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http://www.sundanceranchportugal.com/

Sundance Ranch Portugal, Herdade Saquenibaque, Odemira (2025)

29/03/2025

Elsa Sinclair teaching at the ranch this weekend. Always a great learning experience and so much fun!

01/01/2025

Happy New Year, everyone!

Earlier today, I found myself pondering: why do we celebrate endings, beginnings, anniversaries, and birthdays? “Gratitude,” my very smart husband said, and I think he’s absolutely right. These moments give us a chance to reflect on and celebrate the past while setting our sights on the future.

I don’t usually make a big deal of these special days. In fact, I went to bed at ten last night, just like any other day. But gratitude? That’s something I practice every single day.

Each evening, I fill an entire page in my journal with all the things I’m grateful for. Once I start, it’s like the words just flow out of my pencil. One thing that comes up again and again is how much I treasure the time I spend with my horses in nature, especially when riding.

There’s not much that can compare to the feeling of riding down a beautiful trail on a crisp, sunny winter day with a great horse. Here’s a glimpse of my view from my last ride of 2024 with little Fae. If you look closely, you’ll see the small nick in her ear. That tiny imperfection makes her and this moment even more perfect—if that’s even possible.

I’m deeply grateful for moments like these, and I look forward to many more beautiful rides in 2025.

25/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 25🎅
🎁Y is for Yoshi and Harley the chihuahuas looking impossibly cute dressed as a gift 😍

I did it!! Despite my infamously flaky tendencies when it comes to social media, I managed 25 days of non stop posting on Facebook💪 This was a good kick up the ass to myself that I can write, use my brain and be creative even if I don't feel like it. Thank you to everyone who has liked, shared and commented each day, you guys unknowingly holding me to account has kept me writing even on the tough letters or uninspired days.

Merry Christmas everyone!

24/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 24🎅
🎁X is for Xs!❄️

Yes, I'm amazed I managed something for letter X as well!🤣

Xs (for extra small, pronounced like 'jeeshj-ess', think Jesus with porridge in your mouth... being born on an 'X' year sucks, ok!😅) is 22yo, 140cm, mixed pony type thing and arrived last week having retired from Sandra's old riding school in Cascais. He's in great nick and still full of life, so as well as enjoying his new life in the countryside he'll get some light hacking and the odd lesson to keep his brain and body sharp.

He's a grumpy old bu**er, as most ex riding school horses are, but I imagine he will soon stop pinning his ears and grumbling once he figures out he's not in 'active duty' anymore.

23/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 23🎅
🎁W is for Western Riding!❄️

At Sundance Ranch Portugal we do a variety of things with our horses; some of those things are more English based, such as classical dressage, while others are more western based, such as cow work. We don't really subscribe to the idea of English or Western riding, it's either good or it's bad🤷‍♀️ English riders should not be relentlessly hanging off the horses mouth and western riders should not be sitting like a sack of cement because they have a horn to save them. So we just try to do whatever we do nicely.

That said, we do use western tack for a few reasons.

❗️We spend a lot of time on heavily forested, winding trails and like to go fast when the terrain allows. Ducking out of the way of branches at a gallop is a lot less precarious with something to hang onto!

❗️Western saddles are heavier than English, but distribute the weight over a wider area of the back. With the time we spend in the saddle combined with the steep climbing, it's really important that the riders weight is dispersed as evenly as possible.

❗️My biggest one is that I need riders to drop the reins and leave my horses faces alone, especially when they are transversing rough terrain. Most people still wanna hang on to something, at least with the western saddle I can tell them to hang on to the horn.

22/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 22🎅
🎁V is for Volunteers!❄️

Other than myself, Sandra, Tatiana and João, there are no other full time staff at Sundance Ranch Portugal . With 25 equids to take care of and 15 to ride, that's a lot of work for 3 people!

