Endurance Horse South Africa

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 is the master trainer and with the help of assistants the young horses are trained 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. It is years since we last used a metal shoe. We don't even find hoof boots necessary anymore, though we would use them if we needed them. We condition every horse to cope barefoot. Currently we are using the Kikkuli Method of conditioning our youngsters for barefoot endurance riding. The horses we breed and raise 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, was the first endurance horse in Africa to complete a 100 miler completely barefoot!

A horse that we bred and raised became the first horse to complete Fauresmith 201 km, the premier ride in South Africa, completely barefoot! That is 125 miles over 3 days at speed. Goshawk has been sold now, so Perseverance Jedi is our current most advanced endurance horse. He won a fast 80 km endurance ride in September 2009 in 3 hours 32 minutes. He won the Best Condition award over all categories. Only two weeks later he completed a rocky 100 miler at the Schanskraal CEI*** 160km where he finished in fifth place in 12 hours 15 minutes. Jedi's best time over 120km is 6 hours 19 minutes. Perseverance Mauser is a very promising youngster who has finished his second 120 km in 6 hours 52. Check out the barefoot endurance page for photos of our horses' hooves after all those miles.

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.

A new crop of Perseverance horses is emerging onto the local endurance circuit. They are putting on miles and miles of barefoot conditioning at home and learning the ropes in local novice rides. One by one they are completing their novice rides and starting on their long and promising careers.