Unwanted, abused & injured horses

At Mkulu Kei our horses run in huge camps in family units, the herd raises them as they would in the wild. They are loved, protected, de-wormed and treated for any illness or injury. Every horse at Mkulu Kei Horse Trails and Riding Holidays in South Africa is part of a family business. We know each horses personally, their name, age, brothers, sisters, mom and dad. In fact we witnessed the birth of more than half, the others within hours we had introduced ourselves as part of the herd. We know if they are sick or just in a good or bad mood. Our horses live very privileged lives, are relaxed, happy and natural horses. There are others we have homed, ether rescued or taken in.

Abuse both physical and mental, whether from neglect, ignorance or cruelty affect the horses for years and we believe it is our duty to educate the public on the horse’s physical and mental well being.

A horse is an emotional animal and learns from every experience - good and bad. As an equines memory is equal to an elephant it is important that each experience is a good one.

At Mkulu Kei Horse Trails & Riding Holidays when clients come to ride we don't just take their money and go for a ride. We teach the public about Equus, how horses communicate and how you too can communicate with a horse and the basics of riding. If members of the public are introduced and get a chance to bond with their mount, they get a chance to see the horse as more than just an animal.

By having the opportunity to learn about equines and their behaviour, the public can have a better understanding of equines and can learn to communicate and talk to a horse. They can start to learn "horsemanship skills". Our hope is that less horses will be abused.

Looking at life from the horse's point of view' is the key to understanding and successful communication, the start of a good relationship with any equine.

We at Mkulu Kei Horse Trails believe it is our duty and responsibility to home and rehabilitate unwanted, neglected and or abused horses and give them a better second chance. A percentage of our revenue is used for this purpose, donations are greatly appreciated and in season my daughters Daniela and Luisa give lead rein rides to small children on the beach. A %age of this revenue is used to take in abused and unwanted horses.

We don’t generally go looking for an abused horse but the horses find us. It could be a phone call from someone, people we meet on our travels or during a trail in the Transkei. This way we can offer a permanent home to the horses we have rescued and worked with, some go on to be valuable trail horses while the mares join our breeding program.

Working riding volunteers on your gap equestrian holiday without your assistance and daily rate we could not take in unwanted and abused horses. Rehabilitating horses can take months or even years of intense retraining. Emotional scars require the most effort and time.

Without the paying riding gap year volunteers and students we could not be in the position to take in unwanted, abused and injured horses. This is time-consuming work and we just would not have the hours in a day. Take a break from your studies / career at Mkulu Kei without your extra pair of hands we would not have successfully rehabilitated so many abused and neglected horses. It takes time to get the horses trust and work through issues and they require constant reassuring handling. Learn our horsemanship skills an become a more successful rider.

During your working/gap holiday use your knowledge and gain experience with sick or injured horses, work with abused and rescued equines. This is a hands on equine experience; no hours of cleaning tack and mucking out stables; get straight to the fun part of working with horses. We can proudly say we have not failed a horse yet it took more than 6 years before Valentino would allow a woman to touch him and 8 years before we could ride Benjamin.

While some horses have gone on to be very popular working horses like Holly, Flicka, Gwenevier, Tenacity and Gunstone, others still have minor issues, which we are working through.

See You in the saddle soon!

Donations Are Greatly Appreciated !

In the school holidays we give lead rein rides to small children on the beach, the revenue is used to take in abused and unwanted horses. Pony rides is hard work walking through the beach sand but very rewarding to see the little faces as the children experience sitting on a horse. While some kids are nervous, others chat away making this task a very rewarding exercise and many of these little clients go on to join us on the out rides. Any student who has had the privilege of doing pony rides gets mobbed at the hotel by all the children who know your name and ask about the horse they rode.

Rehabilitated Horses

Unwanted/Abused Horses Some horses arrive requiring medical treatment although this is costly initially and may take time to heal, it is the emotional scars that require the most effort, and it may take years before they become productive team members of Mkulu Kei's working team.

