Endurance Horses South Africa.
Good endurance horses are our business.
We breed endurance horses at our Perseverance Arabian & Endurance Horse Stud in South Africa. We raise the foals in a natural herd environment so they can grow up strong and ready for the physical challenges of endurance riding. They learn how to move over rough and rocky terrain without hurting themselves and how to keep an eye open for holes and gullies. They just pop over them without breaking stride. Bob trains most of the young horses himself, using natural horsemanship principles, because we like our horses to be spirited, but they must also be obedient... especially when they are very fit! We condition our endurance horses gradually building them up over a number of years using the tough natural terrain to develop their athletic ability. This ensures a stronger, healthier horse that is more resistant to performance injuries. Once they have been tempered over the years they can stand a heavy training regime. This allows them to ultimately reach higher levels of performance.
Riding our horses barefoot, in training and even on endurance rides, is yet another way we try to keep things natural. We have found we no longer need metal horseshoes. When necessary we will use hoof boots,Easyboot Bares or Epics, but we condition every horse to cope barefoot. The horses we have raised do not need shoes even though we have some of the hardest trails in the world. We are pioneers in barefoot endurance in South Africa. Our horse, Emmie, is the first endurance horse in Africa to complete a 100 miler completely barefoot!
Perseverance horses last longer because of their healthy lifestyles from birth. Together with the good endurance performance bloodlines the stud specializes in, their natural strength produces world class performance. A top ten place in the World Endurance championships in 2008 proves this. See the page on International Results for more details.
Riding endurance rides on horses we have bred and trained is a lot of fun. You can share that pleasure with us. We have endurance horses for sale. We also lease out horses to overseas riders wanting to experience the South African endurance scene. Or you can join us at home for trail rides or a working riding holiday. Eco volunteers are welcome. Learn directly from a master as you spend days watching and working alongside Bob. In the arid Karoo of the Eastern Cape we have an abundance of natural wealth and spectacular scenery. Our home town of Graaff-Reinet is a historic frontier town. You would enjoy a visit to our part of the world.
Horses have been sold and a new crop of Perseverance horses is training. They are putting on miles and miles of barefoot conditioning at home and learning the ropes in local novice rides. There are another two starting their endurance careers in Gauteng (Johannesburg area) to show our remarkable horses to a wider range of people. |