Nearly any backdrop to a drone flyover of an eventing course would be pretty spectacular, but the Spurwing Horse Trials in the northeastern region of South Africa is going to be hard to beat. Especially since the event sits on the edge of the Karkloof Nature Reserve with a stunning forest and mountain scape surrounding the expansive course.
We’re lucky enough to get to follow the first half of the course with Katie Keller and Kankowski, currently ranked third in the Republic of South Africa eventing standings among adults. At just 22 years old, Katie and her South African Thoroughbred gelding Kankowski are making their mark in the sport, thriving and winning at the CIC2* level. That’s perfectly evident here as the combinations tears over the course and the drone struggles to keep up.
At the halfway mark, we jump on board with another South African native, Francois Viljoen aboard his veteran partner On Tap’s Ayre’s Rock, a 17-year-old thoroughbred who went three-star level in his earlier years.
Eventing in South Africa has taken off dramatically in recent years as the FEI has reconfigured regional qualification processes and enabled new areas to obtain world-class dreams. In 2010, South Africa qualified its very first eventers to compete in international competition, and even more impressively, did it aboard their own horses without being based abroad.
Northern Farm Horse Trials has played a significant role in helping local riders grow and move up the levels in South Africa, and they feature a fantastic history of eventing in the Republic on their website.
Go South Africa, and Go Eventing!
