How to get Past a Plateau in Growth

I had a business coach at my last corporate job. I spoke to her every week for two hours. I was struggling in that job that I hated but was bound to because it was sponsoring me to stay in the UK.

We condensed all of my goals down to one word - Freedom. Every decision I made, every difficult conversation, every horrible commute to a place I didn’t want to be, had to be tempered by a bigger goal - freedom. It made the every day drudgery easier to swallow.

Now, I apply the same technique to my current job. When the drudgery of accounting, emails, personalities and people needing my attention becomes excruciating I remind myself that the completion of this task is not the end goal. This is not part of the dream, the admin is not a part of the freedom I had been seeking at all, it’s unnecessary and able to be cast aside.

I can use AI, hire help, template everything, and create an internal intranet to increase the ability of any ‘solved’ task to be done by someone else or a machine, and I am able to focus on the ultimate goal - which is still freedom, but what freedom looks like to me has changed.

I’ve moved up Maslov’s hierarchy from having my life controlled by my residency status and my employer to having freedom to work for myself and permanent residency. All my time is now my own. Now the goal is more about developing myself.

I can now go anywhere I want whenever I want. My problem is that I don’t have time to do everything, so I must focus intensely on one particular passion and enjoy it until I understand it enough for the fun to be drained out of it before moving on to the next big thing.

The universe will give you clues about which direction your life should take and I have felt a strong pull to the ex-USSR for a long time. I have wanted to learn Russian and have that part of the world open up to me. I’ve lived in Moscow, studying the language before but not for long enough to have it stick. I need to spend six months in a Russian speaking country but I keep signing up for rides and getting lost in the minute of the travel company.

Reminding myself that working on the business is not the goal, the business facilitates me exploring the world, and seeing in person the things others have spoken to me about, I’ve watched on youtube and read in books. Each destination reveals the next clue and the next point of focus.

Remembering this tends to give me the perspective I need to stop procrastinating submitting my tax return and listing rides.

If you feel stuck in the moment, try focusing on the big lofty goal. The tasks that seem huge right now will shrink, you’ll shrink them, to get them out of the way of your real life.

Photo by @linaimages

Sardine Travel

My social media is filled with people showing crowds at beauty spots around the world. I’ve seen masses at the gates to Machu Pichu, people sharing ‘hacks’ that recommend you visit the Trevi Fountain and Forum in Rome at 4am to avoid crowds. I’ve seen guards in Portofino and Thailand managing lines of people waiting to get their photo for instagram. Venice is selling entry tickets to tourists in the form of a €5 entry tax. Airports have people sitting in every spare corner and the lines for security are out the front door and down the street. We have the Spanish protesting against tourism and one village in Greece voting to ban tourists completely.

A growing global middle class means there are more people with the money to travel - but the world’s best known beauty spots have not grown in capacity.

How much worse is it going to get and what is the solution? Will the City of London raise its walls again and start charing £20 entry? Will Mount Snowden add an online ticket office that releases capacity three months in advance and put armed guards at the trail head?

In the future will only the rich have access to these places and will this push people further into their online reality, or worse - the metaverse.

Countries with Space

In the riding holiday world I get insight into how things might go as we’re always on quest to ride where there are no roads and no sign of other humans. There are rides that have already been impacted by urban sprawl. The Loire has paved roads and no longer lets horses ride up to castles. We have to park our horses and pay at the gate. Cantering is more restricted because gravel paths are now tarmac roads. A very popular ride in India has had a town reach its gate. The population in Kenya has doubled in the last ten years and now there is a car quota for surrounding wildlife in the Masai Mara at one time (four to five maximum, the rest have to wait for 45 minutes before their turn just behind them).

The further away the city remains from the horses the more of the local culture is preserved. We see this in Ireland too where all the Irish speaking areas are on the west coast where the English didn’t bother reaching to beat it out of them. So, authenticity, and beautiful cultural difference is in the hidden pockets of the world these days.

The least densely populated countries in the world are Mongolia, Namibia, Australia, Iceland, Suriname, Botswana, Libya, Canada, Guyana, and Kazakhstan. Most of the these countries are made up in huge part by a big desert or mountain range - but that is perfect for horse riding! We’ll find shamans, petroglyphs, caves, miles and miles of open country with no roads and best of all, land that hasn’t been manipulated by man - or if it has, it’s by ancient man and we are one of the few to stand witness to it in recent times.

It’s no surprise to me many of Black Saddle’s ride’s are located here: Namibia, Australia (well next door in New Zealand), Iceland, Botswana, and Kazakhstan (next door in Kyrgyzstan).

Tripadvisor Travel

Part of the problem is that many people have no idea what they truly enjoy and simply play travel bingo, ticking off the top ten spots on TripAdvisor during their holidays.

For example, there is this one tree in Wanaka, New Zealand. It’s just like the other trees around the lake where it grows, but photographers have snapped it so many times that it’s become infamous. Whenever I walk past, there are buses of people crowded around it. It has no real significance; it’s just popular on TripAdvisor because it appears in so many marketing photos. Everyone is dressed the same, taking the same photo, in and out of the bus in 15 minutes, then off to the next TripAdvisor spot.

This type of travel causes congestion.

