Equanimity has some lovely horses available to ride in lessons and on trails. Their personalities vary and they are encouraged to remain their quirky-selves, despite being asked to conform to the strict standards of discipline required of trail and school ponies.

Conquer

Conquer was the founding member of Equanimity Equestrian Center, being the first pony jointly bought by Cheresa and Adam, initially with the sole purpose of starting up the horse riding school. He was 14.1hh chestnut arab cross gelding, and was born in 2001. He did low level competitions in show jumping, dressage, showing, eventing and endurance, as well as a few drag hunts. He even offered pony rides at a church fundraiser. Conquer spent all of 2012 through until mid 2016 as a school pony for Equanimity, until he was diagnosed with Navicular disease. His diagnosis was a heavy blow, as Conquer was the main pony Cheresa wanted to keep going into his golden years. It was decided that Conquer would relocate to Noordhoek for a quieter life as an equine assisted psychotherapy pony and he spent the remainder of 2016, up until first few months of 2018 with the Equinox Trust. Conquer returned home to Equanimity in 2018 and we were so happy to have him back! There was no urgency to return him into school work and instead, he spent his early retirement as a companion to our young colts and stallions, teaching them how to behave in a gentlemanly fashion, as well as tolerating obnoxiously overdone cuddles and affection from his existing fan-club. Late in 2019, Conquer was attacked by a pig and nearly lost his life! He went through a lengthy recovery process and was completely mobile against all odds. Early in 2020, he did his very last endurance ride with Cheresa and a week later, he suffered a PSSM attack, which he unfortunately did not recover from fully. The heavy decision was made to put him to sleep instead of allowing him to suffer through another year of recovery. Conquer was a regal force to be reckoned with. He had a tremendous impact on many lives and the herd is wiser and more stable as a unit because of the valuable experience he imparted on the youngsters.

Rock Legend

Roxy, as she was known around the yard, was an immensely gentle and honest thoroughbred mare. She was born on 21 November 2011, was 16.2hh, a dark bay, had shoulders like a tank and a heart as squishy as a marshmallow. Roxy was what we like to call a “nurturing type”. She could be ridden by tiny riders whose legs didn’t even go past the saddle, as well as by more experienced riders who liked to do a bit more work. Roxy was gifted to Cheresa in December 2017 by her previous owner, Felicity Rossouw, when Felicity wished for Roxy to receive more specialised attention in terms of her ongoing soundness issues. Roxy went through many, many ups and downs physically. Mentally, she was always keen to give her best for us. We painstakingly took care of her hooves and joints, offered her supplements and the highest quality feed. She was diagnosed with chronic colitis in 2018 and still prone to occasional lameness despite our best efforts. She developed a chronic inflammatory response, which we believe had been preventing her from fully healing and growing healthy hooves for years. When she sustained a minor cut and it refused to heal, our veterinarian suspected that this was a sign of our worst suspicions. Cheresa had to make a call and given her history, we did not want her to suffer needlessly. This was one of those heartbreaking cases where the horse’s mind and heart want to live happily, but their body just could not keep up with their spirit.

Fine Pearl

Fine Pearl is the princess (who ironically loves to roll in mud, but hates to step in it) of the yard. She is a 2008-born, 16hh Thoroughbred x Saddler cross, crossbred mare with legs for miles and movement that can make people stop in their tracks. Pearl has a lovely gelding son by the late Donatello, who was by the KWPN stallion Waldemar G out of Saratoga Destiny’s Child (by Saratoga Carrick). He is named Phoenix and is owned by Jenita Ferreira. Pearl also has a beautiful filly by Assegai Stud’s Rico KWPN, called Parfait Finesse, who was born in December 2018. Parfait is part-owned by Cheresa and Mia de Roubaix. Pearl is talented in free work, dressage, jumping, cross country, endurance and loves outrides. She is an incredibly honest horse with a fantastic work ethic and willingness to please and she is certainly a gem worth more than we could ever say. Pearl has a huge stride for her size and has talent for days! She is dainty and feminine, yet has scope, power and toughness – what a wonderful horse! Pearl is owned by Mia de Roubaix and they are a lovely partnership.

Blazing Aurora

Blazing Aurora, also known as Ash or Babyface around the yard, is owned by Cheresa. She is a 2011-born, 16hh red bay Thoroughbred mare with the quirky (yet usually talented) bloodlines of Northern Dancer, Best by Test and Al Mufti. Interestingly, Cammy and Ash share the same great grandsire! Ash was brought to the yard with the intention of her filling Cammy’s shoes. Ash is the most straightforward, laid-back young thoroughbred we have ever come across. She has an impressive stride in the country and showed very good pulses in her first endurance ride. Shortly after her arrival, Ash fractured her left hip and she underwent a lengthy recovery process. The result is that she is very left-bent, but this does not hinder her in the slightest. Ash enjoys jumping, but loves relaxed outrides most of all. Ash is currently in foal to the full arabian stallion, Spartacus, from Strydom Stud in Pretoria. Cheresa met Spartacus on a visit to Pretoria, intending to look for a horse for a client. Instead, she met Spartacus and was completely blown away by his temperament and presence. The decision was made then and there. Ash’s beautiful foal, Akiva, was born 22 December 2017 🙂

Akiva

Equanimity’s Akiva is our 2017 gelding born on December 22nd. He is by an arabian stallion from Strydom Arabian Stud, Spartacus FS, out of our thoroughbred mare, Blazing Aurora. Akiva was born kicking and despite his very plain colouring, he is filled with fire and spark. He oozes presence and keeps the entire herd on its toes. The future is bursting with possibilities for this handsome young fellow and we’re so honoured to be a part of his adventure. Akiva has been owned and loved by Jackie Martin since 2020.

