Cowboys Never Cry

GEORGE ROBEY rides the range outside Ficksburg with one of Africa’s great cowboys

- GEORGE ROBEY AND SARAH FARNSWORTH

He rides effortlessly through flat, red, open grassland towards the white sandstone bluffs of the Great Escarpment, a skilled horseman, rancher, adventurer and true-to-life African cowboy who sits a horse like he was born there. This observation is not far from the truth.

Wiesman Nel herded stock on horseback in the Wittenberg mountain range at the age of six, managed farm horses at 16 years of age, and soon after started breeding a line of his own. Today, aged 40, he rears, trains and oversees a stable of 280 Arabian and Boerperd horses on the family-owned Moolmanshoek Private Game Reserve near Ficksburg. “It’s hard to explain, but my love of horses is like a disease,” Wiesman confesses.

My time with Wiesman begins several months earlier when I learn about an African cowboy who travelled to Mongolia for a 1 000-kilometre horse race in September 2019, and finished second out of an international field of competitors. I want to learn more about this adventuresome horseman, and earn an invitation to Moolmanshoek.

“Where’s your Stetson?” Wiesman asks at our initial introduction. He recognises my American accent and jests about the iconic cowboy hat made famous in the American West. It sets us both at ease. Moments later, he puts me on a chestnut Boerperd named Eclipse and we ride for the mountains. The gait is steady, but not too fast – he allows me to keep pace. I remain eager to learn about Wiesman’s Mongolian adventure, but it appears a long chat will have to wait…

Wearing a wide-brimmed cowboy hat, the tall Free Stater sits atop a dark bay Boerperd named Dash. His sharp features and lean profile suggest a lifetime of hard work, and his handshake confirms it. Wiesman doesn’t talk much while riding and speeds ahead when I ask too many questions.