Barry Armitage
In 1842 Dick King rode 950km across some of South Africa’s toughest country in just 10 days on a horse called Somerset. This journey from Durban to Grahamstown has become the stuff of legend, but has history remembered well? Barry and Joe will find out.
The Ride goes to Mongolia to take part in the world’s toughest horse race! A race based on Chinggis Khaan’s postal system which operated for centuries through one of the world’s greatest empires. Barry and Joe race 1000km across the Mongol steppe while filming another heart stopping series and attempt to win against some of the toughest equine adventurers in the world.
The Ride slows down on this journey from the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal to Cape Town. Part fund raiser, part road show, part grand social experiment; Barry and Joe will need places to stay, feed for their horses and themselves. Their quest is to ride 2000km over 10 weeks on the charity of the people of South Africa, while raising funds for equine charities.
In 1835, using the horse based postal system of the Cape Colony, it took Sir Harry Smith a brisk six days to ride the 950 km from Cape Town to take command of the British garrison at Grahamstown. This was a remarkable feat of human endurance and horsemanship. Bombastic, bungling, British hero he might have been but can Barry and Joe match this epic race against time?
Based on the experiences of teenage Boer fighter Deneys Reitz during the 1899 – 1902 Anglo Boer War, this 4500 km horseback odyssey retraces his hoof prints through South Africa during this desperate conflict. From the Mozambique border in the east, Barry and his companions travel the breadth of the country, to the Atlantic seaboard in the west.