Benjamin Bunny

Benjamin Bunny a Welsh cob, breed and raised in a perfect environment, a happy horse, a going child’s show pony. He was lent by the breeder and owner to another riding establishment in another town, someone we both knew of. After being used in her riding school for lessons for over a year, the owner was called to come fetch the dangerous horse. Benjamin was bucking, but not little bucks, a frenzy of bronco bucks. When the owner went to collect him he was thin and had two huge saddle sores; the people who loaned him said that he had got the sores out in the field! The owner tried to gain his trust but did not have the time or infrastructure to work with him. He came to us. With intensive work on the ground we thought we were winning, but it took one incident and we were back to square one. It has taken us 8 years of working with Benjamin trying to earn his trust yet he still rolls his eyes in fear at a stranger and can only be mounted from the off side. On a ride he moves away from people on the ground, having an exceptionally large personal space and you can still feel the uncertainty through the saddle if he is approached. Benjamin will never be ridden by the public, he is only ridden by our guides. He could be unpredictable and anything can cause a flashback. Bennie as he is affectionately called will remain under our watchful eye and have a home for the rest of his life. A much loved horse by those who have experienced his ride. It boils my blood every time I think about the so called expert/qualified???? Instructor who caused the problems.   Captain Captain was attacked by a stallion as a foal, smashing his face and damaging his leg. As a result he is crooked and was unwanted. A neighbour found Captain in bad condition, thin and full of ticks. They feed and treated him but they could not keep him. Captain had another unfortunate experience; he rolled on a Puff Adder, a widely distributed venomous snake. and was bitten causing a recurring abscess on the site. Captain was a very valuable working horse and as he got older we gave him the lighter clients. Captain was a popular lead rein with the little people, especially the boys he thrived on the attention he received. Captain has gone on to semi retirement, his best friend Blaze has retired and it would be cruel to separate the two and as Captain struggles in the dry months to keep condition it is kinder to retire him too. His jaw and teeth do not meet correctly and as a result it is harder to keep him in condition as he has got older. Captain has a home with us for the rest of his life. Cinnamon Cinnamon, an insipid, sickly filly. Given to us at 6 months, who we nicknamed "Sheep". My understanding is she lost her mother a few weeks after birth and was bullied by the whole herd. Her previous owners thought she was a colt and named her Brutus, a name that could not be further from her personality. A gentle mare who always approaches you in the field, a mare we need to back although she is not ever going to be a big horse she will make a sweet child's pony and ideal for the pony camp kids. Cinnamon has blossomed in to a beautiful confident mare and given us a stunning foal Spice. Cheyenne Cheyenne was involved in a horsebox accident as a 6 month foal. When she came to us she was petrified of everything. Now on the ground she is great, walks up to you in the field and she has given us two beautiful colts Maverick and Jack Sparrow. Cheyenne will probably never be backed, she cannot be confined. She rears up as soon as she feels restricted and has a panic attack. As she is happiest pregnant and throws lovely foals she can remain a brood mare. Flicka Flicka a mare that fell on hard times before we saved her and her foal at foot Tenacity, both covered in ticks and screwworm. Flicka had an open sore between her ears full of screwworms. She went on to be a very valuable trail horse, used in the school to teach riding and as a valuable brood mare. Other foals *Nsync, Black Velvet (Tinkerbelle), Atlanta and Maya a very pretty filly from Sprit. Flicka has since died of African horse sickness after giving us many years as both a working horse and brood mare. The cornerstone to Mkulu Kei. She is deeply missed. Gunstone Gunstone was purchased from an abattoir in terrible condition. I am constantly grateful I saw the real horse, a trail horse in a million. Ridden by a wide range of clients, he adapts to their riding ability. Loved by so many riders and our highest revenue earner! The sweetest kindest horse to work with both under saddle and on the ground and a household name with many clients of all ages. Gunstone carried Carl a totally blind rider on a 5 day trail, through rivers, rocks into the sea and even raced. See Riding Client’s Comments Gwenevier Gwenevier was purchased at a dubious auction in horrific condition, thin and full of scars from some kind of accident. I was not sure I would get her home alive. She has proven to be an unsuspected success story. She has gone on to be a popular riding horse, she loves the longer trails but is happy in the arena too. A valuable broodmare and has given us three fillies, Cleopatra, Aphrodite and Lola. Holly Holly was also purchased at a dubious auction as a companion to another horse. Looking at her size I thought I would breed from her but unfortunately she cannot conceive. Holly has had extensive damage to her mouth prior to being in our care. I can only presume she was ridden with a piece of wire as a bit! Looking at her mouth I thought she would never be ridden, however she was my mount of choice despite her size. My soul mate and a hard horse to replace as a working partner, friend and companion. Holly has retired from work and will spend the rest of her life enjoying her freedom.  Holly has lost most of her teeth this season and the time has come to look at her best interest.   Queen We rescued Queen from the Transkei in poor condition, she had trust issues and was not the easiest to work with. She has obviously been hit in the face. However working with her regularly she warmed up to us and now checks you out and walks up to you. Queen is not a beginner’s horse and can take advantage and go faster if not checked. She was obviously ridden from walk to gallop and thinks that is what is expected. The beach can be interesting if you don’t take control immediately. However she is controllable for an experienced rider. A very competitive small but strong horse, a very forward moving mare with lots of energy, she wants to please. She is impossible to walk with on lead rein as she walks too fast. Queen has unfortunately been put down after eating a poisonous plant that affected her brain.   Tenacity Tenacity given her name for a reason, she was rescued after she fell into a flooding river just after birth and had to be revived. She was rescued again in terrible condition from uncaring owners six months later and had lost her ear, due to an infection and screwworm. She is a great ride but requires an experienced rider to keep her riding on as in the waves she gets vertigo. Once she has found her sea legs she is awesome and has stunning paces. Moving on long strides she floats, the nicest canter ever. Tenacity has given us a foal Tenacious Spirit with huge potential. Valentino Valentino came to us with women issues; still today he rolls his eyes at any female, he would just about tolerate me. We could not touch his head, putting on his bridle was a mission. It took Valentino three years to trust Don enough to put a bride on him, he would rear up the second you touched his head. It was obvious a woman, from the ground, had hit him and took 6 years not to react to a lady approaching him. Valentino is Don's private horse and only ridden by Don. Valentino adores Don, and completely trusts him. He is a stunning ride and is ridden without a bit. Valentino has moved to the beach stable. We wanted to put him into a pressure cooker situation and learn that not all females are aggressive. As we allocate horses for rides watch his reaction, he licks and mouths, he is asking you not to hurt him. With time he now trusts more people and allows a woman to touch him, it took 8 years!

