Read Kelly Marks’ blog on working with the wild horses of Namibia. If you’ve been lucky enough to watch the documentary, you will know just how incredible the experience was.
Within the blog, Kelly says:
“I’d been fascinated by the Namib horses ever since I’d first heard of them. How they’ve survived in one of the most inhospitable climates in the world is beyond belief. In the desert the temperatures at night can drop below zero; whilst during the day it can go above 40 degrees; in the shade not that there is any. To the untrained eye there appears to be nothing for them to eat at all. There are no written records of how they first arrived in the desert; although there are plans for DNA testing which may get us closer to solving the mystery….”
“Before leaving South Africa I was chatting at the airport to our tour organiser Sue Gilliatt about Telane and the Namib horses. “I’d love to go out and see those horses. “Has anyone ever tried working with them?” “Who would you need permission from to go near them?” I thought we were passing the time romancing about unlikely adventures. But, I should have already realised through my wonderfully organised trip out to South Africa; Sue was a woman that made things happen…”
“I was mostly informed of events by email. “I’ve found a way you can see those horses. “That’s if you agree to have the whole thing filmed as a documentary”. An English guy called Gary Robinson is really taken with the idea and wants to co-produce a documentary on you working with these horses with a film company called ‘Red Pepper’. ‘Gary hasn’t let any grass grow under his feet; he has already been in touch with Telane and a conservationist who has the wild horses on his land and would love to talk to you about them.”
“So that’s how, on November 29th 2001, I found myself on the 16 hours drive from Johannesburg to the Southernmost tip of Namibia in search of the mysterious wild horses….”
Read the full account here.
© Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio, 2021
Treating your horse with care, connection, curiosity, and compassion
