A friend and I decided that we were going to find a tried and tested horseback meander along the picturesque Sand River. Now the Sand River consists of rolling golden sand dunes and aqua water ponds, here and there.  In the rainy season the river flows, but there are unseen underground pockets of water.  Our challenge was to find a safe route so that we could offer tourists horse-back rides and along the way impart interesting facts and sights.

We started out early one morning, lunch and water in a backpack, making sure to include sunscreen and off we went. We were making good headway while brainstorming excitedly about our new venture. Suddenly I found my horse in a sink hole chest height. OMG my heart leapt into my throat and panic set in. Before I could react, my friend had dismounted and removed her saddle off her horse and shoved it between my horse’s head and sand. Good thinking as this was a safe guard so there was some support on the horse’s neck and hopefully, he wouldn’t go deeper.  Then we dug like two bare handed girls have ever dug, we dug and dug. Fortunately, the horse I was riding was a trusted steed and he never panicked at all.  It took us over an hour to dig and pull him to safety, bleeding knuckles and adrenaline pumping, we got him out. We drained our water bottles, ate our sandwiches and headed back home feeling grateful we managed to escape that experience.   Back to the drawing board.