Ride for Rhinos is an annual 250km conservation-based horse ride through the Waterberg in South Africa. The aim of this ride is to raise funds for Waterberg Rhino UK who use every penny raised to conserve and protect the rhino population in the Waterberg.

Rhinos are critically endangered and often savagely poached and killed for their horn. In many cases, this horn is illegally exported to China and Vietnam where it's used for traditional medicine. The demand is so extreme that, despite rhino horn having the same chemical make up as finger nails or horse hooves, it's valued in illegal trade, gram for gram, is higher than gold.

The demand for Rhino horn has created opportunities for organised criminal syndicates to target vulnerable local communities (pressuring them for information and assistance) and to overwhelm local conservation efforts as they are often highly armed and very dangerous.

The consequent costs and risks associated with rhino conservation are huge. It's not unusal for rhinos to have dedicated armed rangers following them around the clock or for them to be dehorned on a regular basis. Rangers and conservationists literally put their lives on the line to protect rhino.

This is a cause which is deeply personal for me. I was lucky enough to spend my childhood on a game farm, Gourlays, which ran the most successful black rhino conservation effort in Zimbabwe at the time.

My parents, Richard and Carol Pascall started with a small breeding nucleus of 7 female and 3 male black rhino in the 80's and bred that to over 40 before being forcefully removed from their property in Mugabe's land grab. The Save foundation accurately summed up their efforts at the time by saying 'If I were a black rhino, I would prefer to be a black rhino on Gourlays'.

http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/pdf_files/122/1220625530.pdf

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/06/03/wasteland#:~:text=Fifteen%20years%20ago%2C%20Richard%20Pascall%2C%20a%20professional,in%20the%20usual%20way:%20fencing%20in%20a

I recently lost my father and plan to do this ride in his memory, raising money for a cause he dedicated much of his time, passion and resource to.