Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Off on another trek. At the Walvis Bay ride I suggested that with the extra 
days I had between Walvis and Saldanha (Capetown, Sep 9)I could possibly visit 
some of the Arabian breeders in Namibia - take some photos of the horses and 
their farms, and help do a little promotion of the breeding programs. I have 
discovered that here in Namibia a casual suggestion quickly becomes a reality, 
and before I knew it there was a 4 day trek planned for me to visit some of the 
major Arabian horse - Endurance horse - breeders. So - here I am at the home of 
Peter and 'Linki' De Witt. Peter and Linki (and kids and horses and gear) 
picked me up at Mike Brendekamp's place, after Mike picked me up at Okapuka, 
after having to wait an extra hour while Inger's rover 'Chip' took us on a 
(scenic) detour through the mountains finding a passable way back down after 
encountering some challenging 'roads'. Peter and Linki brought me to their farm 
for the night, until tomorrow when I'll get a ride to one of the
breeder's places. They have an 8000 hectare cattle farm about 80 km from the 
Botswana border. This is cattle country, they call their little town Gobabis 
'Little Texas'. Though I didn't see any hats or boots or buckles, and they 
don't do rodeos... but they do do cattle. 

Linki is in the back room at the moment, doing a dozen loads of laundry - just 
now getting home from Walvis Bay ride after a full day's travel - and the kids 
have to leave tomorrow for Windhoek - school starts day after tomorrow, so 
everything must be washed (twice because of all the sand), dried and ironed. 
Meanwhile she and daughter Serena are preparing steaks for dinner...  Most of 
the Endurance in Namibia is family sport. The kids get interested in it, the 
parents support them as far as they want to go. The De Witt's children Pierre 
and Serena both rode at Walvis - the 160 and the 120 - and are now interested 
in pursuing the sport beyond the school years. Pierre may go to Australia after 
school to work for an Endurance trainer - learn more about horses, training, 
competing. The parents all support their children, but the children take the 
sport very seriously - training their horses as well as themselves. More 
interest in the sport, more breeders producing Endurance horses, be
tter horses for sale locally, more interest in the sport - it is growing here. 

So - I spent yesterday and today at Okapuka - the Game Park - and Ingerbord 
Hermes' Horse Safari. Absolutely fantastic 
(<http://www.okapuka.com/>http://www.okapuka.com), a dream really to ride her 
horses (mostly Arabians - Egyptian bloodlines) through the park, with every 
imaginable African animal to be seen - from warthog to kudu to rhino... I 
didn't see the lions, but will have to do that next time! They have a 35 
hectare (fenced) complex for the lions - (well fenced). The entire game complex 
is over 30,000 hectares - with 6000 animals. Fritz (the owner - originally from 
Austria) used to run cattle on the farm, but a severe drought in the 90's 
resulted in the loss of much of the herd, and he had the vision at that time to 
develop a game park - for preservation and tourism. He has herds of some of 
Africa's endanged animals as well as the tough and hardy species. He sells the 
extra animals when the numbers get too high and also buys new bloodstock to 
maintain the vigour of the her
ds. 
Ingerbord's story - she and her husband came to Namibia on holiday almost 10 
years ago. She had heard about Okapuka because it was one of the few places 
that offered horse back rides through a game preserve in Namibia at the time. 
(another desparate horse rider!). She and her husband were taken with Namibia, 
and taken with Okapuka. They kept in contact with Fritz, suggesting that he 
needed a 'real' stable on the premise, with many fine horses for guests to 
ride. They kept at it - and eventually the door was open. They returned to 
Namibia, built a stable, horse facility, purchased some acreage, built a 
house... and built the business. Ingerbord is running the business on her own 
now - determined to stay in the place she loves. (and rightly so!). She is busy 
breeding her Arabians, taking in guests for the week long safaris, and 
continually learning about the animals, the ecology, the land. She's a real 
treasure. 

I have some photos to send - (over the phone line, time stands still in Nambia 
I think... )

-later

Steph


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=