South Africa Horseback Safari Guide Biographies
Experience the bushveld on horseback with the exceptional top guides profiled below to ensure your trip is the best it can possibly be, because the guide has a huge impact on the quality of your ride.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SOUTH AFRICA HORSEBACK SAFARI GUIDE?
Someone who matches the enjoyment of horses with a passion for the bush and someone who is able to lead a group of people safely in a wilderness setting on an adventure of exploration.
MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT?
Taking a tumble in front of guests.
FAVOURITE ANIMAL?
Elephant. Beautiful, fascinating, with a touch of scary thrown in. That said, I love Impalas, the underrated rentacrowd of the bush.
INTERESTING ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR WITNESSED?
Having a Jackal running alongside my ride barking at my dogs. Spotting a sub adult Giant Eagle Owl just standing on the ground. Walking over to it and being able to touch it before it flew away.
WHY AND HOW DID YOU BECOME A GUIDE?
As a little boy back in Germany I was dreaming to be a mounted ranger and patrol the wildernesses of our planet from the back of your trusty horse.
Got the Africa virus in 1992 and made the move together with my wife in 1998. Doing safaris on horseback was what we both wanted right from the start.
It gives me the kick to this day. To get on your horse and move out into the bush not knowing what might be around is still the best thing to experience.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SOUTH AFRICA HORSEBACK SAFARI GUIDE?
Passion and being able to move the riding guests with laughter and excitement. To be able to make people trust you as the guide and feel safe at all times but at the same time make it look easy. To be adventurous but not as a show off cowboy.
FAVOURITE ANIMAL?
The Rhinoceros, as I see it as the most innocent behemoth on the planet. To be able to watch such a peace-loving creature at two and a half tons is still leaving me with a smile on my face twenty years later. This is for Black and White Rhinoceros alike. The Black one is just a bit more nuts.
MOST INTERESTING ANIMAL BEHAVIOR?
Back in 1999 the elephants in our area where reintroduced from KwaZulu and the young cows had their first calves here with us. The first two years they tend to be quite aggressive and used to charge horses and Land Rovers readily.
It was really hard work for my lead horse Nina at the time to keep her nerves and not leave me alone in the ….! One morning a new calf was born the night before and the most silly cow as usual started to get angry with the horses presence and came through the herd to charge us.
All of a sudden the matriarch with her big attitude and vampire tusks screams at her and with a rumble moves backwards into her pushing her back. What followed was a mexican standoff for another half an hour and we all went our way. The breeding herd has never charged at me and my horse again ever since! Left me speechless.