It has been a little quiet here, so I thought that I would post some photos of my ranch horses. Used to check stock and for my own pleasure.
Mainly Boerperd/ Arab type ponies.

Nice!

Odd question, but do you ever hunt with your horses. When I was in RSA, I asked the guide about it and he said it would not work well with African hunting (your area looks a lot different than his).

Just curious. I enjoyed the pic's.

Yes, probably not so effective here, but certainly done in the past.
In the old days of open country they used to ride down the animals, English-style, but not so anymore.

It is very interesting to think about ranching here as opposed to Africa. Probably a lot of similarities (except for the weather). I regret not ever hunting a wide open space in Africa, similar to your place (I hunted twice in Limpopo and liked it but definitely different I'm sure).

So, you guys ride with English saddles and long stirrups?
Peter.

Photos are a bit misleading. Traditionally we would have used English saddles with a few of my father's generation owning an Australian stock saddle.
The saddles on the two grey horses are those used by my farm hands and me occasionally too. For ranch work we use military and also McClellan saddles.
My own saddle is the one on the bay mare ridden in a halter. It is a "trail saddle" used for endurance or pleasure riding and the most comfortable.
The US-style Western Saddles are very big and heavy for these small ponies, though I would love to own a good one.

Very, very cool to know McClellans are still in use and appreciated somewhere on this Earth!

A good broke saddle horse, a good Western saddle, and a good saddle scabbard that fits, a rifle that's flat such as a 99 Savage, and hunting takes on a new shape, lots of fun..ride the rimrocks, jump big bucks or bulls, bail off and start shooting, range is usually pretty short, if not you have time to flop on rock or log for a rest...Do yourself a favor, hunt horseback...Not to mention how easy it is to pack out your game!

Great advice! My forefathers did it, but we (horses too) are out of practice now.

The top photo is of my own saddle mentioned earlier that is very comfortable.
The McClellan below is not one for the purists, but is inexpensive with little to break. Just used to ride around the ranch checking stock and waters and surprisingly comfortable.