Polo & More, Singapore 2017 Polo & More, Singapore 2017 | Page 108

bar” were his parting words, before she could respond or say anything he had driven off. There she was, in the middle of the bush in shorts and flip flops,
a saddle and a bridle and a horse that she still needed to catch. Once the horse was caught “which wasn’t too difficult” and saddled, she had one of the
most memorable experiences of her life. Allowing the horse to do the guiding on a ride that lasted some 4 hours, according to Ingeborg “I got somewhat
distracted by the abundance of wildlife and wide sandy riverbeds that invited me for long canters”. That same evening she did indeed meet the owner at
the bar and thanked him for giving her such a wonderful opportunity to ride through the bush on her own. Little did he know that this would not be the
last he would see of Ingeborg, her 4 hr ride through the African Veld had inspired her and gotten her thinking. The idea hit her to set up a professional
horse safari operation based on the thought, “if I like riding through the bush seeing all this magnificent scenery, smelling the earth and sun, and being
in awe of wildlife, there must be more ‘idiots’ like me”. And so the idea started to germinate, “It was as if I had been struck by lightning and knew I could
call this beautiful country my future home. At that time, I had nothing to do with horses except that I enjoyed riding them and being around them, as
they gave me peace of mind. After giving the possibility of moving to Namibia some more thought, I returned only 3 months later to Okapuka to have my
feelings confirmed; I realised then that this was the place where I wanted to live”. Now it was time to try and make the dream a reality… Returning to
Holland, she quit her job and took on an apprenticeship with an equine vet in the Eastern part of The Netherlands and worked for him for almost a year
learning more about the injuries a horse could sustain and the requisite treatments. In the interim she did research as to what competitors in the horse
safari business offered and charged. The negotiations to actually get started in Namibia was a lengthy process that took almost a year, but eventually she
received the green light to build the stables and the houses.
Established in 2000, Okapuka Horse Safaris is situated on a 10,000-hectare malaria-free game farm near Windhoek and has riding rights throughout
the surrounding valleys and mountains, offering limitless trails, covering an area larger than 30,000 hectares. The outfit is renowned for its quality horses
and excellent game viewing, so it is geared towards a more experienced rider clientele. Ingeborg is a very hands on owner and she is still very much in
awe of the surrounding veld that she fell in love with 17 years ago, so she still also guides safaris herself along with her niece Sacha. With the grooms
Venantius and Elias they look after the 30 Arabian horses; broodmares, stallions, yearlings and foals on property.
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