Following the road from Palmela towards Pinhal Novo, we turned right to enter a region with a number of horse breeders. It is necessary to make an appointment to visit these large estates and having made one the day before, we rang the bell of Monte dos Cisnes...

HorseDay

The extraordinary thing is that it appears the rider is doing no more than just sitting upon the horse and that this fine animal is showing off his full repertoire of dance moves.

Picadeiro means training ground, and we quietly tipped our noses over the wooden gates to watch the owner putting a fine Lusitanian through his paces.

Quinta dos Cisnes breeds and trains Lusitanos. It also has a bullring for bullfight training, used by matadors when they come with their horses from all over the world to train and fight.

From here we went due south to Alcacer do Sal for lunch. The speciality is Burras de Porco Preto which goes especially well with the house red. The restaurant Porto Santana has eating outside with views across the river to this small and picturesque town. The owner speaks french and english and is more than happy to help exploring out-of-towners. The reason we came to Alcacer do Sal is because there is an old, modest shop and workshop for all things horse, where handmade livery and even custom made riding boots can be ordered. In fact almost anything you might want to buy for your riding pleasure. The shop window was crowded in a higgledy piggledy fashion and reminded me of a time before window dressing and merchandising. Whilst the others went inside, I must have stood gazing at its contents for a full 5 minutes taking it all in, until I realised I was being stared at by a large black stallion - albeit a stuffed one!

However, any rider will tell you, quite the contrary.

It is with the tiniest pressure upon this finely tuned beast that the utmost control between rider and horse is displayed.