Louis Geyer runs Cape Winelands Riding in South Africa’s Western Cape, a horse lover’s haven in the heart of wine country.
Louis is the smiling face who greets guests at Cape Winelands Riding, located in South Africa’s wine country, an hour from Cape Town. A day-ride or a full week will take you into the heart of the winelands on horseback, riding through vineyards and orchards from wine estate to wine estate.
Tastings, pairings, and gourmet meals await at the end of each ride, which is accompanied by Louis’ fascinating stories of traveling the world on horseback. The horses gravitate towards his gentle manner and natural charisma with horses and humans alike, and a visit to ride with Louis feels like a visit with an old friend.
You’re a lifelong rider, but only really got into horses in a serious capacity as an adult. How did that come about?
I have been riding for 40 years. We had mountain ponies, a local breed called Basutho ponies, on our family farm (near Durban, South Africa) so I taught myself to ride by jumping on and holding on for dear life. Only later in life did I start to read up a lot and study horsemen and their methods and went on a journey of re-discovering horsemanship and riding in a more natural way. This is when I developed a deeper understanding and appreciation for the relationship with our horses.
Was there a special pony you connected with as a child?
Not really as a child as I only started appreciating the relationship value with horses in my 30’s. Before that I thought I knew everything. Then my life changed and so did my relationship with horses. Not sure which came first. If I had to single out one horse it would be Rebecca, a little Basutho Pony (local mountain pony) who is the only horse that knows me both before and after and she has accepted me always.
Coming in hot! Enjoying some fun in the summer sun.
Natural horsemanship is an important part of your daily relationship with both your horses and your riders, as much a lifestyle as a methodology. Can you dive deeper into your natural horsemanship philosophy?
I could keep you busy for days with that. In short, I believe that most horses don’t like to make decisions and also don’t like to change their minds. It is our place as trainers or horsemen to work with the horse in the gap between changing their mind and having to make a decision. Often that gap is minute, and time [spent] growing your sensitivity to their personality allows you to spot that gap and step in at the right time. They also want a leader who partners with them much like a team captain in a football team. Doing the work alongside their teammates while leading the “charge”. It is not always about domination. In fact, for me it is very seldom about that. It is very much building the trust as a leader who the horse is happy with to make the decisions for the two of you.
The vineyards and orchards provide a colorful palette and scenic backdrop for some unforgettable riding.
The gentleness you employ with your horses is evident in the way they work with you, and the apparent connection you share with them. Before your journey inward as a horseman and outward as a horseback guide, you were a school teacher, of all things. When did you know you wanted to get into horses professionally?
After spending a year volunteering on weekends and holidays at a horseback holiday farm I knew, I wanted to have my own place where I could bring change to people’s lives through my horses. It still took another 10 years or so before it materialized.
Who have been some of your role models, either in the equine or tourism community?
Shane Dowinton from Horizon Horseback Adventures is a huge role model. I spent a few years helping out at Horizon on holidays and we developed a close friendship. Secretly I was taking in all the information I could get from him and he inspired me to be the best horseman I could be without trying to imitate anybody. He encouraged me to find my own way which works for me while respecting horses for who they are.
I’m sure it was no secret – Shane is a wonderful horseman, keen on helping anyone and everyone to better their relationship with and understanding of their horses. I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to ride with him and observe his training sessions as well, and he’s a remarkable horseman and human, and a significant contributor to the magic that makes Horizon such a memorable place, and our riders thoroughly enjoy their Waterberg Safari in South Africa and Tuli Safari in Botswana.
After helping out at Horizon, how did you come to start your own horseback tour operation at Cape Winelands Riding?
I started a tourism business in the Cape doing lots of wine tours in a mini-bus for tourists. When my father passed away, I had to take care of our horses on the family farm. So, I decided to truck them 30 hours to the Cape and decided to exchange my tours in a minibus for wine tours on horseback. So much better.
The landscape of mountain backdrops, dramatic cliffs and rock formations, and the colorful array of vineyards, orchards, and crops dotting the landscape make the Cape Winelands a truly unique and magical destination to ride through.
You guide many of the Winelands rides yourself, and have a wonderful team who work with you and the horses, many of whom are volunteers who come from all over the world to spend a stint with you at Cape Winelands. What does a day in the life of a guide at Cape Winelands consist of?
Our days start early with feeding horses, taking care of individual needs of each horse and making sure everything is in perfect working order. Then it is grooming and tacking up for the rides going out at 9:30 in the morning. The guides are out all day with our guests riding from wine farm to wine estate and enjoying lovely wine tastings and lunches on these award-winning wine farms that surround our yard. They return at 4:30pm to continue caring for our horses. Dinner feed time for the horses before we take the guests out and host dinner at one if the fine restaurants in Franschhoek and Paarl area. So all in all a busy day for a guide at CWR.
We do not offer a commercial, formal volunteer program. However, we do get a lot of requests for young (often international) travelers who would like to spend their time in Africa with horses. If they are competent riders and hard workers we do accept them. They get to do a lot of riding in between helping with the care and feeding of horses. They get to join in with the guests on our horseback holidays as backup riders and with our day rides on shorter rides as guides, if their riding level is good enough. They become part of the family and we are always planning something in the area, from weekend markets to city visits to Cape Town and Stellenbosch. Many volunteers also use their off days to explore further afield and even do shark cage diving, whale watching trips and even zipline tours. Not to forget more wine tasting trip in our famous area.
Louis riding Charleston and leading the charge down a beautiful line of jumps on a drag hunt with the Cape Hunt Club.
As if wine tasting in the most beautiful country weren’t enough, Louis’ guests can also practice their jumping and even go foxhunting! The local Cape Hunt rides on many wine estates in the area, and Cape Winelands even hosts their own hunt fixture each year. Visitors to Cape Winelands can even join the Cape Hunt and go Foxhunting in the Winelands. How did you get into foxhunting?