When I think about the future of travel, I worry about the restrictions that are coming. The US has only had passports since the 1850s, and UK passports were generally not needed for travel until the First World War. Can you imagine a world where you can travel from place to place uninhibited? What a dream!

In my lifetime, places that were once open have closed due to geopolitical changes: Russia, Iran, the Levant, Ethiopia. Unfortunately, these are the places I’d most like to visit. Maybe in a different part of my life.

I also worry about the spread of English. While it makes organizing travel easier, I can see a lot being lost in the process. Instead of experiencing a new culture, we often see locals in Adidas tracksuits with smartphones, watching TikTok. Kyrgyz grandmothers once made felt saddle pads for their horses that lasted generations, but now they use plastic knock-offs from China. Song Kol Lake, which has had no permanent buildings, no power, and no cell reception for millennia, had two buildings under construction when I was there in July. I was deeply upset to see them.

So much is changing so quickly, and things are becoming more homogeneous. I feel an urgency to travel and soak up untouched places before the crowds find them, or the locals move to the city and forget their old ways.

Buildings at Song Kol Lake

Lines at Reykavik airport snake to the terminal entrance

What I Would Do If I Started or Ran A Safari

  1. Contract rights with visiting photographers / videographers. If you’re exchanging a ride for content make sure you don’t get caught up in red tape down the line. Have them sign off that you have full worldwide rights to the content and can provide it to your agents and third parties to use to promote your business. I’ve seen so many photographers hogtie content after they’ve had their ride, try to resell it, limit edits and generally make it hard to share. Remember you have something of value that you gave in good faith and it’s ok to ask them to agree to terms that allow you to promote the ride. Contracts are not coercion, they provide clarity. Make sure you get it in writing before they arrive.

  2. Categorise content. When you get 2000 photos from one ride the content can feel overwhelming. Classify each by ride and date and you might want to categorise it by location too or by day / accommodation / horses / tack / camp etc. This helps agents put together posts and helps you create focus points for your social posts. Save everything on a google drive and email your agents every time it’s updated.

  3. Share content widely and often. Every day ideally. Make this part of your routine. Every share is an opportunity for someone to find you or to understand and trust you enough to book with you.

  4. Speak to my followers like friends. This is a holiday not a career, be yourself, be open. People want to know if you’re their type of person. Don’t use corporate jargon. If you would feel weird talking to a friend this way change your copy to be more personal.

  5. Show behind the scenes. Show the work required for the safari. It’s helps people understand the price tag. Its a load of work to prepare and keep all these horses and staff and it takes a special kind of person to pull it off. It’s fascinating to see how it all works.

  6. Only show content I like: no bad riding, and no guests you didn’t enjoy. Attract your ideal client by showing what you want more of. I see so much terrible riding in safari’s own posts. Leave that on the cutting room floor and show the high moments.

  7. Don’t set up content: If you don’t swim on the horses and you don’t canter that much don’t set up shots that show this. You’ll only disappoint your guests. Show real shots from trails.

  8. Don’t game your followers. Don’t spam people with engagement tricks, random polls, trick them into clicking on new reels. Be authentic and build trust with them.

  9. Avoid give-aways, awards, and accreditations you pay for. It’s a waste of time. Build authority, don’t buy it. There are a couple of rides that love sharing bogus awards they’ve paid for and from personal experience I can say - RUN from those rides and don’t be one of them.

  10. Send out brochures that can be shared easily. You want people far and wide to know of your ride so make it as easy for people to share your content as possible. Give them as much information as you can at once so they any barrier to them saying yes is gone. Be clear on price, comfort, starting point, packing list, weather, riding time - everything. Informed people are ready to make good decisions.

  11. Delegate. Decide if agents are for you and then outsource marketing to them. That’s what you’re paying for. If you don’t have the patience to do all the above then working with an agent should be a relief. Commission great photos and pass them onto your agents and let them do the rest so you can focus on the horses.

How I Find the Right People for Black Saddle (Guests and Operators)

My job is mostly about people management. Looking for signs that people will do well on a group holiday and signs that people will make good riding operator partners. It comes down to communication. 

By recognising red flags, even very small ones, early on, I can avoid 80% of the headaches that come from less than 20% of my interactions. 

Black Saddle is about connection, not consumption, so I aim to avoid users on both sides of the fence.

Here are the things that I do to help identify who are the right people to ride and work with:

GUESTS

  1. Are they open with sharing about themselves? I only check availability on a ride if someone fills in a rider form. I spent so long dreaming with people when I first started only to find out that they can’t ride or are so disagreeable they don’t think they should fill in the form. Now, all conversations start based on the form and I can give personal advice on a holiday based on their riding history. My Dad gave me this piece of advice: if they really want to come everything will be straight forward and they’ll pay. He was right. 

  2. I check their social media. Not for follower counts, but to get an idea of who they are. If they are antisocial or have pictures riding very skinny horses badly, I know it’s not a fit. I’m also interested in the ratio of followers to following. If someone has 100 followers and follows 5000 people this tells me they probably don’t live in the real world and spend a lot of time online. Follower count doesn’t matter to me, you can have 60 followers and join a ride. Some people just aren’t on social media and that’s probably pretty healthy. 

