the monastry which you are welcome to use. There is an attractive river beach in a nearby village with a pinic area which is also a nice place to spend a free afternoon, plus nearby local cafes.
This is your chance to improve your riding and experience village life in Portugal!
Please note that whilst there are plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy the facilities and surroundings we have here, we do have busy periods here when we host guests and we will need everyone to pull their weight and put in the hours. This is probably not the best opportunity for people who are looking just for a holiday experience.
Portuguese, English
Room in house in Golegã, 1 shared bathroom
The workaway'ers will get all meals provided by us.
If possible, we will always try to pick you up from Lisbon airport, if one of us is available. If not, we can provide you with instructions on how to reach us by public transport, coming from Lisbon by train or bus which is not complicated. Just let us know in advance.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
Between 5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Cultural exchange:
(4.5)
Communication:
(4.5)