Praline

Praline is a 2004-born 16.3hh chestnut mare by Piotter KWPN out of a SAW mare, Verdini Ladioska, who was by Landgraaf KWPN. She was owned by Cheresa and was sold in 2019 when the riding school closed. Praline’s dam was nearly 18hh and was an absolute sweetheart of a horse. Praline’s dam died while she was still very young and she was subsequently raised as a pet. Her breeder competed in jumping at the time and bred Praline as a jumper, but she did not seem to have the heart for it. Praline survived African Horse Sickness as a youngster and is a tough, unassuming, easy-going mare with phenomenal scope of movement and hidden talent. She is quite bossy in the herd, but is the most gentle horse when it comes to people. She has in the past been trained in Andrew Mclain’s teachings, Straigtness Training, as well as basic French Classical education. Praline is spending time being a wonderful matriarch and stabilising force in the herd, whilst teaching a few riders about riding with their spines and quieting their minds 🙂 In 2018, Praline produced a softie of a filly by the German stallion, Rotspon, called Priya Pazice, loosely meaning “beloved golden one”. Priya is owned by Cheresa.

Calisto

Calisto is a 2016-born South African Warmblood filly bred and owned by Cheresa. Cally is by the late Donatello (SAW), out of the late Camargo XX. Cally has her dam’s spunk and sensitivity (not to mention appetite) and shows an incredibly free shoulder, inherited from her dam, as well as her granddam’s side (Saratoga Destiny’s Child by Carrick). Calisto is a beautiful bay tobiano and has inherited her grandsire’s signature black streak in a white tail. We are very excited to see how she matures and who she becomes and she is very special to Cheresa personally, being the offspring of her beloved Cammy – who used to fall asleep in Cheresa’s arms.

Elsa

Elsa is a 14.2hh, 2014-born Appaloosa crossbreed mare who came to Equanimity with the intention of being backed and sold on. As with all of the horses who come into Cheresa’s possession, no process is rushed and we try to take great care in ensuring that each horse finds his/her ideal human. Elsa (previously known as “Chloe”) is no different. Her backing process was very straight-forward and she is a sensitive horse, who gives her entire heart to her rider once she knows what is expected of her. Despite her conformational defects, she has smooth, floaty, easy paces. In 2020, our wish came true and Elsa found her person in our long-time client, Vicky Baguley.

Silver Oaks Bailey

Bailey was Cheresa’s private horse, who she bought in December 2017. Bailey was a 2012-born, 16.2hh dark bay SA Warmblood gelding by Rivendell High Flyer out of a thoroughbred mare named Secret Affair, who was by Krystal De Roche. Bailey was not a school horse and Cheresa promised him that he would never have to change homes again. He was wise and regal, but also had a secret sense of humour. His dam was known to dump any rider she didn’t approve of and rumour has it that Bailey was no different! Although Bailey was well bred for show jumping and dressage, and even though he showed an effortless jump and a tremendous natural ability to collect, there were no plans to ever push him into a competitive career. He was always happy to share an occasional thought of wisdom with anyone willing to listen, and to harass the herd some days while leading the foals on adventures other days. Bailey’s story was an incredibly sad one and extremely painful for Cheresa to experience. She is yet to publish a report on the circumstances which eventually led to his euthanasia. It was one of those often missed cases of random “mystery illnesses” and silent symptoms. Only upon necropsy did the true extent of his chronic silent suffering present itself.

Phoenix

Phoenix is a 2016-born South African Sports Horse colt bred by Cheresa and owned by Jenita Ferreira. Phoenix is by the late Donatello (SAW), out of Fine Pearl. Phoneix is as gooey and gentle as they come. He is the most innocent horse with the most marshmallowy personality ever. His sire was impressive, yet incredibly patient and gentle – he was a fantastic therapy horse and we were heartbroken to lose him to colic in middle 2017. Phoenix has inherited his sire’s softness, as well as his dam’s innocence and sensitivity. We expect Phoenix to mature into a tank of a horse (who will not realize his tankishness) with flowing, correct movement and a durability generally lacking in the current SAW gene pool. With Waldemar G in his lineage, Phoenix is bound to take quite a few years to mature physically and we intend to give him all the time he needs to become an impressive, well-grounded and sure-footed young man. Phoenix was sold to Jenita Ferreira early in 2018 and they are enjoying the journey of each other as Phoenix grows up.

* Leases are available for all Equanimity owned horses so please enquire should you wish to lease your favourite horse or pony! Click here for more information on our leasing options.