horse riding blog Archives - Horse Riding Holidays and Safaris

Inspiration

I whole heartedly believe in this quote. Travelling is the university of life.

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’twas a bush christmas

It’s easy to shut your eyes to the drought that is happening seven hours west of our hinterland home. Buster’s family hail from a rural region in outback Queensland near the one-pub town of Nindigully. Their family property skirts ‘the gully’ as its known to locals and the Moonie River fringes the 10, 000 acre […]

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inspiration

“A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence.” Pam Brown This photo was taken by my lovely husband in a remote part of Mongolia.

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polo at puddle duck farm

With the start of May just around the corner the 2013 polo season is set to start and I must admit I’m getting quite excited at the thought of pelting up and down the polo field on my mares. Its going to be a interesting balancing act this year with Miss Finn in the picture. […]

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for the love of alpargatas – the BEST riding and travelling shoes

Don’t be disheartened if you can’t pronounce this peculiar Spanish word – al-par-gatas – all you need to know is they are THE best travelling and riding shoes you’ll need for your next riding safari or  holiday. Alpargatas are a jute-soled canvas footwear favored by Argentine’s for their comfort, durability and low cost, pretty much […]

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happy shiny people – the Maasai

A lovely client of mine recently shared a moving and powerful video of a young Maasai lady by the name of Kakenya Ntaiya. Kakenya with dogged determination well beyond her teenage years had a dream of becoming a teacher. Persistent as she was to the buck the trend of becoming a child bride, she cleverly […]

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Apple Isle

This time next week, I’ll be in a complete spin packing for our mini-break to the Apple Isle, (for my foreign friends, I mean – Tasmania). I’ve never visited our southern state and I simply can’t wait to explore a new part of our sunburnt country. Steven, Miss Finn and I are heading south to […]

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horse riding holiday bahia beach brazil

Backward Glance: Trancoso, Brazil

In these bleak winter months where night overshadows day and the rain seems endless I find myself daydreaming of tobasco-hot beach rides. Memories of lazy seaside canters where the salt water licks your skin,  after a day’s ride quenching your thirst with a crushingly sweet cider and sultry summer evenings where the  sea breeze tickles […]

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The healing power of horses

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There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” Winston Churchill Last year I visited my local RDA (Riding Develops Abilities) on the Sunshine Coast. I was fortunate to spend a couple of hours photographing the morning lessons and get a brief glimpse into how the […]

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Estancia Ride in Torres del Paine, Chile - Globetrotting horse riding holidays

Horse People: Chile’s Baqueano

The man’s face is worn and tanned like a well-loved leather boot. He sits deep in his rustic sheepskin saddle, his feet pushed out to the sides, his stirrups positioned near his heels. Spare spurs attached to the saddle chink in rhythm with the clip of his horse’s shoes on the rocks. A rawhide lasso […]

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sheldrick wildlife trust orphan elephants project

globetrotting with a conscience

Each year with my Globetrotting  clients in tow we make our annual pilgrimage to Kenya for the Maasai Mara guided ride. Before we embark on our riding adventure through the pancake-flat plains of the Maasai Mara, we spend a day playing tourists exploring the dusty streets of Nairobi. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust situated in the […]

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wild horses of the world

A friend recently told me about an amazing mobile art project titled ‘Wild Horses of Sable Island‘. She was fortunate to see the exhibition in the flesh which she described as breath-taking. Even through a blinking computer screen the black and white, emotive images of these powerful and resourceful equines and the touching video spoke […]

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horse art

I wanted to share with you a very clever artist that lives out ‘whoop whoop’ in rural Queensland who paints the most beautiful, child-like, candid, colourful and whimsical paintings of horses. Laura Crane has a natural ability with the brush, the use of colour and an affinity with horses. These three elements have gone into […]

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getting under the skin

Naadam Festival – Mongolia The girl’s cheeks are flushed beetroot red, her half moon eyes bright with anticipation as her wiry bay pony jigs around in a circle. Shadows of her horse’s ribs are visible beneath the make-shift saddle, a stirrup-less foam pad that is secured by a rawhide girth strap. The number nine is […]

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woman from snowy river

We’ve been living without television for over three years now, however occasionally on rainy, wind-swept nights we tune into our favourite programs online. Last night I was brought to tears and left in absolute awe with the account of Leigh Woodgate’s life journey produced by Australian Story via ABC iview (watch it here). Without giving […]

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driza-bone – the duck’s nuts

Last time we were on safari in Kenya’s heart land, the Maasai Mara, we got our fair share of unseasonal rain and afternoon storms. Personally I love the excitement of a brewing storm on horseback, when your horse prances underneath you, the wind whips and lashes at your face and the thunder bangs overhead – […]

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for the love of hats

I’m a lover, collector, wearer and admirer of hats. As a resident of our sun-burnt country it would be foolish not to don a hat when outside and with a fetish for all things with a brim my collection spans from many years. My husband and I have a wall in our house dedicated to […]

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globetrotting with a conscience

Mobile Menders This article appeared in salt magazine, a Sunshine Coast lifestyle publication.  words & photos kate johns The screaming child clings protectively to his mother’s back, wrapped in a dirty patterned shuka. The child’s hair is dreaded together with ochre-coloured mud. He wears no clothes except for a red beaded necklace below his belly button […]

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Man from Snowy River horse riding holiday

Riding alongside Banjo

Can you imagine a time where mates were called Clancy and Banjo? The rivers shimmered with gold, and whiskey and tobacco were traded from bullock carts on the river flats;  your life’s possessions consisted of a mountain pony equipped with saddle, bridle, oilskin, stock whip and swag. Work was chasing cattle up rocky-edged mountain spurs […]

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Boo to jodhpurs, hip hip hooray for bombachas - Globetrotting horse riding holidays

Boo to Jodhpurs, Hip Hip Hooray for Bombachas!

Ever since I was a little girl being ferried into the Dalby Pony Club while listening to Macca on a Sunday morning on the radio I’ve had an awkward relationship with jodhpurs. Let me explain: I wasn’t a beanstalk of a child like the ‘My Little Pony’, horse loving posse of friends that I had. […]

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