The Cape Hunt Club is the oldest hunt club in the world outside of the UK. I started riding in the hunts for fun and to give my horses a well-rounded experience with more than just trail riding. I wanted my guests to ride horses that do more than just hunt. (Our hunts do not involve hunting animals. A scent is laid down and the foxhounds follow the scent with the horses following after. Called a drag-hunt and no animals are hurt or stressed in any way.)
Louis and his gorgeous half-Shire stallion, Charleston
After joining the hunts for a few years, the club ask Cape Winelands Riding to host a hunt on the Cape Hunt calendar and we have done so every year since. We were also featured in Horse and Hound magazine in the UK with a double page photo spread showing off all the riders on their horses. We now also offer guests who visit us during the hunt season, which is May to September, to have the opportunity to take part in the hunt in between the trail rides during their stay with us.
Who is your favorite horse and why?
This has to be Charleston, my stallion. I bred him myself and also have 3 beautiful colts - geldings out of him. He is half Shire and I have most fun on him on the hunts where he leads the pack, just behind the field master, and shows those who follow how to jump everything in his path. He is so much fun and definitely a horse that turns heads. I am so blessed to have him.
The bond Louis and Charleston share is undeniable.
Many of your horses, including Charleston, have names of American towns and cities. How did this come about?
I wanted a theme which would allow me a lot of names to choose from so after travelling the USA extensively in my late 20’s I decided on state names and their capitals. So there I had a 100 names to choose from already.
That’s quite a journey! But it sounds like it was incredibly worthwhile, a sentiment all who visit you in the Winelands can share. But, you have had so many incredible experiences beyond the bounds of Western Cape, so let’s dive into some of those stories!
What have been some of your most memorable/interesting/dangerous/exciting/scary moments on horseback?
Riding in the Serengeti and Masai Mara game reserve and being stalked by a lion and coming across a leopard in a dry riverbed quite unexpected. This was amazing. Then being joined by a herd of 13 galloping giraffe as we crossed the plains of the Serengeti is hard to beat.
Tell us more about being stalked by a lion, and the leopard encounter.
These are moments that live on in memories forever but cannot really be created at will. They are like pearls in an ocean of oysters. You don’t always find the pearl, but you can always enjoy the ocean nevertheless. To expand more would be to minimize the blessings I have had to do countless horseback safaris in the big reserves and landscapes of Africa, riding alongside good friends and amazing horsemen from all over the world.
I quite agree – it’s incredibly difficult to reduce an experience like that to a story on paper. After all, each and every safari on horseback is different and unique!
Where else have you traveled to ride, and what are some of your most memorable moments?
I have travelled to Scotland, Spain, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Mongolia and Argentina on riding trips. Riding in the Pampas as well as Patagonia in Argentina was quite memorable. Riding high up in the mountains in Patagonia with Condors flying overhead is definitely one for the long list of campfire stories but my heart will always be in Africa.
Louis’ smile belies how arduous and long the Gobi Desert Cup really is!
You didn’t just ride in Mongolia – you participated in the Gobi Desert Cup, a 480-kilometer endurance race on Mongolia ponies across the Gobi desert. What inspired you to take off for Mongolia to enter this race?
I wanted to challenge my own paradigms on horses and horsemanship as well as my body after surviving a near death experience 2 years earlier through a hospital procedure gone wrong. I wanted to know what life is like on the other side of it and be sure that I am ok. I found out that I was more than ok and those Mongolian horses showed me that.
How did you come to take part in the Gobi Desert Cup in Mongolia?
Being invited to take part in the Gobi Desert Cup in Mongolia we probably the most memorable of all my riding trips. I did not do the Mongol Derby (an endurance ride of 1000km, said to be the longest and toughest horse race in the world on semi-feral Mongolian ponies) because I did not feel like I wanted to ride horses that do not want to be ridden. The Gobi Desert Cup is an endurance race of 300 miles doing 50 miles per day on a single horse and changing horses every day over six days. You had to manage your horse, pace it and make sure you pass strict vet checks every 25 miles. The horses are also conditioned for 3 months and longer before the race. The race was created to provide sustainable income for the nomads of Mongolia so it was a perfect fit for me. Taking up a challenge on Mongolian ponies, testing my horsemanship skills and giving back to the people from who we received the opportunity to experience this beautiful country and amazing horses.
What an incredible endeavor to take on! What was your experience with endurance riding prior to the race, and how did you train for it?
Nor for the faint of heart, the Gobi Desert Cup takes riders on a 480km/300mile journey across the heart of Mongolia.
Absolutely no experience. Trained intensively for 2 months prior to the event to get the km’s in. Up to 30km a day. Just lots or riding and keeping a set timed pace
What were some of your more harrowing moments during the cup?
The hardest for me was seeing a horse giving you its all against the odds where many other horses would have given up. And then passing the vet check at the end of 50 miles rewards all the hardship of the day.
Who was on your team, and how did you finish?
I joined 3 other riders from the USA to make a team of 4. We finished 3rd overall. None of us had previous experience.
Impressive for your first endurance experience!
What is your vision for the future of Cape Winelands Riding?
To create a business which allows for a sustainable lifestyle for myself and all my staff, all the while making a constant difference in the lives of my staff, my valued guests and also the horses that cross my path. To share freely that which I have been blessed with and received freely.
Any parting words you would like to share with riders, travelers, and adventurers around the world?
Our horses need your support. For many years they have given their all and will always keep on doing that. And all they ever ask for is to be a horse and have ample food and water.
Also our country is really safe to travel in throughout this current pandemic and we do all that is needed to keep our visitors safe.
