Once upon a time, I had a bad experience with a horse. It involved a stretch of Noordhoek beach, some loose stirrups and an ex-racehorse who felt like taking me for a gallop, whether I was keen on the idea or not.
For a long time afterwards, I steered clear of horses. Until, that is, I was invited to try out the Equine Sport Centre’s overnight horse riding and wine tasting trail. Because, if there was anything that could lure me back onto a horse, it was the promise of wine and a weekend in the Cape Winelands.
And so, one lovely sunny Saturday in Spring, I found myself at Morgenhof wine farm, just outside Stellenbosch.
Morgenhof looking beautiful in the morning. The perfect spot for breakfast!
Fortified by bacon, eggs, and a big glass of buttery Morgenhof Chardonnay (who says you can’t have wine with breakfast?), I felt capable of facing the horses. Our guides were a formidable trio of equestrains: Dominique Le Roux of the Equine Sport Centre, Barry Armitage of The Ride, and Ian Freemantle of Cape Adventure Zone.
Dominique has twice captained the South African endurance riding teams, Barry has re-enacted historic rides by legends such as Harry Smith and completed some epic long-distance journeys on horseback, and Ian also ‘enjoys’ equestrian endurance races (?!?).
As I buckled my helmet and climbed onto a placid-looking grey mare, Ian said, ‘That’s Luna. She’s a champion endurance racer.’
Fantastic. I’d done it again and got on a racehorse.
My horse for the weekend, the beautiful Luna.
However, Luna was so solid on her feet that even a novice like me found her easy enough to ride. The only difficulty I had was in keeping Luna behind Dominique’s horse. She was obviously used to being at the front, and would occasionally break into a light trot and try to overtake. However, Luna only galloped when I wanted her to.
And, amazingly, when Barry suggested a gallop up a long hill flanked with new-budding vines, I discovered that I did want to go for a gallop.
Up the hill we flew. The sensation reminded me of surfing a large and powerful wave. It was utterly exhilarating, remember-to-breathe and just-hang-the-hell-on-while-grinning-like-a-maniac stuff. Suddenly, I understood why so many people actually like horse riding.
Hey, this horse-riding thing is really rather fun!
With adrenaline coursing through my veins, the sparkling winelands scenery looked even more beautiful than before and, when we reached our first wine-tasting at Remhoogte, I discovered that adrenaline and wine pair perfectly.
We walked our horses through long grass, speckled with wild flowers, past Remhoogte’s resident springbok and zebra and left them munching on the lawn while we sat in the shade and quaffed Chenin and Shiraz. The wines were so good and the scene was so idyllic that Ian had some difficulty persuading us to climb back onto our horses.
Wine tasting at Remhoogte. You can see why we didn’t want to leave.
However, when he pointed out that there was still some magnificent riding ahead of us, as well as lunch and more wine-tasting at Knorhoek, we happily, if slightly fuzzily, remounted.
The ride to Knorhoek was indeed magnificent.
On the ride to Knorhoek, I discovered that going for a gallop is a sure-fire way to sober up and that (as long as you haven’t had too much wine) it’s perfectly okay to drink and ride. At Knorhoek, the horses were unsaddled and we all enjoyed an al fresco lunch. The horses had theirs in a meadow while ours was served on the stoep of the wine tasting room.
Oooh it feels good to get that saddle off!
We feasted on delicious cheeses, meats and olives, as well as large quantities of Knorhoek’s excellent wines.
By the time we saddled up the horses once more, we weren’t sure whether another wine-tasting was really necessary, as our hosts at Knorhoek had plied us so liberally with their eminently quaffable Sparkling Rosé, Chenin and delectable Pantere red blend. However, when we arrived at Uitkyk, we discovered we did in fact have room for more wine, and even some brandy.
Our horses looked happy to arrive at Uitkyk too, even though they hadn’t had any wine.
Back at Delvera, we enjoyed a quick dip in the pool at lovely Oakleaf Lodge where we were overnighting, while the Urban Hunter Gatherer cooked up a foodie feast for us with foraged bounty.
Local Cape mussels with fresh fennel from the Urban Hunter Gatherer
The next morning, it was a little bit tough on our tender bottoms to climb back into the saddle, but we had another wine tasting at Warwick that none of us was willing to miss. We reached a hill, and Ian suggested the first gallop of the day. We eagerly agreed. It was yet another day of golden sunshine, jingling stirrups and wonderful wine.
A family plays a game of boules at Warwick Wine Estate
Yup, once upon a time, I had a very good experience on a horse indeed…
Overnight horse and wine trail packages
Several different wine-tasting and horse-riding trail packages are available. For information, bookings or enquiries, visit Cape Adventure Zone, email Ian Freemantle or phone 21 552 6057.
I’m now rather fond of horses. In fact, I’m going riding again tomorrow!
