Memories of my childhood days on a farm east of Windhoek always include horses. As a small boy in the 60s and early 70s, I clearly remember farm workers, who were part of the contract labour system, buying horses and donkeys from my father and trekking with them to the North. The horse treks were an age-old tradition and a way of life.
In the Owambo regions of northern Namibia, horses and donkeys have always been valued as a means of transport, for riding and to convey people and goods from one area to another. As a child, I was fascinated by the treks and didn’t realise until much later, when I was older and started to travel to the North myself, how far it actually was. The treks covered hundreds of kilometres and water had to be found along the way, either at springs or obtained from the farms.
In the late 1800s some horses went as far as Angola and became known in the North as Kwanyama horses. They are believed to be descendants of those used by the Dorsland trekkers when they travelled through the Owambo regions into southern Angola. They traded their horses with the Oukwanyama for access through the territory. Traces of Boerperd (‘Cape Horse’) characteristics can still be seen.
It was in 2011, during the good rain years, that I saw my last horse trek. I pulled off the road and chatted to the men. They had travelled from Leonardville in eastern Namibia and were taking the horses northwards to trade.
I haven’t seen one since.
(If anyone knows any of the horse trekkers, please let us know, we’d love to hear their stories)