I woke up feeling so sophisticated and thought to myself what could enhance this feeling more than a horse ride. I wanted a getaway and be lost in nature so I packed my small bag and off I went to a farm called Trotover Farm which is also known as Trotover Equestrian Center.

There is no harm in going to a horse riding school and after the experience I had, I guess am revisiting my hobbies, wink wink.

The whereabouts of the farm

Planning on visiting Zambia and short of what to keep you refreshed?You could try this activity out just for the fun of it or as a set of lessons. This place is just a 50 minute drive from Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (LUN) and it will be cheaper if you got yourself a local sim card and downloaded an app called Yango so you enjoy cheaper taxi services but if that is a hustle, ask a nice person from the airport with this app on their phone to order a taxi for you.

I was not coming from the airport of course and my only challenge was the farm was showing on Google maps but not on the taxi app which made me enter on the app a nearby place to the farm then got on another private taxi which charged me more for such a short distance but anywho, I didn’t care cos it’s horses I was gonna be riding right? I forgot about the annoying taxi experience.

I did enjoy quite a bit of riding before in a small town called Chingola at a small ranch with fewer horses than these.

Arrival

For every service you get, so long you paid for it, you expect good to excellent services from staff and I must say I found a helpful person in charge who assisted with locating of the place on phone when I couldn’t find it. He, together with other members of staff had smiling faces as they cleaned up the stables and I stopped over for a short walking tour near the front area of the farm’s reception just to see what it was about.

The horse trail

I could see some poster asking for respect from the public that this was private property and that no dogs or children under 4 years were allowed. By it saying ‘clients only’ must have meant that they usually received unwanted guests. The helpful staff was there explaining to me few things about their horses but the one question I asked was whether it was easy to distinguish between a young horse and an older one. I was told that,”You can just tell.” I proceeded to the stables that had the older ones and yes, I can’t just put my finger on it but I could tell age was catching up with these horses.

After checking out the tired horses, the helper at the farm brought two white horses. They looked like twins except one had longer mane than the other. I chose Jumbo for that. We headed out of the front of the farm using a short route that had leaves falling all over until Jumbo and I headed to a small slop I heard fills up with water in the wet season. I wished I came with company but so what if I do solo chronicles?

Jumbo was calm, friendly and because the only company I had was the guide who knew the trail, I got to learn a sound he kept making trying to communicate with his horse and I picked up on it to connect with Jumbo.

I am no horse expert but I must say I love animals and connecting with Jumbo was no biggie. I have had friends that have had bad experiences with horses even as experts but I didn’t wanna dwell on that and ruin my chances of a peaceful ride with Jumbo in this trail.

After about a good 15 minutes we got to a place which was dotted with some slim trunked trees stretching over a large area and I wish I had recorded the music provided by the birds there. I bet Jumbo was also enjoying this too. The trail wasn’t so defined but clear enough to show there were more trees ahead of us. At one point, I noticed Jumbo was distracted by the grass when we paused for a bit. It was time for free tasting for him.

Jumbo and I enjoyed some slightly hilly spots as well as few depressed ones and I am happy to say he was good at what he was doing. I noticed when we get to these two places, it’s as if he would slow down and think how best he would handle these spots. Smart huh…..

By the time we finished our loop it was almost two hours and this must have been about 8 km to 10 km. I believe we could have gone further but that was where my 13 dollars ended and was already held up for the afternoon.

When I said my byes to the staff, I noticed some drawings of horses on the walls that are coming up quite well and I should be back here to see how they finish and the other was the quote hanging on the wall that I couldn’t agree more to but this ride was actually refreshing and made me reconsider my hobbies. Riding is actually good for the soul and should you be on this side of Zambia, do try this farm out and pass my regards to Jumbo.

Don’t do what I did

Not to brag but I could tell Jumbo was a calm horse and was about no funny business so I tried this ride with no protective gear on my head but I feel it’s important to wear one. The place did actually offer one and I wanted it in pink because it’s one of my fav colors but unfortunately the only pink one available couldn’t fit and I chose fashion over safety and crossed my fingers. Luck was on my side.