EGYPT RIDE – HORSES IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

Giving some love to Faruk, my handsome boy who went from rescue to bucking with enthusiasm to be ridden.

There are rarely conditions under which horseback riding is not a pure pleasure. Riding a horse that doesn’t want to be ridden can be really frustrating; the constant need to press them on with your legs or to lift their head is exhausting.  But worse than that is riding a horse that wants to meet your needs but simply cannot do it due to over-work, malnutrition, or lack of training.  That’s heartbreaking.

Every time I embark on one of these international trips, particularly to the Global South, I do so with some trepidation – pure pleasure and heartbreak, that’s a pretty wide range of possible outcomes.  Will the horses be sound; fit for the job; properly trained?  Maintaining horses is never an easy proposition and really a challenge in the Global South where the environment can be brutal, supply chains for feed constrained and inconsistent, and the availability of veterinarians and farriers limited. 

The horses we rode in India were impeccable.  Bred by the outfitter from the native Marwari line, they were ready for the heat and treated like treasured children.  Morocco was a different story.  The horses there were perfectly trained, had massive heart, but went into our grueling 6-day trek underweight.  They gave it all they had and were rewarded with significant further weight loss and in some cases, saddle sores.  As much as I enjoyed the tremendous challenge of the Morocco ride and respect the outfitter for what she’s accomplished, in retrospect, I find it a bit hard to condone.  What would I find in Egypt? 

In Giza, on our way to meet our first horse guide, we passed many an emaciated cart horse.  I wont lie, I was anxious. The horses presented to us, however, were stunning creatures. Pure Arabs, with gleaming coats and intelligent eyes.  And, as the video below attests, they had a lot of spirit and the physical fitness to follow up on that promise. The bar was set high.  What would the operation in Luxor – where we’d be doing the lion’s share of our riding – have to offer?

I needn’t have worried.  Ganun and Annemarie – the owners of Horses and Hieroglyphs – started as a horse rescue operation in 2021.  The goal was simply to save and rehabilitate a few of Egypt’s many hard-used horses.  Though they are impeccable hosts and logistics experts, organizing tours is largely just a way to use the horses they’ve reconditioned to make money so they can rescue more horses.  Today, their stable is full of healthy, energetic animals that were once near death from starvation and neglect.  No, these are largely not the refined Arabs we rode in Giza – those are generally too expensive and prestigious to suffer such abuse.  But these typical Egyptian crosses are solid, with great stamina, a lot of speed, and a can-do attitude.  As the picture at the top of this post attests, some just also happen to be really nice to look at  (and hug) too.