Howberry Hills Riding Centre & Stud Farm

30/07/2020

So today’s the day that we say goodbye to our beautiful pony, Muis. Fortunately not in sadness, but rather with great pride as he heads off to Gauteng where he starts his competitive career....
We know Muis is a champ already, but he’s destined to go far and make his new owner very proud indeed 😊
Go well my boy... we look forward to celebrating your successes with you 🍀

25/02/2020

👌😁

06/02/2020

HOWBERRY HILLS DERBY LEAGUE 2020

Saturday 29th February

Howberry Hills will be hosting its first annual Derby League fo 2020 and beyond. This will be an unafilliated event so no SAEF or club afilliation is required.

The league aims to encourage all levels of riders to take part and to encourage horse and rider combinations to progress up the heights throughout the league.

There will be 4 qualifying events throughout the year and 1 Finals event at the end of the year.
Prizes and floating trophies will be awarded to the overall league winner with the most points and to the Victor Lodorum. A prize will also be awarded to the most improved horse and rider combination.
In order to qualify for the finals each horse and rider combination needs to have participated in at least 2 of the events.

Rosettes and prizes will be awarded at each event.

**To keep things as fair as possible, each class must have a minimum of 4 entries to qualify for league and victor lodorum entries.

**The Derby will be held in the large “cross country” arena and our Show Jumping arena will be used as a warm up arena.

NB. WE WILL ALSO BE HOSTING A SHOW JUMPING TRAINING DAY ON SUNDAY THE 1ST OF MARCH :)

Please remember to bring your umbrellas for shade. The kiosk will be open as usual serving delicious food and drinks.

Please WhatsApp Amber for entries on 0651882236 🙂

04/01/2020

Another beautiful video made by our talented Olivia Whittard a few weeks ago 🌞 Berry is a lucky little c**t with so many awesome human and horse friends to love and play with 🙏👌🌼

13/11/2019

04/10/2019

We are extremely excited to announce our very own REVOLUTIONARY LIVERY CONCEPT to all recreational riders in the Plett / Knysna area.

To those who want to improve their riding without the mental or financial strain associated with owning a pony, and those who want to improve their horse or pony’s capabilities and aspire to participate in provincial, national or international competitions with coaching by top professional trainer Amber Baker and her team in an atmosphere of fun and enjoyment.

To those wanting their horses kept in excellent condition living happily as close to nature as possible on 24 hectares of lush river frontage grazing with arenas, cross country tracks, tack room, tuck shop, grooms, incredibly beautiful outrides into the surrounding hills. To those wanting to join our riding school of more than 36 kids from the greater Plett area, who are considering leasing or owning their own pony one day, in an environment where regular recreational and training shows take place in multiple disciplines, along with frequent holiday camps and clinics, with expert care 24/7, unlimited access, and on one of the most beautiful, quiet and safe equestrian estates far and wide, where the fun and comradery never ends, politics has no place and all this, and above all, at a cost equal to the cost of keeping a horse or pony in your own back yard !.... IMPOSSIBLE ?

NOPE ….. we’re “thinking out of the horsebox”

Therefore, having your horse or pony living at Howberry Hills will cost you only the cost of feed, feeding, grooming, while the cost of basic care, deworming, dipping against ticks, equine first aid, regular barefoot Farrier trimming by one of the very best barefoot specialists in the country, and so on, are INCLUDED !!! …and it’s NOT DIY…

Now that’s REVOLUTIONARY IN OUR OPINION

YOUR “EXTRA COSTS” ARE UP TO YOU….. For example, Vets, participation in clinics, shows, lessons, holiday camps, backing and training young horses… and so on….

We encourage positive reinforcement, natural horsemanship, clicker training, bit-less riding, all of which lead to incredible results in all aspects of horsemanship, including competition.

OUR AIM is simply to enable many more Plettonians to take up riding, own or lease a horse or pony and keep it healthy and happy WITHOUT IT BREAKING THE BANK, while bringing owners and their steeds together in one magnificent, safe and expertly run equestrian facility where shows frequently take place, friends enjoy trail rides together into the surrounding hills and cross pollination occurs naturally amongst all levels of riders every single day. As our motto states, “CREATING CHAMPIONS NATURALLY”.

So, for your horse or Pony to live here, your monthly HH Livery will cost you R1750, plus a monthly Winter Feed Levy for the months of June, July, August and September of R300, when even privately you would need to increase and supplement their feed to compensate for the reduced nutritional value of the grazing.

YES, AT LAST you can now afford to own or lease a horse or Pony….. Your children will thank you for the rest of their lives ….. That’s for sure…

We also have various special packages available which include lessons for example, at preferential rates for our Livery clients at shows, clinics and holiday camps, and so on….