  3. I have a seven day payment window to book your holiday. This helps cut down on people who aren’t that serious and limits to and fro. If they can’t pay in that time I just ask them to check in again when they’re ready. On the other side some operators only hold saddles for 48 hours so it’s a balance to allow a guest enough time to check flights and annual leave, and keep the saddle for them. I’ve had a couple of instances where guests have paid a month later with no communication. I just return their payment back to them, even if the ride isn’t full. It’s a group holiday and there has to be some complicity with following instructions. 

    I also don’t want people to come if they can’t really afford it. It’s a holiday, not further education. You should be able to afford the holiday and any extra unexpected costs relatively easily. Other agencies offer payment plans but I never will because,  honestly, I don’t think you should stretch yourself to go on holiday. It can bring nervous travellers too because they don’t have a back up plan for delayed flights etc. 

  4. I don’t take bookings through travel agents or personal assistants. This is because I need to get a feel of you and I’ll never know for sure who you are if lovely Jenny who doesn’t ride filled in your rider form. Also, my two longest, most convoluted bookings were through travel agents. One was 96 emails (on just one string) and they cancelled in the end. It doesn’t match what Black Saddle is aiming to do, which is to connect and not consume.

80% of people are so obviously right that they send in their form, I send them the info, they confirm they want in and they pay and are confirmed. It’s so easy. As with all tasks everywhere you spend 80% of your time on the 20% that aren’t quite right. 

RIDING OPERATOR PARTNERS

My overarching question when meeting riding operators is ‘if anything goes wrong will they do whatever it takes to make sure the guest is alright?’. This is usually reputation motivated and so is a big part of the reason I partner with owner-operators. They are the ones there to make the guests’ holiday spectacular and when it’s your business you just care more and you have the authority to make things happen. 

If you’re curious about the guidelines for Black Saddle partners you can read them here.

  1. Clear communication right from the start. If I can’t get a price list or an itinerary on day one it’s not for me. I don’t think about it too much, I just move on.  I don’t want my guests to be guinea pigs (unless it’s a pioneer ride and in that case I’ll be on it). Rides need at least a year to iron out the gaps. If they say I can create anything I want I find it really unhelpful - I’m not an expert in their location, I’m looking for them to guide me on whats good based on their sense of style and taste. I can then line that up to mine and the other Black Saddle rides. If they don’t know where to price their ride, or worse, just want the maximum dollar and so price every ride individually, I don’t want to be part of it. 

  2. How do they handle mistakes? There are always things that go sideways when you’re dealing with horses and people! It’s normal. It’s how you cope that makes all the difference. If you’re an honest, caring guide the guests will actually help you. If you’re robotic and awful the smallest things will be noticed and complained about, and once you’ve lost a guests’ goodwill, it’s gone for good. You won’t win them back. I’ve had a few instances of very good operators in the last year (you’d be surprised) behaving very strangely, and doubling down on their mistakes. Double bookings and forgotten reservations are rare but should be fixed rapidly. When they’re not I quietly stop promoting the ride until I get feedback from previously booked guests that eveything is in order. Usually when booking mistakes happen it’s a sign that money might be tight. It’s hard to make good decisions when you’re worried about cash. 

  3. English. Sometimes conversational English just isn’t enough. Emails will only have one question out of five answered. Collection times are misrecorded. Invoices are the wrong amount. These are little annoying behind the scenes things but the biggest problem is the cultural gap.  In knowing the language, you understand the culture. If the local guide can’t reach their guests culturally this is when the horses are not dealt with in the same way Britain and Northern Europeans work with horses at home, it can be harsher - too harsh for a guest to enjoy the experience. You need to meet the guest where they are and that comes from understanding them - speaking the same language. Literally. 

  4. How do they take feedback? This is the big one. I’ve let go of a ride that I sold close to half of the season of last year because  the ride slowed down and the guiding had changed and the guests noticed. They still loved the ride but it wasn’t as deep as an experience. I shared the feedback with the owner and some of my own insight as I’d done the ride twice. The response was ‘it’s always been this way’. But I knew it hasn’t been from personal experience, so read it more as a ‘this is what it is now’ and moved away. It’s so unusual to get bad feedback, because I do have such amazing, world leading partners, but often the guests are right and their criticism is helpful!

I’ll caveat what I’ve said here to say that there are many holidays where your guide will speak hardly any English and you’ll communicate on a different level and have an amazing time. I love holidays like this for myself but they’re not right for Black Saddle where consistency of experience is important.

So, rather than try and change people, I aim to communicate clearly - they can either meet me where I am or we’re not a match. 

This wonderful job has become so much easier since I started saying no. Instead of losing guests and not being able to fill rides, all our Black Saddle rides are full and we have the most amazing people joining us. It did feel a bit scary to turn away guests at the start, and I’m sure I’ve missed a few amazing people where I’ve got it wrong, but I’m so happy with the Black Saddle community.

It’s all working ❤️

The Riding Safari Travel Agency Industry

Travel agencies run on two spectrums.

1) They can appeal to the mass market or they can be particular about who books with them.

2) They can sell all rides, or niche down to represent the lower or the higher end of the market.

