Whether working with gauchos in Argentina, cowboys in America or stockmen in Australia, there’s something about working cattle from the back of a well-trained horse that truly feeds the soul. And getting a taste of life on a working cattle farm is at the top of many globetrotters’ bucket lists! So to help you find […]

A Chilean huaso is ‘an excellent horseman with gentlemanly ways who identifies with the hacienda’ (‘hacienda’ is a South American term for a large estate – think an estancia, but bigger). Have you heard of gauchos? Huasos are the Chilean equivalent. Until the 20th century, huasos were far from gentlemen. They started off as bandits […]

The Guinness World Record for the highest jump by a horse was set by Captain Alberto Larraguibel and ‘Huaso’ in Chile, 1949. The pair jumped 2.47 metres! Formerly named Faithful, Huaso was born in Chile in 1933. After a failed racing career, a near-fatal injury crushing his new owner’s dressage aspirations and an unpromising start […]

Breed name: Chilean Horse, or Chilean Corralero. Country of origin: Chile Breed origin: The Chilean Horse is the oldest South American horse breed and the oldest registered stock horse in the Western Hemisphere. It descends from the horses who travelled with the Spanish conquistadors from Peru to Chile in the 16th century. Many who set […]

A ship the size of the Titanic needed some serious stopping gear! The anchor commissioned for the vessel weighed a whopping 16 tonnes, and was forged at Noah Hingley & Sons ironworks in Netherton, in England’s Midlands. In order to get the anchor to the Titanic, it needed to be transported from the Netherton ironworks […]

Jeans make great travel companions, even better if they’ll hold up to a day of horse riding and still look good enough to wear out to dinner or sightseeing! The trick to horseback holidays is to make our luggage work hard for us, and when there’s riding gear taking up precious space and weight, we […]

Name of breed: Hucul Pony, or Carpathian Pony. Country of origin: The Carpathian Mountains. In modern times, the area where they originated lies within Ukraine, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. Breed origin: The Hucul pony is a very old breed, believed to have been developed in the 13th century by crossing the now-extinct wild Tarpan horse […]

Long-haired horses have been revered throughout history. The first famous long-haired horse was a Percheron called Prince Imperial. First owned by Napoleon’s nephew, Emperor Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte III, Prince Imperial was bought by Jacob Howser, who took him to the USA to improve local bloodlines. Credited with having the longest forelock and mane in […]

The Kaimanawa Horse Muster is a biennial muster that takes place in the Kaimanawa Ranges on New Zealand’s North Island. The purpose of the muster is to maintain a population of around 300 wild Kaimanawa horses, which are not native to the Ranges but are allowed to remain because of their cultural significance. Kaimanawa horses […]

Name of breed: French Trotter (French: Trotteur français). Country of origin: France. Breed origin: The French Trotter was developed in Normandy, a northwestern region of France, in the 1800s as trotting races increased in popularity. Breeders crossed Norman stock with Thoroughbred, American Standardbred, Norfolk Roadster, Hackney and hunter-type bloodlines to create a horse with incredible […]

Copenhagen was a chestnut stallion of Arabian and Thoroughbred breeding who saw the Duke of Wellington emerge unscathed and victorious at Waterloo. But that’s not all there is to his story. Copenhagen’s dam, Lady Catherine, was the war horse of a brigade commander at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1807. Unbeknownst to her rider, she […]

Nothing speaks of Aussie bush heritage more than Banjo Patterson’s famous poem, ‘The Man From Snowy River’. Musicians have sung it, there’s been a movie made about it, and the town of Corryong, at the base of the Australian Alps, has created an entire festival around it. The sleepy little alpine hamlet swells in April […]

Horse Breed: Don Name of breed: Don (Russian: Donskaya) Country of origin: Russia Breed origin: The first recorded mention of this breed dates from the 16th century, when it was bred by the Cossack tribes near the Don and Volga rivers by crossing the semi-wild horses of the Russian steppe with Arabian, Turkmenian (today’s Akhal-Teke) […]

Zoë Vorenas is a para equestrian dressage rider who is part of the Victorian State Squad and the National High Performance Squad. A horse girl since she was first put on a Shetland at age 3, Zoë tried many different disciplines before falling in love with dressage. In 2014, during her final year of school, […]

Name of breed: Coffin Bay Pony Country of origin: Coffin Bay, Australia. Breed origin: The Coffin Bay Pony’s story begins in 1839, when Captain Hawson transported around 60 Timor Ponies from Sumatra to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. He intended to use the ponies for breeding, and in 1847 all of the ponies were […]

Anna King, globetrotter and medical professional, has kindly written an in-depth guide to staying healthy and identifying and treating illnesses and injuries while travelling. She’s covered common complaints and their treatments, first aid, coping with long-distance flights, and a whole lot of handy tips. Keep this info on-hand for your horse riding holiday! (Make sure […]

Seasoned globetrotter and medical professional Anna King has very generously given us the ultimate guide to staying healthy on your horse riding holiday. In this article, we’re going to cover everything you need to know about preparing for your travels, from vaccinations to first aid kits. (Make sure you also check our article with our […]

Alycia Burton is a 29-year-old New Zealander who rose to fame almost by accident when videos of her free jumping – jumping bareback and/or without a bridle – went viral. Together with her beautiful gelding, Gold Rush, she now runs Free Riding New Zealand, giving demonstrations and lessons at home and abroad to help people […]

Few horses can claim to have had more effect on the modern Thoroughbred than the Godolphin Arabian. Now the subject of poems, novels and paintings, this stallion had a pretty rough start. From what history can tell us, it seems he was a small, golden-bay Arabian horse born on the Barbary Coast of northern Africa […]

Breed name: Manipuri Pony, or Manipur Country of origin: India Breed origin: The Manipuri Pony is an ancient breed indigenous to India. Its origins are disputed, with some saying it descended from Mongolian horses crossed with Arabians and ponies, and others saying it was developed from the Tibetan pony. What is undeniable is the breed’s […]

Hey Globetrotters, You may remember our post back in March where we introduced Clemmie Wotherspoon, an extraordinary rider traversing the 5,330km Bicentennial National Trail with three brumbies. Clemmie’s main goal is to increase awareness of the healing power of animal-human connections and equine therapy, especially Riding for the Disabled. Three months in, it’s time for […]