On the flipside, there are a lot of young people around the world who can only dream of going on a riding holiday or can't afford their own horse or even riding riding lessons. There are teenagers and students who want to ride and we have horses who need riding 🤷‍♀️ Therefore, we offer volunteer places throughout the year, for a minimum of one month. They get room, board and expenses with daily riding (either trail riding or lessons) in exchange for a couple of hours work per day. None of our horses are stabled, so there's no mucking out! There's still plenty to do though, whether it's feeding, medical treatment or tack cleaning.

Most of our volunteers love it so much that they come back over and over again, year after year; so it's actually rare for us to have any spaces these days! We see them arrive as shy teenagers and watch them develop into confident young women over the years, it's really quite wonderful🤗

Pictured are Zus who now lives in the Netherlands, Philli who juggles uni with being my assistant trainer and getting a dunking by Titus is Ona, who went camel racing in Australia!

21/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 21🎅
🎁U is for Unicorn!❄️

Branco is my 150cm rising 5yo Lusitano gelding and he's my real life Unicorn (we're just waiting for him to mature so his horn will sprout) 🦄

Cheerful and upbeat, always in a great mood, curious about the world and not an ounce of fear in him, he was hand picked to be my next heart horse as a yearling; and it was his noticeably bright yet relaxed demeanor that made me choose him.

Not 2 weeks after bringing him home, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and so began the hardest 2 years of my life. Bruno was troubled by my hair suddenly falling out after knowing me for 12 years with long blonde waves- I couldnt catch him for a while; Branco didn't bat an eyelid! He still trotted to greet me, always with a whinny and a Justin Bieber hair flip, even when I stank of hospitals and chemicals and he automatically slowed down and waited with me when I took him on walks despite being very weak.

The one thing that kept me up at night back then was my biggest fear: that I wouldn't live long enough to ride Branco. Fast forward to winter 2024, I've ridden him 12 times and he's everything I ever wanted and more. These rides were very hard won, so that's why I'm still counting them and can't believe I'm riding Branco every time I look at the view behind those pearl white ears and cloud like mane❤️

20/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 20🎅
🎁T is for Titus!❄️

9yo 155cm Cruzado Titus is what the Brits diplomatically refer to as "a bit of a character"😅

We have many horses here who are sane and sensible and can always be counted on to be a good influence. Ol' T Bag on the other hand, has been at Sundance Ranch Portugal since 2021 and has been about as good an influence as Al Quaeda since day 1! Easily distracted from working and not easily convinced to change his conniving little mind from whatever he's planning, he's not winning employee of the month on the regular. He doesn't actually DO anything; he's never bucked or bolted or even spooked! He just bu**ers off in a random direction, usually at a trot. Combine this with the fact he looks like the result of an affair between a lama and a German Shepherd, he's not winning any conformation prizes either 😅

All that said, he's very friendly and personable and he's not stupid by half. He simply requires very firm and very consistent boundaries that many people aren't capable of upholding and when this need isn't met, Titus sees no reason to cooperate🤷‍♀️ As well as clear expectations, Titus thrives on good old fashioned hard work- the longer the ride, the harder he knuckles down. The faster the gallop the better! Mincing about at a jog wittering on about balance has no value to him, but if you want the biggest swinging extended trot you've ever ridden in your life... he's your man! He also has the steadiest most comfortable canter on the ranch and despite his quirks, plenty of people who were scared to canter have regained their confidence on him. T Bag is not going to be a baby sitter or mother's dream any time soon, but he's an important member of the team and that's why he deserves the letter T today.

19/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 19🎅
🎁S is for Spring!❄️

Spring is our 138cm 13yo Quarter Horse. She's our smallest riding horse but also lead mare and worth her weight in gold ❤️

Logical, calm and measured, Spring is not only one of our most beginner friendly horses, but also a good solid influence on any green horses. She's the boss of the herd, ruling with a very light yet precise hand on the controls and this makes life easier for me whenever a new mare begins training and needs socializing and to be ponied.

