History of Equus Horse Safaris

Inspired by a riding holiday in Australia, in 1989 I joined Sarah-Jane Gullick in establishing South Africa's first horse safari operation catering to competent and adventurous riders from overseas.  The safaris operated initially with a concession on Songimvelo Game Reserve in South Africa's Mpumalanga Province on the border with Swaziland.  For two years on Songimvelo, Sarah-Jane and I did it all -- horse care, guiding, marketing and administration, cooking and cleaning for a growing number of guests.

As Songimvelo was changing the nature of its land use, we found a new home for Equus on Touchstone Game Ranch in the Waterberg Mountains of Limpopo Province.  Equus operated on Touchstone from 1992 to 1997, adding staff for catering, guiding, grooming, and cleaning. In 1994, Sarah-Jane moved on, opening African Horseback Safaris in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. 

At Touchstone, Equus offered both base camp and mobile wilderness safaris over 20,000 hectares.  The camp accommodated 12 guests and the number of horses grew to 25.  Game viewing was excellent with sightings of elephant, white rhino, buffalo and all the common plains game from horseback. 

When Touchstone sold 50 percent of its land to Lapalala Wilderness, I decided to move the entire operation across to neighbouring Lapalala where over 38,000 hectares were available for riding.  A new 8-bedded bush camp was built and from 1997 to 2002, Equus operated eight-night mobile wilderness safaris in game-rich territory.  At the time, Lapalala was the first private reserve to re-introduce endangered black rhino.  My staff had now grown to 20 and the horses to 36. 

With the untimely death in 2001 of Dale Parker, Lapalala’s owner and visionary, John Miller and I began to look for land of our own in the Waterberg.  In 2001, we purchased a 1,000 hectare reserve on the southern escarpment of the Waterberg.  We spent eight months cleaning the land and preparing for horses – paddocks, lunge rings, stables, and rooms for tack, feed, and vet office.  We built a guest lodge and adjacent boma, a luxury tented camp accommodating six guests, and a permanent home for ourselves.  The Johannesburg marketing and administration office was moved entirely to Equus Reserve. 

Equus at Lapalala said goodbye to its last guests on New Years Day 2003 and after six weeks of moving (3 x 12 ton trucks, 25 bakkie trips, 2 horse transport trucks), Equus moved the 100 kilometres to the new Equus Reserve, where we opened to a full camp in mid-February 2003.  Equus was re-structured to allow for a reduced number of guests and only base camp safaris, so we kept 25 horses and reduced the staff.   

During these years, I actively marketed Equus both locally and internationally, exhibiting on many trade and travel shows, and increasingly at the top eventing shows internationally such as Badminton Horse Trials in the UK.  I was a founding member of the African Horse Safari Association, a combined marketing representation of some of the best horse safaris in Africa.  I attended travel and horse shows in Australia, Europe and America and increasingly accompanied groups of clients and friends on dozens of riding holidays around the world. 

I was operating and marketing Equus as a full-service, fully-catered, tented camp for multi-night stays for primarily international guests until September 2005.  Then, Equus suffered devastating veldfires.  Lightning strikes started wildfires throughout the Waterberg Mountains, strong winds carried them everywhere, and Equus was not spared the consequences.  All eleven of us, all 25 horses, all five dogs and almost all of the larger wildlife species, survived without injury.  The managers' house and the tented camp and lodge were saved with minor damage, but the entire reserve was burned to the ground, including our own personal dream home.   

In the subsequent days, truckloads of hay and lucerne were shipped in to feed the horses, reconstruction of the paper and computer records of Equus began, property clean-up got underway.  We made a home for ourselves at the tented camp while water and electricity problems were sorted out.  Guests who had booked for the subsequent months were contacted and arrangements were made for them at other horse safaris.   

During the previous year, we had been talking about changes that we might make to reduce the work load of the business.  We had even thought about closing altogether, wrestling with the concept and consequences, putting off the decision on a year by year basis.  Equus demanded too-long work days, too much hosting and allowed for very little private life.  The attention to detail necessary to keep up the high standards was wearying.  Though the rewards were enormous, the physical and management work was endless. 

Not long after the fire closed Equus temporarily, we decided to carry on offering experienced riders exceptional riding on well-schooled horses in this stunning mountain and valley setting, but to no longer provide catered accommodation for guests.  All the while, we re-visited virtually every issue we had been discussing in the previous several months.  We concluded that yes, the fire made our decision easier and more immediate, but it was essentially the same decision we had already come to – it was just a matter of timing.  And so we permanently closed Equus as a full-service, catered accommodation destination.   

We built a new home, converted the tents to private guest rooms, downsized in countless ways, and slowed to a manageable and livable level.  I guided riders for morning rides and guests were booked into several nearby lodges.  Equus allowed me to fulfill many passions – love of horses, love of the African bush and running a successful business.  We continue to live on this very same Equus Reserve, with several horses, our dogs and an active, but quieter life – attentive to the wildlife, the birds, the flora, and the natural rhythm of the seasons.   

Wendy Adams and John Miller