South Africa's wetland feral horses

In the triangle between the R44, the R43 and the Atlantic Ocean lays the Bot River Estuary with the Cape Nature Reserve, Rooisand astride where it spills into the sea.

The lagoon is famous for South Africa's only herd of feral horses to be found in a wetland habitat. They are a little shy, but not aggressive or dangerous and roam free from Kleinmond to Fisherhaven. I often see them, even walking past my house on their way to the beach at the end of my road.

Many years ago, so one of the stories is told, a local farmer, tired of farming, sold all his cattle and turned his horses loose into the wilderness. Somehow these horses survived in the wetlands, and even thrived. They were once so seldom seen that many people doubted their existence.

Another story has it that at the end of the Anglo Boer War, evacuating British soldiers let their cavalry horses loose in the great vlei of the Kleinmond lagoon. By the 1940’s the herd had grown to over 400. Totally wild, the horses roamed the river area, decimating precious grazing. Farmers began to round them up or shoot them. Apparently only three horses escaped the attempt to eradicate the herd.

These animals have been isolated and not cross-bred with other stock for over 100 years. Today their descendents can be seen splashing through the lagoon or cantering between the dunes. This unique herd of over 20 wild horses are cherished by most who live here, and have become quite a tourist attraction.