Riding ability required
You must be able to ride well. This isn’t a place to learn to ride, or to come if you feel at all nervous on a horse. This means the ability to ‘post to the trot’ for stretches of ten minutes at one time, to be comfortable at all paces, and to be able to gallop out of trouble. It is a great advantage if you are fit and a proficient rider.

The horses
OHS advises that they use Pure Arab, Anglo Arab, American saddle bred, part- and full-thoroughbred, Kalahari and Kalahari cross horses. All are between 14 and 17 hands high, well schooled, responsive and have fairly even temperaments.

Weight limits
The maximum weight for any rider is 95kg (15 stones or 210lbs), and they even insist that potential riders may be required to step on a pair of scales! That said, for heavier riders there is an alternative programme of shorter rides, game drives and walks that is possible, but this must be discussed with them when you arrange your trip.

Tack and clothes
The tack used is English style, and each saddle has a seat-saver for comfort. Australian Wintec and an assortment of leather saddles are used, including Barnsby and Kieffer. The tack is generally of a high quality and kept in good condition. Only a limited assortment of half chaps and riding gloves are kept in the camp for guests’ use.
OHS produces specific ‘clothes lists’ for their trips, but they can do laundry in their camp. Like all operations, the air transfers dictate that you stick to a strict weight limit (excess can be left in Maun). Note that proper riding clothes, and clothes of bush colours, are important here.

Information about you
To book on to one of their trips, OHS will ask you for you age, weight, height, and riding experience – as well as the more usual questions of your preference in drinks and any specialised diet that you require, or allergy that you have. They’ll also require you to fill out an indemnity form in camp before beginning your trip – a practice which is becoming increasingly common in camps throughout southern Africa.
Having established that you can cope with the rigours of a riding safari here, you have a choice between a five-day and a ten-day safari, and these are normally scheduled in advance on set dates throughout the year. This does lack flexibility, but it means you are with a group of people and get to know each other, and as a group you can cover the ground.
On all trips there’s a demonstration and talk at the beginning of the safari on how to handle big game situations, as well as a familiarisation session with the tack. After that, expect to spend between about four and six hours in the saddle each day, broken by refreshment stops. Typically this means that you’ll have some picnic breakfasts and lunches, and also ten-minute walks every couple of hours spent in the saddle. (This acts to rest the rider by giving him/her the chance to use different muscles, and it also helps to relieve the horse from the constant pressure of a rider’s weight).
Although the focus here is firmly on horse riding, alternative activities are often possible during afternoons which are not ‘day rides’. These can include game drives, bird-watching walks, mokoro rides and night drives.
Riding in big game country can be difficult, especially when a horse looks very much like an antelope to a hungry lion. Thus safety is a big issue; it’s at the root of why this isn’t a place for inexperienced riders. An extremely experienced guide, usually P J or Barney, accompanies every ride, and they do carry a 375 rifle in case of emergency.
These riding itineraries take a maximum of eight riders at once (again, for safety reasons). They will accept children to visit, though these must be strong, competent riders (a pony club test pass is insisted upon) and the cost for a child is the same as an adult.