Despite her small stature, Spring is very strong and has heck of a turn of foot when the mood takes her! She's a treat for both dressage and western riding enthusiasts, digs deep when the chips are down, is more than willing to go along with stupid stunts with water guns and mounted archery and is just an all round good egg. That said, she can have a cheeky buck or spin when the weather is fresh and reminds me of every sparky little pony you had to keep your wits about when I was learning to ride as a child! Endless fun and oodles of patience but that patience definitely has a limit and she isn't afraid to speak up when you've reached it 😈🤣

Shown here with Liesbeth on one of Spring's days where she decided she'd rather be a racehorse than a leadrein pony😅

18/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 18🎅
🎁R is for Ramses!❄️

175cm 19yo Oldenburg Ramses is the biggest horse at Sundance Ranch Portugal is our real old stalwart and we dread the day he retires❤️

Like many big horses, despite his intimidating size, Ramses is endlessly gentle, forgiving and kind. Countless people have had their first ever riding lessons on him and even more nervous riders have regained their confidence regarding various worries with him.
He's no plodder though- Confident and experienced riders also love him! He knows straight away when he's got someone with no hangups and will instantly morph into a flashy, responsive dressage pro; his elevated passage and piaffe is just as impressive as his effortless extended trot and he can canter practically on the spot! On the trail, the trend continues- he will happily plod about if you just want to walk, but he's a huge favorite with our confident volunteers for his willingness to fly through the gears.

People often ask why our weight limit (80kg) is so low for my riding holidays when we have Ramses and the answer is pretty simple:

Ramses is a full 20cm+ taller than most of our horses and most of him is leg; his strides are so long that our short legged Quarter Horses and sewing machine mover Iberian Horses get hopelessly left behind. While Ramses is out for a leisurely stroll, everyone else is trotting to catch up every 10 seconds and this makes rhythm (and therefore relaxation) impossible. The only one who can keep up in walk is Buddy the mule, but in trot and canter he can't hold a candle to Ramses and also ends up left in the forest alone!

Therefore on the trail, he is useless as a guide horse for me because he leaves everyone for dust and equally useless as a guest horse because he gets stressed and frustrated having to crunch himself up in order to stay behind. Thankfully he doesn't mind going out alone, so he still gets plenty of time out of the arena.

Shown here with Helina, who is his current biggest fan.

17/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 17🎅
🎁Q is for Quarter Horses!❄️

With a handful of exceptions, the horses of Sundance Ranch Portugal can be neatly divided into two groups:
Cruzados (Lusitano mixes or full blood but unregistered Lusitano) and Quarter Horses.

We currently have 5 Quarter Horses, all home breds with the exception of my own horse Bruno. The others are Hope, Spring, Grace and Sundance, not forgetting the late great Legend who died too young over summer.

I like using Quarter Horses both for teaching and trail riding for a variety of reasons. They don't get stressed out easily and though not lazy, they don't get up a huge degree of speed unless asked to gallop. They can do anything at amateur level and don't require much training to figure out what's needed from them. On the trail, sure, Cruzados can trot and canter for miles over uneven terrain and get you across trails fast. Quarter Horses though, they're sure footedness and huge hind quarters mean they can take you places as the crow flies; they bulldoze through brush and brambles without hesitation and scale inclines like mountain goats!

Here are Bruno, Hope and Spring with honorary Quarter Horse Tali out with guests back in September.

16/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 16🎅
🎁P is for Pimpão!❄️

9yo 148cm donkey Pimpão is head of the Sundance Ranch Portugal mental health crash team services- him and his two other donkey friends are the first ones any staff and volunteers go to if they need a cry or a cuddle!

Before his rescue and subsequent relocation to the ranch, Pimpão had a sh*tty life in front of a cart and despite his young age, his hind suspensories are knackered and as a result he is no longer sound for any type of work. He now spends his days escaping the pasture, getting into stupid situations (one particularly memorable occasion saw us dragging his out of chest deep mud with a tractor) and getting lots of pets.

