overberg
south africa
nature retreat & fynbos reserve
Overberg horse trails: 2 day | 3 day | 5 day | 9 day
The reserve of farm 215 is the base station of our partner, the African Horse Company. Guided out-rides are organized in and from the reserve and farm 215 is the starting point of the multi-day trails organized by the African Horse Company.
Out-rides can last anything between one hour and the better part of the day. The horses roam freely in the reserve and are highly adapted to the local terrain. The horse rides lead you through fynbos, valleys and to the highest point in the reserve.
The African Horse Company also organizes trails of several days. The trails of 2, 3 and 5 days (as well as tailor made trails) are fully catered and cover 25 to 35 km per day. The terrain is extremely varied: long gallops over sand-beaches, slow climbs over steep fynbos-covered slopes, splashing through wetlands, working your way through forest or simply cruising along narrow rural gravel roads. The horse trails include accommodation, all meals of the day and personal- and luggage-shuttles where required from the one horse-station to the other.
The Southern Overberg is an excellent horse-riding region. There are practically no tar-roads and signs of human-made infrastructure and civilization are far apart. The sense of a horse ride through pure wilderness quickly comes to mind.
The African Horse Company is an established company in South Africa, working with horses and operating horse trails in several parts of the Western Cape for many years. The experienced horse guides are very familiar with the terrain as well as with local plant- and wild-life. Groups are small (up to 6 people excluding guide). When not on a horse-trail, the African Horse Company keeps his horses as a herd; the horses roam freely from pasture to pasture.
As a result of the permission of all relevant private- and public- land-owners (including Walker Bay Nature Reserve and Agulhas National Park) granted to the African Horse Company to transit their land, practically all of this part of the Southern Overberg is open for our trail-riders, including some hidden gems that are mostly off-limits, a rare privilege. The co-operation between farm 215 and the African Horse Company is not only a practical one. Both companies are of the same spirit and stand for the same principles and standards of sustainable- and responsible- tourism.
Looking at the extreme variety of the landscape in this region of the Southern Overberg as well as the unique approach of the African Horse Company, these horse trails are amongst the most exciting in South Africa. Please contact us for fact sheets with detailed features of the trail and rates.
This is what the African Horse Company says about itself:
"African Horse Company offers an opportunity to experience the horse in its role of travelling partner and friend. The African Horse Company has established itself in the Western Cape province of South Africa: specifically in Cape Town, Hermanus, Stanford and the area of the Southern Overberg and the Agulhas Plains. Through the fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom, (a world heritage site and a vegetation type restricted to the Western Cape of South Africa) our horse rides cover rugged mountain terrain and kilometres of wide beach and dune coastline of the famous whale coast of the Overberg. Horses used are South African crossbreeds. The bloodlines being Boerperd, Arab, Saddler and Friesian. Our horses range freely as a herd and are fully adapted to the environment with regards to grazing, weather and terrain. Noted for their endurance and sure footing, these horses are the ideal partner and friend for many day trails.
African Horse Company invites you to join on a journey through thousands of hectares of pristine nature unchanged since the days of the original residents in the Overberg, the Khoekhoen. A unique opportunity to experience whales along the beach and proteas in the mountains. To follow the routes of the early settlers in the Cape, to stay in rustic farm cottages or up-market guesthouses. To savour the wines and cuisine of the Cape, to swim with your horse in the ocean and sleep under the stars in a truly beautiful part of South Africa."
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