It’s all about the horses

Our Horses are our most Precious Assets - we pride ourselves in our excellent safari horses who know their job and do it well. Come fit enough to stay off their backs and they'll carry you 300 km, sit like a sack of potatoes and you might find yourself travelling in the backup... your choice. The well-being of our horses are our first priority - please be accurate about your weight, fitness and riding ability when filling in the booking form. We charge a supplement for an extra horse for riders 85 kg and over.

Caring for our horses

Between safaris our horses stay relatively fit by living out in thousands of hectare of natural bush.

Natural social bonds form within the herd and because they are more comfortable within these familiar groups, they go on safari together too. Doing a 10-night safari every six weeks between April and late October, they remain fit between safaris by walking huge distances from grazing to water every day. All our horses spend the four/five off-season months out in the bush, undisturbed.

While on safari horses are continually fed - even at midnight, and are groomed three times a day. Backs, legs, and hooves are regularly checked and each horse has a mini-vetting at the end of the day to ensure they are fit for work the next day. Because injuries do occur, and young horses need more rest than experienced campaigners, we have several spare horses on safari which can be rotated. This is a tense time for those guests who, having fallen in love with their horse, wait in anticipation of their mount being given the green light to work the next day.

Our Saddles

We have been refining the designed of our unique safari saddles for decades so that now they are specifically fit for purpose. They spread the riders weight evenly over a wide area yet leave the shoulder free to move naturally. Stirrups have been placed specifically to allow riders to stand in the stirrups and so ease the horses’ backs at regular intervals. Water panniers are easily accessible and there is a small pouch for your camera, sunblock or chap stick.

Wool and Mohair girths allow for maximum comfort and numnah’s are a combination of pure wool pads and specially folded blankets. There are all hand-washed without the use of chemical soap after each safari.

We use simple snaffle or bit-less bridles where possible and each horse has its allotted bridle and saddle for the duration of the safari.