We at Mkulu Kei Horse Trails, the two and the four legged would like to say a big Thank you to all our guests for donations towards rescuing and rehabilitating these horses.

Thank You Cheryl!

Horse riding safaris along the South African, Eastern Cape, Wild Coast. For your equine riding working vacation and African horse trekking adventure. Mkulu Kei Horse Trails.

Take a gap and study break between your studies or from the office and join us on your gap year riding adventure Mkulu Kei horse trails for your horse-riding working destination and make a difference in a horse’s life.

See You in the saddle soon!

Awesome hacking conditions, the best horse riding countryside.

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…and you will see rolling hills, rich Savannah grasslands and thick-forested valleys with multitudes of rivulets cascading down to rivers that eventually spill out onto quiet sandy beaches, fantastic high rise cliffs and spectacular rock formations that make the Wild Coast in South Africa one of the most beautiful places in the world. An incredible combination of cross-country horse riding and the exploration of our beautiful coastline. And what better to experience South Africa’s beautiful coastline on the back of a horse…

Ever thought you would like to canter your horse along a beach, or play in the waves?

You could be here on your coastal horse riding vacation. The sound of the horse's hoofs on the sand or splash of the water will live with you forever.

Whether you dream of riding along open savannah grasslands, pristine coastal forests or unspoiled Wild Coast beaches, there's a Mkulu Kei horse trail and riding holiday that suits your available time, riding level and budget ...

Contact Details: P.O. Box 25, Haga Haga 5272, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Tel/Fax: +27 (0) 43 841 1525 A/H Fax: 086 523 8259 Cell: +27 (0) 83 632 7298 Skype: cheryl.giacchetti E-mail: info@mkulukeihorsetrails.co.za During the day please contact us on the cell, we are probably horsing around. Signal can be irregular, if you cannot get through please leave a message or phone us on the landline in the evenings. Thanks

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