The best is simply to whatsapp either AMBER on 062 843 8822 or ANDY on 079 520 7607 with any questions.

Unfortunately, to protect our grazing and ensure the best quality of life possible for all our horses, we will limit the number of horses on the estate…. So, it’s “1st come, 1st served”

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and we hope to welcome you here soon.

27/09/2019

The last 2 days have been so stunning, thank you to all who attended and supported our holiday fun days, the horses were spoilt with heaps of treats, love and attention and the kids had a blast on the farm 🌼
1 more fun day to look forward to tomorrow before the start of the final school term of 2019 😁 🌾🐎🍃

23/09/2019

19/09/2019

Some early morning pictures.... How incredibly lucky are our horses and ourselves here at Howberry Hills ... Thank you Joni-Leigh for the beautiful pictures😊

17/09/2019

Day 1 on our beautiful planet for our little Howberry Sun Rebellion, Berry ...

17/09/2019

The first day in the life of Howberry Sun, our little “Berry”, and what a beautiful day it was.
Being a bit forgetful at my age 😉, I admit, that in my rather emotional state during the night just after she was born, I forgot to check if she was a she or if she was a he.... However, now that I’ve checked along with so many who came to see her yesterday, cameras flashing in true Paparazzi or Japanese Tour Group fashion, I can shed some light on the subject. She is definately not a she, she is definitely a he... and he is so lucky to have such a caring mom, Sunny (Sunblazer) and aunt Badgie (Badgernita)...
Thanks Joni-Leigh, for the lovely pictures of his first day on our wonderful planet 🍀

16/09/2019

No words can describe the PURE JOY that washed through me in the very early hours of this morning when, at 2.30am, I went down to “The Fields” to see how my pregnant Mare, Sunny, was doing, after I decided to have her stitches removed yesterday afternoon (Sunday).....
There, securely protected by its mom, Sunny, and it’s aunt, Badgie, stood our little miracle peacefully wondering what this two legged animal was walking across the tranquil field in the light of a bright moon towards their intimate little group ... it was me...
Tears of pure unreserved joy sprang into my eyes as I saw our little “Berry” for the very first time.... only to be up-graded to a full scale waterfall a few minutes later, when Sunny and Badgie walked the 20 or 30 meters from where I had stopped so as not to disturb them, towards me with little Berry firmly protected between them, and “introduced” the little foal to me ....
Her full name will be Howberry Sun Rebellion, or Berry for short, and I can’t wait for sunrise ....🍀❤️❤️❤️🙏
A sneak preview pic....

08/09/2019

CAUTION all HOWBERRY HILLS RIDERS and those that have planned a training day on our Cross Country training course for today.

OUR CROSS COUNTRY COURSE IS CLOSED TODAY, Sunday 8th September, due to EXTREME HEAT and the consequent danger of heat stress for the horses.

None of our horses will be ridden today, and we urgently advise all riders to consider their horses when making riding plans for today.

03/09/2019

Our flagged cross country jumps will remain up for a few weeks and we have also opened up a larger portion for a longer track 😃 R150 ground levy per horse, contact us for bookings 😁

02/09/2019

On Saturday 31st August we hosted a Show Jumping and Stadium Eventing training show. We would like to thank everyone for their support and for coming out in the windy weather to watch and participate 👏👏👏
For many of our young riders it was their first show after only a few lesson. We are so incredibly proud of our riders, parents and helpers for what we managed to achieve with so many entries. Despite the wind causing a lack of communication from the judges box, the show still ran well and everyone was so diligent and organised. It was truly an exceptional example of all things fundamental in horse riding- friendship, good manners and copperation while having heaps of fun 👌
By the end of the day we had handed out 75 clear round ribbons 😯 😆
Well done to all the horses and riders for a wonderful day🐴
A huge thank you to everyone behind the scenes and those that jumped in to help, Sue Jacobs for spending many hours making beautiful unique rosettes and for spending the day judging, Alex Mackenzie for helping Sue in the judges box and for bringing beautiful flower bouquets for the first place winners, Des Carlson for helping out in the Kiosk due to Doris having to cater for an archery competition that was running simultaneously, Lizelle Joubert for helping keep things organised and our medic Natasha for coming out to watch over all the riders. Zania Van Lil, Olivia Whittard and Ruby evans for always being available to help Amber with the kids and horses, and thank you Amber and Sue for the good work on all the young riders who performed so beautifully. And the biggest thank you to Andy, Doris, Karen, Lisa and Christian as well as our grooms Alex, Lukey and Charles for being the backbone to everything we manage to accomplish on the farm ❤

