Our Lusitano Horses

We have a very nice dressage trained Lusitano stallion. He is very well trained and is a pleasure to ride especially in local paradess where his showy manner makes him an attraction. We also breed him with our Lusitano mares. The mares are also great parade horses and we often take them on our trail rides.

Our Mangalarga Horses

We also raise some Brazilian Mangalarga Horses. This breed, derived from the Andalusion, Arabian and Thoroughbred, is the preferred saddle horse for this part of Brazil. We select ours for smooth gaits and docile manners.

Cattle

We have a cow-calf operation consisting of about 100 Nelore (Brahman) cows and their offspring. We breed them to Simenthal bulls to obtain a terminal cross.

We don't produce milk for sale but we do milk a few cows for our own and our employees' use. Mostly they are crossbred using a Brahman breed for heat tolerance and Holstein or Brown Swiss for increased milk production.

Ponies

The ponies are great for the little kids and the adults and older kids find them enchanting too. Our older mare Pimenta is about to have a new foal.

Sheep

We currently have about 250 crossbred ewes that we cross with Santa Inez and Suffolk rams. The sheep require a lot of care and lambing season is year-round. Often we have lambs that need bottlefeeding.

Goats

The goats started out just for fun. They are lively and interesting animals that become quite docile when treated with kindness. We are planning to start milking them to make homemade goat's milk cheese.

Donkeys

We have three small donkeys, Jenny, Nester, and Frederico. They can be ridden and have great personalities.

Frederico is always a favorite with his loud hee haw delighting both children and adults.

Wildlife

We often see wild animals and exotic birds on our rides. The capivara (right) is the world's largest rodent. Our hayfields are home to egrets, roadrunners, owls, hawks, buzzards and armadillos. Sometimes we see small deer, large hares, raccoons and wild cats. Harder to see but present in our forests are Bugios (howler monkeys), Tucanos and Jaguartiricas (pumas).