At the mass-market end of the spectrum you have market makers like bookhorseridingholidays.com and My Cavago that create a platform where outfitters sign up to list their rides directly. There’s a huge amount of choice. Anyone can sign up, rides aren’t tested and as details are added by the outfitters, information can be old and out of date. Guests can book onto a ride immediately without detailing their riding experience so you can assume the outfitters are not screening their guests for riding ability.

Then you have the curated riding holiday agencies - which are most of the rest. Each has a niche in terms of clients age or where they are based. These agencies are usually selective over which rides they choose to list. Generally the more rides they offer the less likely they have been personally tested by staff.

Testing is subjective. Does an agency mean that they sent a client on a reduced rate and asked them for feedback? Or, that they stayed overnight to meet the guide and went for a one hour hack, but didn’t actually complete the safari? Or do they mean they completed the ride from start to finish and understand the day by day play of the entire safari?

Here’s a little inside view of riding safari travel agencies.

THE MAIN AGENCIES

In the Saddle: UK based. One of the original riding holiday agencies, established in the ‘90s. Olwyn and her team have shaped the industry in many ways holding operators to high standards. They have recently cut down their portfolio to just the best run and best experiences. They test all of their rides by sending team members for the full experience. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

Ride World Wide: Uk based. Also established in the ‘90s. Nigel is highly regarded in the industry and is a keen horseman himself. They have been a leader in the industry for a long time, popular with the hunting world, and while now they do still add a few new rides, their core portfolio is a pretty set and proven list of excellent holidays. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

Unicorn Trails: UK based. Run by animal vet, Wendy. They list one of the largest range of rides - so testing is lower though they did a lot more riding themselves in the past. They have some rare and interesting itineraries. Most staff are on a commission only pay rate and so may be incentivised to just clip the ticket. Clients are from a diverse range of countries though tend to be older: aged 50+.

Far and Ride: Uk based. Sue used to work for Unicorn before starting her own agency, joined later by her daughter, Holly. At first they focused on the more affordable rides in eastern Europe that Unicorn didn’t list. They now have a similar size portfolio to Unicorn and include all the higher end safaris though the more affordable rides is their wheelhouse. Very knowledgable and lovely people. A mix of younger clients on the more affordable rides and the standard safari guests aged 50+.

Horsexplore: Sweden based. Scandinavian based agency with mostly Scandi clientele.

Equus: UK based. The english speaking branch of Cheval d’aventure, a large french speaking agency. Run by knowledgeble staff, some of whom used to be outfitters themselves.

bookhorseridingholidays.com: The Netherlands based. A product from Tripanner, the original market platform where outfitters onboard themselves. They offer a huge range of rides with the ability book instantly. There is no testing of the rides though they do have rating system for past guests.

My Cavago: Initially Singapore based, but recently relocated to the UK to join a start-up incubator. Tauseef Qadri grew up in Saudi Arabia, went to MIT, before launching this market platform for mass appeal with a goal to list every equestrian experience from safaris to day hacks. No testing of the rides but they do have a rating system though all rides start with a five star rating at onboarding.

Saddle Travel: UK Based. They sell a wide range of rides that are able to be booked immediately similar to My Cavago and bookhorseridingholidays.com though they are an agent. Owner Matt also runs Freerein, a self guided riding holiday operator in Wales. They list the premium safaris but mostly sell the more low-cost rides in Europe and Northern Africa. A small minority are tested by staff.

Zaras Planet: Irish and UK based. Friends Jill and Zara run an established agency offering rides with around 90 outfitters globally. They ride on safari often. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

Equitours: US based. Created by Baynard Fox, an ex-spy and rancher himself married to Mel who grew up in Tanzania and breeds the Arabian horses on their own Bitterroot Ranch in Wyoming. Once a market leader and shaper of the industry, their influence is lessening now that Baynard is in his 90s. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

Globetrotting: Australian agency selling the more premium rides. With Equitours taking a step back they are growing in America, as well as in their home market of Australia, spending on advertising to grow their instagram and bookings. Rides are tested though some with a visit rather than full participation. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

Pferd und Reiter: Germany based. The stand out agency in Germany with an established wheel house of rides, often partnering with German speaking outfitters like those in Namibia and South Africa. They have quite a range of rides not found with other agencies but a very strong German speaking client base so consider that if exploring their options. They have clients of all ages but guests tend to be older - aged 50+.

African Horse Safaris: South Africa based, British run. Founder, Isabel, was a volunteer with David Foot in Botswana before finding investment and growing this popular Cape Town based Africa-focused agency. They are social media focused which leads to a younger client base. They’re very knowledgable about Africa and close to outfitters, with staff riding often on safari.

Black Saddle: Uk and New Zealand Based: This is my agency, created for younger people aged between 25 and 45 and focusing just on the higher end of the market. Like other agencies we add solo, or pairs of riders to set departures, but mainly we focus on exclusive rides, where the entire group is made up of our guests. The social side is important and we want people to have a similar fitness and a lot in common. All rides are tested in full and many are hosted. We’re for advanced riders only.

A good tip to get to know what kind of riders you’ll be joining on your holiday is to take a look at the riders in the agent’s social media photos. If they are your type of people, then it’s likely a match.

