Their origins steeped in mystery, the wild horses in the Namib Desert have captured imaginations and touched hearts. These resilient animals have survived in the desert for more than a century and over the years have become a major tourist attraction in southern Namibia.
The book ‘Wild Horses in the Namib Desert’ (now out-of-print) is the outcome of a collaboration, revealing the little-known history and behaviour of the wild horse population. Manni Goldbeck sheds light on the horses’ origins, taking the reader back to the tumultuous time of World War l and exploring the more plausible theories, while Telané Greyling (PhD Zoology) shares her knowledge of the intriguing behaviour of the Namib horses gleaned from her many years of research and life amongst the horses. Freelance writer, Ron Swilling, created a text from the material giving it a breath of life. Finally, from the love for the horse and all things wild, the book was born.
An equine biography of the Namib wild horses, the book traces the beginnings of Equus groups on the sub-continent, following their journey over time to Namibia and the present day.
Join us every Sunday as we share the wild horses’ journey with you . . .
(If you’ve missed any of the posts, you can find them on the PadlangsNamibia website.)
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟑: 𝐀 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐉𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐳𝐞𝐫 – 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐛 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬
Jan Coetzer served as an unofficial custodian of the wild horses from the time he began to patrol the area for Consolidated Diamond Mines (CDM) in 1966 until his departure from the area in 1981. He kept an eye on the wild horse population and regularly checked up on the borehole and the availability of water for the horses. When water was not pumped regularly, it was through Oom Jan’s (‘Oom’, the Afrikaans word for ‘Uncle’, denoting respect) recommendation and effort that CDM communicated with South African Railways (SAR) requesting a continued supply of water for the horses. When the pump broke down, he drove water out to Garub in a tanker. He ensured that the pump equipment remained in good working order, replacing the reservoir with holding tanks in the early 1980s and installing ball valves to fill the trough automatically. Oom Jan once again became involved in the wild horses’ plight in the 1992 drought when he raised money for supplementary feed.
Jan Coetzer’s father was born in South Africa and came to German South West Africa as a young man to fight in the war in 1914/1915, remaining in the country afterwards. Jan grew up on a farm adopting all sorts of animals and continued to care for abandoned animals, from springbok and gemsbok to owls and a lanner falcon, throughout his life. He was appointed an Honorary Nature Conservation officer, nominated by Namdeb, for the Lüderitz/Oranjemund region. In this capacity he acted as a ranger and reported irregularities in the area.
He says that many people have contributed in different ways to the survival of the wild horses. He gives credit to CDM for supporting the continued existence of the horses in the protected and well-policed Sperrgebiet and to South African Railways for making the Garub water available for the horses.
A man who has always had a love for animals and especially horses, Oom Jan was attracted to the mystique of the wild horses existing in this remote area in extreme conditions and how they had become a pure breed through decades of isolation and harsh natural selection, only the strongest of the population having survived. He describes how ‘the challenge between two stallions can literally take your breath away as they paw the ground, prance, snort and rear - proud and free’. He says, “If you tame a wild horse, you take away some of its spirit.”