Nadine, our Equestrian Manager, knows every horse intimately. She handpicked each horse, oversaw their journey to Olerai Conservancy, helped them acclimatize to the tropical climate in Kenya and got them used to their new career path in the bush.

Although Nadine’s passion has always been horses and nature, her parents wanted her to study business. She gave Germany’s corporate world her best shot from Monday to Friday, meanwhile weekends were spent performing in a horse musical show touring through Europe with 40 horses and 100 actors. While she loved the experience, her passion is safari riding. ‘I developed such a passion in keeping horses in their natural habitat,’ she says. ‘A horse, in its environment, is impressive.’ Ready to escape from a job behind the desk then moved to Africa to combine the passion for horse riding and training and the great outdoors. After several years in the horse industry in Southern Africa, she returned to Germany where she got a diploma in Equine Management and Classical Training from a State Stud.

Having not only worked in the circus, but also trained young horses for their first competitions, taught kids and adults up to medium levels equestrian skills, Nadine has a huge amount of experience in several disciplines in the world of horse riding. While travelling with circus people from all over the world and working in sundry yards in various countries, she saw lots of different ways of managing horses, leading her to become widely versed in theories of keeping horses. ‘It’s important to me that we keep them as natural as possible,’ she says, ‘and accommodate all their natural instincts.’

Nadine personally designed the Ride Mara stables according to recent research and beliefs she’s accrued over many years working with horses. She used her knowledge in building up horses physical fitness, creating fun sessions for the horses mental sweetness, fitting tack, doing supportive training and coping with physical issues to ensure our horses are perfectly attuned to safari riding.