The Algarvian goat

I´m learning to read and write and I like to do it on my own. All help is very welcome

Dear Fran,

If you want to recognise the Algarvian goat you should stop on its horns, its fur and its back line.

Not long ago we were invited by a friend, Catarina, who promotes interesting trilhos and others activities, to do the initial part of the route that mestre Chico daily does from his house to pasture.

As I said, horns have a curious form and volume which remember me a sort of boomerang; fur is also particular because is composed by sundry coloured specks in different sizes. The third thing you must keep your eyes on its back which is straight just as it should be.

This goatherd talked to us about the submission of sheep. He said sheep always eat what is on soil; over and above the ground, goats climb trees and they are more selective.

How come those words were not alien to me? We had to look after hens, pigs, horses, sheep or whatever beast you can imagine in our precarious farm.

O mestre Chico Gonçalves.
He´s one of the few goatherds who preserves this beautiful race

This man brought back memories I thought lost things as when some neighbours painted the stones of their plots with white lime so that the cattle were keep away.

Even more deep it was what he answered when someone asked him about the use of throroughbred goat. Plainly and simply he said: like persons, I do believe cruzar raças é o melhor..

y. a.

Mary