Horse Riding Working Holiday at African Dream

Each day is different at a South African stable yard! This a sample
of what your day might be like:

• Wake up in your bush camp and grab a quick breakfast before walking to the stables
• Once arrived at the stables, Shannon will brief the volunteers on the day’s activities: horses that need working and jobs that need doing – each day is different.
• Help with grooming and taking horses out to paddocks.
• Help tack up any horses needed for lessons or trails. And assist visitors with mounting and getting settled on their horses.
• Depending on the day, your morning riding may vary from joining as back-up on a trail ride, having a jumping or flatwork lesson with Traci, schooling a horse yourself or joining a trail with some of your fellow volunteers.
• After your ride you may need to help with some yard work like cleaning tack or water troughs ,or help fill hay nets
• Soon enough it’ll be lunchtime at the club house.
• After lunch you may have another ride (weather dependent) before helping to bring the horses back in from the paddocks and settling them for the evening.
• Enjoy some downtime a the African Dream House before an evening game drive where you could be lucky enough spot any of the antelope, elephant, leopard, lion, rhino or hyena that roam the reserve.
• After the game drive , grab a well-deserved shower before heading to the kitchen where you will have access to the well-stocked pantry to conjure up your dinner which you can enjoy with your new friends under the beautiful African stars.
• When you’re ready, curl into bed! Tomorrow will be another busy day at the stables.

A few skills volunteers will be exposed to are as follows:

• General Horsemanship
• Stable Management
• Basic Veterinary
• Basic horse anatomy
• Tack fitment and care
• Riding lessons including show jumping and dressage
• Trail riding among wildlife
• Dam swims
• Natural Horsemanship

You will be volunteering at a working South African stable yard, situated within a wildlife estate in the African bush. The yard offers riding lessons and livery to locals, and trail rides to tourists in the area. You will help Traci, Shannon and the permanent staff with the daily care of over 30 horses. Traci and Shannon are a brilliant mother-daughter team with a vast amount of equine knowledge which they love to share with their volunteers. You are guaranteed to learn plenty form this duo and their team. Activities may include feeding and grooming horses, helping with basic veterinary treatment where required, taking horses to and from paddocks, lunging, tacking up and helping trail riders onto their mounts. Every so often you may be cleaning tack and paddocks. Your visit may coincide with a show hosted on the property in which case you’ll help with the set-up but also have the opportunity to compete!

Riders of all levels are welcome to volunteer. Traci is a fantastic teacher and will be able to help hone your skills, at whatever level you are. You will have the opportunity to join flatwork and jumping lessons in the large, well equipped arenas on the property. You may join a guest trail ride as back up or go riding through the bush with a bunch of other volunteers, amongst zebra, giraffe, warthogs, kudu and a host of other wild animals (There are no predators, elephants or buffaloes in the reserve that you will ride in) Another highlight is taking the horses to a nearby dam for a cool off in the dam if there has been enough rain! We’re not sure whether horses or the riders enjoy the swim the most! It is so much fun.

The main objective is to create a love and an awareness of the environment, with conservation as the main drive. Volunteers have the optunrity to do:

• Game Drives in the Big 5 game reserve
• Night Drives to see nocturnal animals
• Guided Bush Walks
• Tracking
• Environmental Education
• Basic Reserve Maintenance

You will be staying in a wildlife estate just outside Kruger. You will have plenty of opportunities for game drives searching for exciting animals from your open game viewing vehicle. Your guide, Ryan, has a wealth of bush knowledge and will be able to teach you interesting facts about the ecology of the area. Elephants and lions are often spotted on game drives and this is always the highlight of the week!
While the wildlife estate that you’re staying in doesn’t have these bigger creatures, you’ll often find the kudu, zebra, and waterbuck around the property and even in the horse paddocks!

The stables are also actively involved in local outreach programs helping with community feeding schemes and animal protection.

Besides the day to day activities which make up the programme, you will be given enough free time to explore the many beautiful spots in the area, including the Blyde River Canyon (the largest green canyon in the world), the world famous Kruger National Park, God’s Window in Graskop and many more. Other excursions include hiking along courses of waterfalls and visiting one of the many animal rehabilitation centres in the area.