Personally I would avoid the market platforms unless you love to do a lot of research on a ride yourself. Use them to discover rides but do the due diligence yourself before booking on the outfitter’s own website. These platforms offer commission rates about 33% less than other agencies. When I see a ride listed on those platforms it does make me question the financial strength of a safari. The lack of review before accepting guests may be an indicator that a ride is quite commercial. The experience may have a riding school feeling.

Each rider will in fit naturally with one of the agencies as each covers a slightly different geographic or customer type. Each has a different philosophy on who they are prepared to book. You want to avoid agencies that just clip the ticket for the commission and will put any rider on any ride so long as they are willing to pay.

I’ve been on rides where guests give up in the first few days because they are not up to it. If agents ride the safaris themselves they can accurately share the facts on any moments of physical and mental toughness. A thorough review of riding ability, by asking the right questions and evaluating riders height and weight, should give a discerning agent enough information to match a rider to the right ride. It’s embarrasing for a rider if they need to pull out and it’s not fun for capable riders that are slowed down when the mis-matched rider perseveres.

The only way to know about a ride is to go and that’s where a good agent provides real value. Great advice comes from first hand experience but also being able to compare rides and knowing which will best fit what you are looking for. If an agent hasn’t been they are just copying and pasting information the outfitter gives them onto their website on trust.

I’m lucky to work in an industry where almost everyone is of solid moral character. No bad players is the dream. In the end it all comes down to who you think will understand you best when finding your dream holiday.

The Point of it All


I believe in the collective unconscious. Jung’s concept of the hive mind. The universal ‘knowing’ that is accessible to and part of all of us. You can meditate and ‘download’ from it or you can still your mind and become a vessel for wisdom you didn’t know you had. A quiet moment can change your life. 

It happened to me. The last time I was in New Zealand I was watching a youtube video in bed, very half heartedly, only half awake. One scientist says to the other “us having this conversation is just the universe trying to figure itself out’. I understood immediately what he meant. That we are all the same. That the cosmos they were studying is what we are made out of. That we aren’t apart from nature and the world but we are nature and everything we need to know is just beneath the surface of our busy, distracted, minds submerged and blinded in local cultural programming. 

We know this because when we think of complex ideas we close our eyes and try to form them in our minds. We know they’re there, we just need to uncover them. When we’re trying to remember a song we untangle it from a net in our minds. When we’re brainstorming we group together to carve David out of the rock. David was always there. We just need to carve away all the parts that aren’t David, as Michaelangelo famously said of his creation. 

Music producer Rick Rubin says that an idea’s time comes. We can be the vessel for the expression of that idea or it can pass us by. When we get into flow we are casting our net into the void and pulling the idea into reality. We need to do the work to have the skills to catch it. Hard work is rewarded. Nature loves courage as Terrance Mckenna says. 

When I go riding I slow down. I relax. My mind opens up. I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned about myself and realized about the world riding in silence in the middle of a mountain range in central asia or south patagonia. 

All cultures understand this and we have forgotten how to access this in our modern western cultures. The father of psychology Carl Jung knew though. The hindus and buddhists know. The chinese that follow the Tao know. The sufi muslims know. Those that travel a lot know because they’ve overcome their cultural programming and have seen enough of the world to know it’s what is common between us that is most interesting and true. We have different languages and vernacular to describe the same thing but self actualization is a common goal. Finding ourselves and the unique set of skills that we, as the physical manifestations of the universe at the precise time we were born, has to offer the world. 

If you learn how to channel and direct your thoughts with intention,  a whole new unknown world opens up to you. Discover who you are and then trust your intuition to lead you to where you are supposed to be.

But you need to discover who you are first. You can’t do that while your primary needs aren’t met. If you’re depressed, unable to cover your costs, if you’re yearning for more material wealth, if you sedate yourself with alcohol or drugs - you can’t get there. Step out of the game and everything becomes easier.

That’s why the horse riding is such a reset. You’re in nature. Being yourself. Trusting your horse who is acting like a bullshit arbitrator, only giving you peace if you come to them authentically. I get asked all the time if I want to pair up with therapists and create a therapeutic ride. I don’t think it’s necessary.

If your heart is in the right place and you’re ready, you’ll connect directly with yourself and everything you need to know is already inside you.

That’s the whole point.

From Timothy Leary:

“Admit it. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”.

Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others…”

From Rick Rubin:

“If you have an idea you're excited about and you don't bring it to life, it's not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn't because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea's time has come.”

From Terrence McKenna:

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it's a feather bed.”

Recommended Reading / Watching / Listening:

Terrence McKenna: Nature Loves Courage

Rick Rubin: The Creative Act - A Way of Being

Timothy Leary and Terrence McKenna ‘Find the Others’

How Can a Safari Stay Evergreen?

In my last post I talked about When a Safari Loses its Spark. Every single one of us can become jaded with our jobs and safari operators are no different, even with the best job in the world. Humans need novelty.

How can a safari keep it fresh? This is what I’ve observed on the 40+ rides I’ve been on (the most important point is the last one):

  • Offer new routes. Exploring and discovering them is great fun and new routes bring back guests. It’s fun for the guide and fun for the guests. Namibia Horse Safaris is great at doing this. They have an exploratory ride each year just for returning guests that they know will be up for it.

