There are more riding holidays in South Africa than anywhere else in Africa and the country has such diversity of scenery that there is a huge choice of different types of riding holiday. It’s not just choice; the quality of South African Riding holidays and horseback safaris, in terms of horses, guides and accommodation can match those anywhere in the world. However, so many lodges have jumped on the riding holiday bandwagon in the last few years that inevitably there are some places that are not so good. This means it’s essential to get independent advice before booking your South Africa riding holiday.

In and around the main game areas such as the Kruger, there are horseback safaris on forward going well schooled horses where you stay in beautiful lodges. The Wait A Little horseback safaris which explore the Karongwe and Makalali Reserves are operated by Philip and Gerti Kusseler and they have an excellent reputation.

Around Cape Town there are rides through the winelands and along the sandy beaches of the Western Cape. Travelling east there are some wonderful polo centres along the Garden Route. As you continue east to the Eastern Cape there are coastal trail rides in magnificent and seldom visited areas of the country. Going further along the coast, past Durban there is the fabulous St Lucia UNESCO world heritage reserve which can be explored on horseback.

In the northern province of Limpopo there is probably the most successful riding holiday operation in the whole of Africa at Triple B Ranch in the Waterberg. Triple B Ranch is home to both Horizon Horseback Adventures and Ant’s Lodges. Ant’s has two lodges, the original Ant’s Nest and the more recent Ant’s Hill with a third lodge due to be completed in 2010. All the Ant’s Lodges offer superb horse safaris through their own reserves with guided bush walks and game drives for non-riders. While the accommodation at Horizon is not quite up to the level of Ant’s Lodges, they provide a really diverse riding holiday including cattle work, instruction and polo-crosse as well as game viewing from horseback.

Horizon also run a great combination ride in conjunction with Limpopo Valley Horse Safaris just across the border in Botswana. By riding in these two areas it’s possible to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo) from horseback.