A new continent for me to ride in ! I headed off to South Africa for a change and met up with Naomi Muller to ride Karabib in the FEI 3*.
What a year for the weather – we packed expecting bright blue skies and sunshine with crisp temperatures. We arrived to torrential down pours and freezing cold weather.
I also didn’t realise that South Africa rides start pretty early to miss the heat of the day – but I had no idea they meant 2.30 am ? now that is early, and trust me it was freezing cold and wet all day !!
However, I loved the atmosphere and the number of riders there. We had our hold in a giant dutch barn that was given over partly to the trot up lanes, with the hold areas next door and the bottom section was the bar and restaurant complete with heat lamps and dance floor for the evening band. Oh Yes, I’m going to enjoy riding in South Africa.
Karabib is a big rangy grey gelding with lots of experience and had a great day on him. I will always remembering the sound of our hoof beats as we cantered along in the dark of the early morning looking up at the incredible array of stars over head.
Karabib was brilliant all day and we came in 9th at 15.69 kmph. What a great horse, and what a great place to go and ride. Hopefully I will get back there next year without the rain ! The buildings are single skinned to cope with heat rather than cold, so it was a pretty chilly stay but made up for by the great ride and the fun we had at the evening party with dancing and a band. Happy days.