  • If you offer trails, offer a centre-based option and vice versa. Estancia Los Potreros have organised a ‘Crossing the Andes’ trail ride and it was a hit. Similarly if you offer trails why not try a residency at a safari or hunting lodge in the area. Guests will return to try something new with you and it’ll be a nice change from the usual. A lodge version will attract the riders who aren’t up to camping or roughing it in shared accommodation. Hekluhestar in Iceland and I created a hotel version of one of their trails and it’s a huge hit and sold out faster than the more rustic version I have on Black Saddle. Check out the Lupine Trail.

  • Do less and charge more. It might seem counter intuitive and scary but it’s worth it. If you’re confident you’re a market leader (your agents can share how your pricing and ride fits into the market - believe me, they know!) and you’re nailing all elements of your ride or if you have a well loved guide that everyone is essentially paying to come and see - don’t burn yourself out by maximising yourself. Go ahead and charge a premium. I would much rather ride with an amazing guide than spend less and get a generic experience.

  • Go on other rides. See how other people do it and feel the thrill of travel yourself. You might gain perspective. When you stay somewhere nice you sometimes realise how dated your place is or, on a more positive note, you learn some new tricks. Hotties (water bottles not people) in the beds at night and horses in the garden when you wake up, bonfires and fire torches add a lot of magic. It’s very common for guides to visit each other with a group of paying guests on their off-seasons. Everyone wins and you make strong connections in the industry.

  • Get in the right volunteers and back up guides. They are your future and your back up plan. Be careful with who you let into your world and don’t overwork them. This one might sound a bit preachy because of course you know this already and it probably plays on your mind all the time. Whenever I sign up a new ride I ask who will guide if the head guide wins the lotto and takes off. You won’t live forever and you deserve a break.

  • Don’t take your foot off the gas. I mentioned in my last post that a sure sign of fatigue in a safari is when the speed is slowed right down. Some safaris are slow and mountainous like The Great Trek in Kyrgyzstan, that’s not what I mean. The rides that are 90% walk on flat land with experienced riders are boring. It’s that simple. Ride to your guests’ ability and don’t find yourself just repeating the same pattern each journey. Feed off of their energy!

  • This is most important of them all: Attract people you like.

    • Be Social. Social media can seem boring - especially to horse people - but posting consistently with good photos and video full of action, will find your ideal client. If you’re not willing to learn - outsource to an agent that is social media savvy. Post photos with your ideal guests in the shot. Don’t post people that can’t ride and are unbalanced and dressed in inappropriate clothing. Show people what you offer and who might enjoy it.

    • Invest in good photography. Your ride might be epic but no one would know with those ten year old photos. Young people will be turned off by doddery photos. How you’re perceived is everything. Have your ideal clients in your promo shots. Get a lot of smiles and eye contact with the camera - horses and people. If you ask a photographer to come in return for a ride make sure you can freely use their photos and give them to your agents. It’s no good if they are locked up for use with one newspaper. That doesn’t sell rides like social media does. You should be posting regularly to your story with explicit info on how to book. More on that in a future post.

    • Be real. Post about the behind the scenes. Show your personality -  every ride has one. That’s how travel agents like Black Saddle get a rider onto a ride - by sharing what you’re actually like. Work out what makes you unique - it could be fast riding, incredible theatrical meals, ancient castles or just you as a person (usually it’s this). Lean into it. If you’re trying to find your ideal riders then show who you are. People like you will sign up to ride with you.

I’m not an operator so excuse me for being so bold here, but I do host many rides each year for my agency Black Saddle and finding people I actually like to go riding with makes all the difference. The more I’ve restricted the guests on Black Saddle rides (and, key point here, told people who is right for Black Saddle) the more fun I’ve had on rides and the business is growing rapidly with so many amazing people signing up for safaris.

It can be hard to find the time to share your story but it’s worth it and people really want to know!

When Safaris Lose Their Spark

Safaris run on personality. A charismatic, bon vivant with a hugely positive view on life and unlimited energy running through their veins is inspired to set up a safari. At the start they do a lot themselves. They arrange the horses, they buy the tack, they take the bookings, they drink with the guests until the wee hours of the morning and wake up early to check the eggs are boiling and the horses are watered and fed. 


They know each guest by name and share inside jokes with them. They can tell when a group can all ride well and up the volume accordingly, taking them to and fro at rapid pace and laughing at the glorious, child-like freedom of it all! Guests come back again and again and feel like returning friends. The line between guest and friend is grey and blurry and connections are real and strong.


But then the Owner starts to hire more and more staff. To make things smoother for the guests. They bring on more horses as one goes lame, and two retire. We must have spares so the guests’ riding isn’t interrupted. The overheads start to increase and they look at increasing the number of guests' on the ride. Eight is probably perfect but technically we could squeeze ten in and what’s the difference? They might even allow for 12, though they know the ones at the back will need to manage themselves, there’s no way they can possibly hear and see that far back, especially when they’re trying to manage these four new, hot, under-schooled horses up the front. 


With so many guests and horses they now need another back up guide - or even two for when one is ill. They’re so busy with the back office now with these big groups of 12 that they hire in more young girls to guide. They don’t have much time to train them properly but there needs to be a sense of a team so they order branded shirts to create a feeling of togetherness.


