Heaven & Earth Horse Trails
Karweyderskraal Farm, Hermanus
Tucked away between the picturesque mountain of the Hemel and Aarde Valley near Hermanus is Heaven and Earth Horse Trail Rides and Self-catering Cottages on Karweyderskraal Farm. Whether you would like to enjoy a slow gaited walk or an adventurous outride on horseback, we offer a variety of trails with scenic mountain views or wine tasting on spectacular wine estates.
In November 2012 Danie van Zyl and his brother-in-law Karl Gotze founded Heaven and Earth Trails that has since become one of the most reliable and best run horse trail operators in the Western Cape, but don’t take our word for it, read full reviews from our happy clients on Tripadvisor, Facebook, SA Venues or Google reviews.
We take great pride in allowing our horses to run together as a herd in large paddocks, barefoot trimming them and granting them to behave as horses in their natural environment. Our horses are trained to be easily handled by novices or experienced riders alike. Our clients’ safety are of the utmost importance to us and therefore we have adopted a health and safety methodology to try and reduce the risks associated with horse riding. Some of the measures include:
- Meticulous training and continuous handling, and specifically desensitizing our horses to possible hazards, for example, farm machinery, vehicles, chainsaws, gunshots, plastic bags, water hazards, etc.
- Incident reports completed after every trail where any serious issues are recorded and then follow-up training or remedial action taken.
- All trail guides have extensive experience, valid first aid training certificates and a first aid kit is taken along with every trail.
- We have an onsite weather station and we’ll cancel any rides if the weather is inclement or windy.
- We always move at a pace that’s comfortable for the least experienced rider.
- Before the onset of every trail there’s a 15-30 minute induction and training session in the lunge ring.
- Helmets are provided and tack is inspected weekly to identify worn or damaged equipment.
- There’s a code of conduct that we endorse very strictly – respect for horses and clients alike.