Another thing that makes Pimpão unique is that he is a Zamorrano Leonez donkey, which is a rare large donkey breed from Spain. Characterized by their height, huge heads and generous character, they were once highly valued pack animals but are now mainly used for creating large and trainable mules.

15/12/2024

🎄Lysette's Advent Calendar day 15🎅
🎁O is for Oriole!❄️

9yo 158cm Quarab x Lusitano Oriole is another big favorite at Sundance Ranch Portugal!

Sensitive, keen, intelligent, with effortless, ground devouring strides and always looking to do the right thing, Oriole is an absolute treat for an experienced, confident rider.

He has been on the ranch for a few years now but took a very long time to mature mentally and so he only joined the guest horse string this year. In that time, he jumped in feet first and has been an absolute saint! I select his riders carefully as he's still pretty green for his age so I need people capable of holding his hand in the event something unfamiliar occurs, but he's perfectly safe with no hidden quirks.

As well as a nice guest horse, he's a budding lead horse and will go first or last without complaint. He's just an all round great guy to have around and I'm really glad he decided that 2024 was the year he was finally ready to take on the world!

13/12/2024

🎄Advent Calendar day 13🎅
🎁M is for Milhão!❄️

Millie. Everybody's favorite❤️

142cm 9yo Lusitano Milhão did not make the height to motivate his breeder to register him or even really bother about where he ended up. He wound up on a tether for years in total isolation until a kind lady took pity on him and rescued him. He kept her mare company until summer 2022 when the mare unfortunately died. The lady knew he couldn't live alone so contacted Sundance Ranch Portugal and asked us if we would take him in.

Millie had had minimal handling but had a calm, gregarious character and by his third day here I was riding him! However, he was a bit lazy, bolshy and into pressure due to his lack of herd socializing and lack of movement in his early years and he had a bit of a rough time understanding both horses and people initially. He was always an unbelievably safe and sensible ride though, and once his fitness came up and he gained confidence within the herd, he became our most popular trail horse; loved and revered by everyone who ever sat on him for his forward thinking attitude, armchair paces, impressive speed and 4x4 sure footedness.

His popularity became his downfall as he spent so much time on the trail,I often felt the need to rest him and therefore neglected his dressage work. We got away with it up until about summer this year when I noticed he was becoming asymmetrical to the point he almost looked lame one way and his hind quarters had fallen away with his shoulders and pecs overdeveloped. As soon as guest season ended in October, I pulled him from ridden work and began doing ground and pole work to activate his weak areas. He is completely sound again and is looking strong; once the Christmas period is finished I'll bring him back into ridden work and priorize his dressage over winter so that he's ready for his adoring public in Spring 2025!

12/12/2024

🎄Lysettes Advent Calendar day 12🎅

🎁L is for Li Fraumeni Syndrome!❄️

I've gained some new followers while doing these daily posts, so I feel the need to mention LFS, yet again (apologies to long time followers that have heard this spiel a thousand time).

The P53 gene controls tumor suppression, therefore helping the body fight cancer. Over 90% of all common cancers are responsive to P53, meaning this gene is very important in preventing cancer developing and spreading. In those with Li Fraumeni Syndrome, P53 is either damaged or absent. The result of this is collected cancers like they're Pokémon before age 45.

Being that LFS is so rare (with genetic science advances, the number is estimated to be around 1 in 20,000 people), the research is limited and therefore the only current treatment is prevention. I have a yearly full body PET scan along with head, chest and pelvic cavity MRIs along with abdominal ultrasounds,melanoma check and full body examination.

I've been 'lucky' to develop my first cancer in my late 20s. Many LFS patients are children and the younger you develop your first cancer, the more likely you are to develop second and third cancers. I keep on top my scans, do what I can to eat healthy, keep myself fit and not read too much about life expectancy on the internet. LFS or not, I'm living a full and happy life and feel fortunate to be born in a time where technology allows prevention to be an option.