Some trips they’re just so busy that the group is lead by the back up guide. Just one or two rides at the start but then they start sitting out on more and more until eventually they just turn up to welcome the guests on the first day. The guests have a good time but they were hoping to be near the charismatic Owner who started the whole safari and instead they got matched with a perfectly lovely but very young and inexperienced foreign girl on her gap year. The guests are full of thanks and pleasantries but they never come back. 


The Owner needs to work harder to get new business now that the return rate has dropped. They start taking on older, less experienced, less-fit riders that they never would have accepted before. They can pay so why shouldn’t they come? There are more falls and the Owner tells the young foreign girls to cut down on the canters. They’ll be able to enjoy the scenery better at walk anyway. The guests, who have seen fast, joyful canters in all of the promo photos are full of thanks and pleasantries but never come back. It was just too slow. It’s just missing something. It’s not quite what I thought it would be. 


To mitigate the falls the Owner buys larger horses to carry the increasing weight of the ageing customer base. They’re also slower than the anglo arabians he used to use so that gives him peace of mind. 


A guest, who came at the start, gets a rush of nostalgia and books in to relive those happy, free feelings from long ago. She arrives to a different stable of horses, led by a young foreign girl with a great love of horses but no deep, passionate connection to this land and no lifetime of stories to share. The other guests are 20 years older than her and she has nothing in common with them. She is full of thanks and pleasantries as she leaves.. but she doesn’t come back.

You want to catch a safari in its prime. When researching rides for Black Saddle I look for signs of over-commercialisation and fatigue from the owner. Sometimes I can tell from the very large horses, sometimes it’s the number of guides they have on rotation, often it’s the sheer number of rides they put on. Sometimes I can tell from which riding agencies they find most of their riders through - many have almost all of their clients aged over 60 and into their eighties and the riding is slowed right down - just to be on the safe side.

I look for owner-led rides. It makes SUCH a difference. 

This sad scenario is all too common. One of the benefits of working with an agent is that we know who is jaded and where the magic has been lost, and without saying as much (we’re more discreet than that) we’ll steer you in the direction of a ride that still has a lust for life. 


If you’ve very adventurous and are looking for the most thrilling riding that comes with vibrant safaris I suggest you join me on a scoping ride as we trial the best of the new safaris and golden itineraries. It might not always run smoothly but that’s half the fun - think about it, all your best travel stories are about overcoming the things that went sideways aren’t they?!

For truly mind blowing riding I suggest a stay at Macatoo, riding in Kyrgyzstan, incredible Iceland with the wonderful Anita, or the greatest safari of all, Namibia!

What to do when a ride isn't perfect?

A ride I visited in January 2024 stunningly beautiful and we had an amazing group but I did have hesitations before arriving.

Their booking office is so slow to respond I was 50/50 on whether to keep working with them. They also increased the ride number from six to eight riders just before the season started when the groups were already fully booked with six for almost a year. You stay at two puestos on the ride - simple traditional cabins where the gauchos live. The main cabin has sleeping for six people and there is a second cabin with sleeping for two connected to the bathroom a short walk away. We had the guide and gaucho sleep there but guests could stay there and the guides sleep in a tent. It’s not the same as staying in the warm main cabin.

They tried to add a random seventh to our Black Saddle group of six with the new policy just weeks before the ride and asked if a Black Saddle rider, who had paid for her own room at the estancia, would share. I had to protest quite loudly to stop it from happening. 

They also don’t hold rooms at the estancia for the rides. The itinerary starts with a night at the comfortable estancia where you have a briefing and are given your saddlebags to pack. Sometimes I’m not able to offer the four night ride as advertised and instead guests are collected at 8:30am the following day to set off on horseback immediately. This change to the itinerary can worry some guests, that they are missing out on an element of the ride. The cost is lower of course but it’s the FOMO element the change creates and the rushed start that is still a bit awkward.

When we arrived we realised the local guide that all the reviews rave about was not on our ride but we had a French guide that had arrived in Argentina five weeks earlier and knew nothing about the area.

I tried to hide my disappointment from the girls in our group but felt let down to have a shallow experience compared to what I expected. The French guide was obviously sleeping with the gaucho - and trying very little to hide it. They shared a tent on the first night instead of sleeping in the cabin with us. She would canter to the front often for a moment of contact with him. We had crashed their romantic ride.

I wrote to the estancia afterwards to hear their interpretation of the ride. I said the scenery and horses were perfect but the guiding was sub-par. They said the main guide was ill and so they had a substitute who, they admitted, knew very little.

So, I’ve taken the ride off of the main website. A hard decision because it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever ridden and the hike to the glacier was brilliant. The reviews have all been top-notch, I’ve never had a rider submit anything other than an ‘excellent’ rating.

When things don’t go to plan it reinforces the standards I have for Black Saddle. Here, the ride is now just too commercial and the owner is too far from away me to give feedback that will be effective. The marketing team and booking office can fill the ride with beginners so they don’t care to aim for my experienced, well travelled riders. We are trying to achieve different things. 

I want Black Saddle to be the Michelin guide for riding holidays. Sometimes a ride can be perfect for me as an individual but it doesn’t work for the agency. The over-arching question I have when I join a ride is “If anything went wrong would they pull out all the stops to make the experience safe and fantastic for the guests”. If it’s not a hard and obvious ‘yes’ it has to be a no.

