Africa has horse-riding safaris for a surprisingly wide range of riders. You can spend a couple of hours riding gently among plains game in South Africa, or disappear for a week or more into the Okavango Delta, Namib Desert or Mara wilderness.
We are independent Safari Specialists so we have no interest in selling you one particular type of horseback riding experience. The important thing is choosing the right safari for your riding ability, fitness and travelling companions.
For beginners, families and mixed-ability groups, we generally recommend starting with a flexible lodge-based riding safari, particularly in South Africa. Confident, riding-fit equestrians can consider longer mobile safaris in Botswana, Namibia, Kenya and Tanzania.
And if one of you rides like they were born in the saddle while the other regards horses with some suspicion? That is perfectly workable too. The safari itinerary simply needs to be designed accordingly.
What makes a horse-riding safari different?
There is a moment on a horse-riding safari than tends to reset your idea of what a safari can be.
The engine is gone; the bush seems suddenly louder, and you share the bush with the wildlife around you on equal terms. Instead of looking out at the landscape from a vehicle, you are moving quietly through it on horseback. Wildlife also react differently to horses. Plains game, in particular, may be more relaxed around them than vehicles, making encounters feel remarkably intimate.
A horse-riding safari can take several forms. Some are lodge-based, with rides out each day before returning to a comfortable room, good dinner and hot shower. Others are proper riding expeditions, riding from point-to-point with nights spent in simple mobile camps.
The best combine three things: good horses, excellent wildlife guiding and a wonderful landscape to ride through. But horse safaris are emphatically not one-size-fits-all. Sometimes there are a few key differences between the riding safari you think you want, and one that’s best for you or possible.
This blog is the Cedarberg Africa take on the best horse-riding safaris, our favourite regions for horse-riding and the safari operators we choose to guide our clients! We focus on three regions: South Africa, Southern Africa and East Africa.
Caveat: This article focuses on horse-riding in a game reserve. There are plenty of places where you can enjoy some horse-riding during your holiday. But that’s too broad a scope.
Do you need to be an experienced rider for a horse-riding safari?
Rider Ability MATTERS way more than you think!
You don’t always have to be an experienced ride. But rider ability matters considerably more here when choosing most other safari activities.
Many of Africa’s classic wildlife riding safaris are designed for confident intermediate or advanced riders who are comfortable riding in open country, sometimes for several hours and sometimes at considerable speed.
There are, however, very good options for novices and/or less confident riders, particularly at lodge-based properties where rides can be adjusted to suit your ability.
The important thing is to be completely honest about your riding experience.
A good operator carefully matches horse, rider, route and pace. But they can only do this if they have all of the information. Saying that you rode quite a lot as a teenager when the teenager in question disappeared several decades ago is not especially helpful.
Though there are definitely some options for those less sure of their skills and need a slower pace! Remember to be honest about your riding level. The best operators match horses, routes and pacing carefully, and can only do this if they have all of the information. Plus you will be expected to demonstrate your riding ability at the start of the safari and so there is no point in being economical with the truth.
(For example, a proper multi-day horse-riding safari will not let you even participate – for safety reasons – if they don’t think you are up to it.)
