Barry Armitage

In October 1899 a 17 year old boy by the name of Deneys Reitz rode out to fight with the Boer Army in its efforts to defend Boer independence and protect the precious southern African gold fields of the Transvaal Republic against the might of the British Empire. Eleven months later, seemingly defeated, Boer generals reorganized and redeployed their civilian forces. So began the final phase of the last Imperial War, and the first guerrilla war the world had seen: a war that heralded the beginning of the end of the British Empire.  
    
Now, over a century later, The Ride retraces Reitz’s gruelling 4500km horseback ride during the guerrilla phase of the war, spanning South Africa from the Mozambique border in the east to the Atlantic seaboard in the west. This epic equestrian adventure, along with 3000 km of sea and rail legs, chronicles a round trip through a vast landscape in a South African odyssey that follows the heroic journey of this intrepid Boer commando and his comrades, a tattered, poorly armed, brave group of men who called themselves “the Dandy Fifth” and explores their encounters with famous British units like the 17th Lancers. On this remarkable expedition the riders also explore the catastrophic influences this war had on all the peoples of South Africa: a war that shaped the political future of the South African nation.