2012 Speakers
For the schedule of talks please see the Timetable.
Mary King
Although
not from a horsey family, Mary King, has become one of the country's
best loved and most decorated riders. She has won Badminton and
Burghley as well as representing the UK at three World Championships
and six Olympics including London in 2012. Mary has now been
competing at the top level of eventing for 25 years, has bred a
string of top event horses, raised her own family and still found
time to go on the odd riding holiday.
David Foot
David
has been leading safaris throughout southern Africa for 26 years. He
was born and raised in Malawi and educated in the UK. On returning
to Africa he began his safari career in the Kafue National Park,
Zambia before moving onto Zimbabwe and then returning to Zambia to
lead walking safaris in the Luangwa Valley. In 1989 he returned to
Malawi and set up his own safari business. In 1993 he expanded into
horse safaris on the remote Nyika Plateau and in 1997 was granted
the exclusive tourism concession for the Nyika National Park and
Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve. Four years ago he moved with his
family to Botswana and he and his wife Robyn now run Ride Botswana
focussing on adventurous safaris on horseback, by canoe and on foot.
David is a passionate birdwatcher but his latest passion is riding
through the vast Makgadikgadi Pans in the heart of Botswana.
Steinunn Guðbjörnsdóttir
Steinunn
is the marketing manager at Íshestar horseback riding tours in
Iceland. She bought her first horse when she was 16 years old and
has been riding ever since. The Icelandic horse is famous around the
world for its tölt. A wonderfully smooth gait that is wonderfully
smooth yet can be as fast as a gallop. The fhistory of the Icelandic
Horse can be traced right back to the settlement of the country in
the late 9th century. Viking settlers brought with them their best
horses and the breed has remained pure for over a thousand years.
The Icelandic Horse is also the most colorful breed in the world,
with over 40 different colors and over 100 variations.
Peter Dockree
Peter
Dockree is testiment to the statement that it is never too late to
start riding. He started riding at the age of 35, but had not ridden
for about 20 years when he made his first visit to Colorado Cattle
Company aged 69 years young.
He has now visited Colorado Cattle Company 8 times over the last 6
years. On several trips he has added a few days and toured Arizona,
Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and California. Last year he hired
a Crow Indian and rode across the Little Big Horn river and around
the Custer Battle ground for about two hours.
He will be talking about what happens at Colorado Cattle Company and
why he keeps going back.
Richard Waygood MBE
Richard
has ridden from an early age. At 16 he realised an ambition to join
the Household Cavalry (The Life Guards). After years of hard work
and dedication he was commissioned from the ranks to hold the highly
prestigious and respected post of Riding Master for the Household
Cavalry. In 2002 he realised another life -long ambition to ride
around Badminton not only did he finish but he was in the money as
well. He was the first serving officer of the British Army to
compete at Badminton for 23 years. Richard has competed a further
three times at Badminton. Richard also rode and competed on a
private basis for Her Majesty, The Queen for a period of 15 years.
In 2009 he was awarded an M.B.E. for outstanding services to both
the military and the civilian equestrian world.
Richard manages and trains the 2 Star British Eventing Team and is
the Chef d Equipe for the British Dressage Team. 2011 was a record
breaking year as both of Richard’s Teams won their respective
European Championships for the first time in the sports history.
Richard led Great Britain’s Dressage Team at the Olympic where they
won not only the team gold but the individual gold and individual
bronze. This has truly been a historical year!
Cor Carelsen
Cor is a dedicated conservationist and guide who, with his wife
Louise, owns and operates Limpopo Valley Horse Safaris in the Tuli
Block of southeastern Botswana. LVHS operates on Mashatu Game
Reserve, a vast area of unfenced wilderness, home to huge herds of
elephant as well as lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, a wide variety
of plains game and over 350 species of birds. LVHS offers
traditional mobile safaris, where guests experience exceptional
sightings of game as well as the joy of riding well-schooled,
responsive horses. Cor is a native South African who has worked as
Project Manager for a charitable conservation foundation in Ecuador,
as well as Estate Manager for a racehorse stud and training farm in
England, before he and Louise moved to Botswana in 2003.
Anna Wirth
Hippologist
Anna Wirth represents family owned and run guest ranch Rocking Z, in
Montana. She will provide an introduction to Natural Horsemanship,
outlining the benefits she has experienced in using this approach to
train good ranch horses.
The student of Parelli Natural Horsemanship started her first colt
at the age of twelve and has gone on to train over 50 ranch horses
using Pat Parreli’s philosophy. As well as outlining the history and
development of natural horsemanship into the contemporary era, this
talk will also draw on Evidence- Based Horsemanship techniques
including the works of Dr Stephen Peters and Martin Black.
Telane Greyling
Telane
Greyling (PhD Zoology) has been studying the Wild Horses in the
Namib Desert for many years. She is the co-author of a recently
published book on the wild horses who live in the south-western area
of the Namib Desert. Their origins steeped in mystery, the wild
horses have over the years captured imaginations and touched hearts.
These resilient animals have survived in the desert for close to a
century and have become one of the main tourist attractions in
southern Namibia.
The book provides answers to the numerous questions frequently asked
about the behaviour of the wild horses, from how often they drink to
the size of their family groups, enlightening the reader about their
existence away from the world of domestication.
Her book "The Wild horses in the Namib desert: an equine biography"
is an honest account of the Namib horses through the last century,
including the harsh reality of drought.