The guide is 50% of the ride. Owner led is best. Small groups are best.

The Pressure to Sell

…AND WHY I TRY TO IGNORE IT AND GET CURIOUS INSTEAD.

If I’ve done the work to really evaluate a ride to the standards I’ve set then everything on the website should be:

  • of a very high quality,

  • owned and guided by generous spirits that charge fairly, and

  • clear the itineraries and the value of the ride, 

It should sell itself.

Incredible photography can show the beauty of an experience. All I need to do is post different moments from the ride on socials. Combined with very comprehensive ride pages on the website with loads of details for those that need this to make a decision (I am one of them) the right rider can match their personality to a ride and signing up is a thrilling, exciting experience that they are sure of. A few questions here and there is totally normal of course.

SELLING FOR OPERATORS

There’s no such thing as a free lunch and there’s also no such thing as a free safari. Though being invited to visit is always very nice. With the ride comes the expectation that I will sell. There’s an expectation of trade and that’s fair. 

These ‘familiarization’ rides should really be just that. A look. A test. A first date to see if we like each other.  Rides are all about personalities and my job is to match riders to rides. By experiencing the ride first hand, yes I can give practical advice on weather, horses, bedding, the bathroom set-up and the food.. But the biggest advantage is that I can speak confidently, with authority, about what the guest will love about that ride and why. Does the guest have a need for speed and a physical challenge? Or are they a happy hacker seeking beautiful surroundings and excellent food. I can recommend where you should go based on who you are. 

I don’t want to promise a host that their ride will go on the website just because I visit and similarly I don’t want to promise that I will fill saddles even if it does. Sometimes things don’t click at different points of the process. I try to keep communication clear and open on the onboarding and initial release process. Sometimes rides, like Jakotango or Slovenia, sell themselves. Others though… I have to have difficult conversations with the hosts. I don’t want to let anyone down but it’s best to be honest about what interest there is and I might be able to give advice on what doesn’t quite work - if they are prepared to hear it.

Why don’t some rides sell?

What if I loved it, I got great content, the photographer nailed the photos and they’ve done very well on social media. We’ve told the story and people get the vibe. Maybe applications start rolling in too. But no one actually books. 

I usually start to feel a little anxious and confused. I feel an obligation to deliver my end of the deal and find their perfect guests. I worry that they will think that I’m ineffective or not doing my job peroperly,

It took a few releases of new rides to set that anxiety aside and now, instead, I get curious. How interesting that this ride has so much engagement on social media but no one is signing up? Is it because I haven’t explained the itinerary well enough? Maybe. Is the ride priced correctly, is it too expensive? Possibly. I don’t set the itinerary or the price. The operator creates their own ‘product’ and it’s my job to convey that information realistically but also to make it come alive. 

I’m learning that when rides don’t sell it’s usually for one of three reasons:

  1. The itinerary is too vague and I’m not certain of the experience. Which means in some way I am holding back promotion of the ride - consciously or subconsciously. 

  2. The ride’s personality is confused. The ride might be trying to claim to be something it’s not, or it might not fit into what people expect. It might be a bit weird. In this case it’s hard to match the personality of the ride to riders and it gets lost. 

  3. It is just too expensive. Maybe justifiably so because the base costs are high. Maybe there is a bit of price gouging going on. Deep down if I believe a ride is over priced I just won’t sell it.

With a bit of experience under my belt now I can tell you why the rides that don’t sell - don’t. Whether I share this information with the host comes down to the strength of my relationship with the them. If they are receptive I will share my insight happily. If I don’t think they want my insight, I will simply stop putting energy into the ride. I’ll stop posting it on socials and wait for the ride to continue to develop the itinerary and strengthen the value proposition.

SELLING TO GUESTS

I will never try to sell you a holiday. If you want to go, go. If you don’t, I’ll probably pick up on that fact after the third or fourth minor, semi-relevant question and then I’ll agree with you that it just doesn’t make sense for you right now. 

They’re just holidays. Not further education or financial investments.  The reluctant rider probably has their reasons. Perhaps they know that they aren’t up to the riding level. Perhaps they can’t really afford it. Perhaps they’re doing it to show someone else they can and the ride is not for themselves. Either way, if your gut says no, don’t go. 

You’ll end up asking a lot of questions, worrying, regretting, not getting your expectations met and then returning home feeling jarred and awkward because you forgot to slow down, live in the moment and enjoy it. Such a shame and such a waste. Go when you’re ready. I’ll still be here and so will the rides!

CONCLUSION

I’m learning that listening to the guests is the best way to know I’m doing the right thing. They will tell me with their interest whether I am selecting the right partners for Black Saddle. If they’re not interested it doesn’t mean that I’m doing a bad job or the operator has a bad product, but I or the ride might need more development.

The right guest will be sure of themselves and the experience and confidently book. Many, many questions or nit picking on minor details and they might be wanting something else other than a holiday.

I want to put energy into the rides that are effortless and a joy to sell.

PS - Just in case you’re curious, the best selling rides on Black Saddle are Jakotango, Iceland and Kyrgyzstan. They are such different rides but what they all have in common are incredibly brilliant hosts with high standards and a genuine love for horses.