Romantic Horse Trails - be a knight in shining armour! Our Romantic Horse Trails are very popular as an ideal and unique way to propose to your special one. Let us arrange special touches or surprise stop overs to make your day truly memorable! Here are a few images from some of our special request Horse Trails. Asking "Will you?" is a very special day and important that all the little details are covered to celebrate this special event.
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The owners of White Bridge Farm Accommodation joined us recently on one of our Magical Moonlight rides - this is what they had to say. (original posted on Facebook)
UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCES FOR VISITORS TO ENJOY: Last night we were yet again privileged to enjoy a spectacular moonlight ride with Jo and John Lister from Horse About. It was a perfect evening and since we were all reasonably experienced riders on this occasion, we went for a beautiful canter through the vineyards until we reached the foot of the mountain. Here we took the forest path and slowed our pace to a stead walk in single file as it was by now pretty dark. We entered the thicket and could no longer see anything as the darkness surrounded us. This was a real lesson in trust between man and horse. Suddenly the moon crested and all the leaves on the surrounding trees turned a shimmering silver. We lost the moon again as we moved closer to the mountain and it appeared again as we moved the other way. In this way we experienced the "moon rising" about 5 times during this magical experience with the night jar calling in the back ground. When we finally broke through and exited the forest on the far side, the moon was by now fully up and we headed through a paddock of cattle. We continued in moonlight on another bush path taking us past a tree which has signs of having frequently been visited by a leopard. This I have witnessed on a previous ride in the daylight. We finally arrived at a wonderful new gathering place under some large trees where John and Jo have created wonderful log tables and chairs and a tethering pole for the horses. It was the first time that this site had been used by guests. We felt very privileged when we dismounted here to enjoy some wine and snacks as we looked over the valley below and, listening to the silence and toasting our good fortune with gratitude. Thank you Jo and John for sharing. This wonderful experience, along with sun set rides, family morning rides, proposal or romantic rides etc. can be enjoyed by anyone visiting this valley and we are very grateful that the Listers have this wonderful activity to offer our guests. How could a girl not say YES... Special rides are just.. well special to arrange and be a part of - the excitement, planning, secrets are all simply contagious! Mails and phone calls fly back and forth while plans are plotted, locations are chosen, sparkly bottles are put on ice… and of course all has to appear normal “back at the ranch” when the couple arrive, for “just another adventure”… With great relief the weather forecast changed from gloom to sunshine, friends were coerced as helpers to set up ice buckets and guard them from potentially thirsty baboons.. Anyone who has read my previous post on proposals will know that Donki also has to be supervised! Andre planned this special event in fine detail and managed to keep it all a secret too, including getting his future father-in-laws permission prior to the day! Despite being a little apprehensive about the horse riding thing, and a close encounter of the reptilian kind, Almari did fabulously and all nerves were banished by the surprise of Sparkling Krone on ice in the middle of the forest. How could she not say YES !! Thank you Almari and Andre for sharing this wonderful day with us! The Horse About Team wishes you much happiness in your future life together and we look forward to seeing you back again soon!
And a big thank you to Sally for being caretaker of bubbles, secret photographer and horse helper in the forest! ![]() Parents often ask "What age do you take children on your trails" and it is such a difficult question as it depends entirely on the child. We have taken many 4 year olds out on the trail - they usually have no problem managing the 1,5 hour trail and we have had 8 year old refuse to go anywhere near the horses. So it depends alot on each individual, if they are confident and comfortable around animals, they will generally be absolutely fine on an outride. This darling little girl, Angelique, is our youngest rider to date though - 2 years and 2 months. We had agreed on a quiet meander through the forest thinking that a short ride would be enough, but there was no turning back and she rode the whole way, forest trail and all! Well done Angelique - we look forward to seeing you back soon! ![]() Special requests are well... Special!!. Be it for a birthday celebration or any special event.. so it was with much excitement that we received a recent request to arrange a "romantic ride ending somewhere I can propose to my girlfriend". And what more romantic than a horseback ride at full moon ending at a table set for two on the dam wall? Having had some unexpected and unusual cloudy weather a few nights before full moon, we were all relieved when the day turned out to be a beautiful summers day. Our guests arrived just after sunset and headed out for a breathtaking ride through the darkening forest up to the top of the farm with the rays of the moon just starting to light the valley below. I was anxiously waiting with the table, picnic and MCC on ice watching the rays get ever brighter as the rugged tops of the Witzenberg mountains silhouette got ever brighter.. after all we needed them to be seated, alone at the table when the moon rose! Setting up the table and lighting candles on the dam wall raised the curiosity of the horses grazing nearby and they all wandered over to see what this late night fuss was all about.. finding no carrots available they went back to the serious task of mowing grass! Hard to imagine anything more peaceful than sitting on the along the waters edge with a herd of horses grazing peacefully under the light of the moon oh and of course accompanied by the song of frogs! John's timing was perfect and we had the very nervous man and love of his life seated (alone) with MCC in hand before the moon crested over the mountains. And she said YES!! :-) So next time you are thinking of a special event or unique way to propose, contact us and let us arrange a very special outing! |
John & Jo
We are the owners of horseAbout Trails & Adventures in the Western Cape. “We left the premises with heart full of joy, love for these amazing horses and admiration for the lifestyle of John and his family.” Categories
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