21/08/2019

Entry forms for Show Jumping and Stadium Eventing on 31st August. Our SJ classes, poles on the ground to 50cm, are for beginners (both human and horse) and we are very excited to see all of our new riders participate in their first show. The first two classes are very full so we expect to only begin with the SE after noon. Rider briefing for SE will be at 12pm at the judges box 😁

18/08/2019

Another beautiful horsey week 🌼

17/08/2019

"I have seen things so beautiful they have brought tears to my eyes, yet none of them can match the gracefullness and beauty of horses running free"

11/08/2019

And some more Friday afternoon fun. The new horses finally got a chance to ride out in the big area 👌 and a few of Howberrys horses have been brought in from paddock life to recieve some love, exercise and conditioning. Badgie, Funky and the rest are all behaving themselves beautifully with their little passengers 😁🏵

07/08/2019

Well done to Isabella who was able to take it to the next level and participate in the big group lesson yesterday 😁 unfortunately not much time to take lots of pics so just a few moments captured here showing Milla working hard, Isabella during her lesson and Olivia having a cuddle with Katy at the end of a beautiful day 😁 🏵🏵🏵

02/08/2019

STADIUM EVENTING SHOW on
SATURDAY 31st August ... SAVE THE DATE.... 😊
Through Amber Baker & Sue Jacobs inspired suggestion, we at Howberry Hills are very much looking forward to inviting the Africa Hoofprint Foundation to allow us to sponsor the KRANSHOEK RIDERS to compete in our show...
Since Amber Baker joined up with us, just a week ago Howberry Hills already seems like a different place... with just over 50 pupils this week, having had the Sterreweg Kids here already twice, enlarging our jumping arena, our tack room, our paddocks to setting the date for our next show and wanting to sponsor the Kranshoek Riders to participate, I’d say it’s been a busy week, a very exciting week and we’re loving it immensely ...

Africa Hoofprint Foundation Project Develop Youth & preserve the Griqua Heritage Herd

24/07/2019

WE ARE EXTREMELY EXCITED to announce that our riding school has not only trippled (!!!) in size in the last two weeks with the support and encouragment of Plett Primary School, its wonderful teachers and the amazing learners that have taken up horse riding at Howberry Hills, but also to announce that we are READY TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL ....
Our goal to open doors to more young riders in and around Plett, affordably, professionally , safely and in a spirit of learning in a natural and fun filled way is certainly well under way.
In line with this goal we cannot say HOW LUCKY WE ARE to have one of Plett’s top highly experienced riding teachers AMBER BAKER and long established riding school, Avalon Riding Centre RELOCATING TO HOWBERRY HILLS in the coming week along with her fabulous pupils, support staff, ponies, horses, equipment and special projects.... more about that later....
The mix of Amber’s talented and great young riders she has brought to where they are with our “new kids on the block” offers a unique opportunity for sharing experience, encouragement, mini mentoring amongst the kids.... What fun this will be as the Howberry Hills Riding community grows, new friendships are formed and the kids learn to ride, participate successfully in shows, take part in holiday camps, spend their afternoons caring for and enjoying being around our horses whenever they like and simply absorbing and growing in all things natural.
Our motto, “PRODUCING CHAMPIONS NATURALLY” in so much more than just a motto 😊

02/07/2019

Ok, Tuesday’s holiday riding day camp done and dusted... huge fun and quite exhausted to say the least... What a fantastic bunch of future champions. Tomorrow we do it again, and very excited indeed. Due to demand, and tomorrow being fully booked, we’re slotting in another day camp on Thursday afterall 🕺🦄🥕🐴.... four more spots available for Thursday for anybody hasn’t booked already, and once again, to be fair, it’s got to be “1st come, 1st served”..... just whatsapp Karin on 079 941 8513 to book your spot...
Some pics from today

30/06/2019

ONE MORE WEEK OF SCHOOL HOLIDAYS TO GO...
Such fun we’ve been having over the last two weeks with the kids learning to ride, going down to the river for picnics on the tractor and generally horsing around..... new friends, new experiences and lots and lots of fun.
Some pics of the Riding Day Camps over the last two weeks...
On Tuesday and Wed we’ll be holding the last two Riding camp days for these school holidays, and quite honestly, we can’t wait 😊
In case anybody wants to check if there’s still a spot left for Tue or Wed, just whatsapp Karin on 079 941 8513 and we’ll see if we can slot you in.

19/06/2019

What a fun filled Howberry Holiday Riding camp we had today with these amazing youngsters and the ponies😀 Already looking forward to next week Tuesday and Wed for more fun on the farm ....

12/06/2019

A few snaps from our Stadium Eventing Series Qualifier 3! (Part 1)
📷 creds to Ian Pletzer, thanks for the great pics!