12/12/2024

🎄Advent Calendar day 11🎅
🎁 K is for Kaleidoscope!❄️

I fully admit I struggled with K🤣 Therefore, a post dedicated solely to our beautiful kaleidoscope of sunsets was the best Phili and I could come up with.

The sunsets here are spectacular pretty much every evening without fail, particularly in the summer. Winter treats us to glittering frosty sunrises and clear nights where the Milky Way is always visible. My favorite thing about sunrise, sunset and the stars is the thought that they have always been this way and they'll likely continue this way long after we're all gone. I look at the same colours and stars as the people who lived here hundreds of years ago did! I find it comforting, the idea that though everything is constantly changing, ultimately everything stays the same. Living in nature is good for your mind like that.

10/12/2024

🎄Advent Calendar day 10🎅

🎁J is for Jumping!❄️

Although we are a western riding, classical dressage and trail riding establishment (which already makes us pretty diverse!), when I was growing up I really loved jumping. As I've gotten older, I really see the value in it as an exercise rather than a discipline, and so I like every horse and rider I teach to know how to get into orbit safely!

3 Benefits of jumping for riders:

1. It teaches stickability. If you can go with a horse through a jump, you're more likely to go with a horse if it bucks, spooks etc.

2. Boosts confidence. Again, if you're OK flying through the air at speed, you'll be alright flying along on the flat at speed!

3. It gives context to why we do what we do. Fine then, don't put your heels down and keep your leg forward; go ahead and grip with your calf instead- hope you like picking dirt out of your teeth when you go out the front door after a dirty stop!

3 Benefits of jumping for horses:

1. The take off is basically a canter departure on steroids! I have yet to find an exercise that improves a weak canter departure more than loose jumping.

2. Thoughtfully set up courses develop rhythm in both the rushy and lazy horse. Rushy has to back off, think about what he's doing and adjust his balance, while lazy needs to stay awake and anticipate.

3. Being that everything happens quickly and they need to keep thinking, jumping can really help knock the freeze response out of a sticky one.

We don't jump very high or very often, but whenever I feel it's appropriate I'll get horses and riders leaving the ground. Nobody needs to be a jumper, but knowing how to jump is a very valuable tool!

Here's Phili and Titus with their game faces on.

09/12/2024

🎄Advent Calendar day 9🎅
🎁I is for Inclines!❄️

Here in the Alentejo, we are surrounded by steep inclines- and almost all of our riding is up and down hills.

Guests are usually intimidated by the steepness of these hills and often want to get off the horses to lead them down. I try to keep the annoyance out of my voice when this happens, but staying on the horses is something I won't budge on for a number of reasons:

1. Horses have 4 legs, you only have 2. If they lose their footing with one leg, they have 3 in reserve. They are more secure walking downhill than you can ever hope be.

2. In order to get downhill safely, horses weave left and right. If you are leading them, you are directly in front of them. Guess how well that will work out for you if they slip?

3. When horses slip, they sit down and run with the front legs until they get traction. If you're on top of them, you will go with them. If you're walking, best case is the reins get ripped out of your hands and you potentially break my nice reins. Worst case, you get dragged behind them or should you end up in front of them, you will get run over before you go skittling off down the hill in your nice smooth soled riding boots (as one volunteer found out a couple of weeks ago!).

4. You've walked down these hills precisely never. My horses have been scaling these hills three times a week for the last 5 years and have never once fallen- guess whose judgement I trust more?

5. I appreciate this is the biggest hill you've ever ridden in your life. However, for us, it's just Wednesday. Guest rides are nice familiar routes that the horses can do in their sleep; I don't take guests on difficult rides where the rider needs to help the horse, I like my horses too much. Stay out the way, leave their heads alone, sit up and let them get on with it!

Here's Branco this morning, showing how my horses learn to navigate these hills. He's young and still a bit unbalanced so therefore still wants to trot downhill sometimes (as all greenies do). I ride him couple days a week now, but he currently does all his downhill education riderless until he's built enough strength to sit and walk with all his weight back consistently.

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