SA SADDLE HORSE | 7TH EDITION - Magazine - Page 45
Wilmar Maningi and Adriaan
Odendaal winning the Parys
Christmas Festival 2023 Five
Gaited Grand Championship
Basjin (Maningi’s Groom), Wilmar Maningi and Nicole
Petersen (Bester), after winning the 2025 World’s Open Air
Five Gaited Grand Championship
And Maningi wasted no time keeping Adriaan on his toes.
A month before the show, he decided - quite suddenly
- that slow gaiting and racking were no longer on his
agenda. One morning, he simply refused to slow gait.
Not a single step. With Bloemfontein looming, it could
easily have unraveled into a crisis. But instead of reacting
with panic, we chose patience. We trusted the work,
the training, and the partnership forming beneath the
surface.
In fact, at my final practice on him before the show, we
didn’t slow gait or rack a single step. Not one. It felt like
we were heading into the unknown, relying purely on
faith and the foundation we had laid.
But when Maningi set foot on the Bloemfontein
showgrounds, every lesson and quiet hour of preparation
came rushing back to him at once. He remembered. In
the ring, he rose with heart and brilliance, and together
we were crowned the 2021 South African Five-Gaited
Stallion Champions.
From that moment, something undeniably shifted
between us. We were no longer simply chasing results or
ribbons. We began to evolve into something greater than
competitors - true partners, growing together stride by
stride, challenge by challenge.
than a milestone - it was a profound, full-circle moment.
It represented generations of belief, sacrifice, and passion
converging in a single lap of honour. I had never even
dared to dream of a title like that; it felt too distant, too
extraordinary to claim as a possibility. And yet, there
we stood in that arena - living proof that dedication,
partnership, and heart can carry you further than your
imagination allows.
Maningi is far more than a champion. He is the
embodiment of abundance - of power, passion, and
perseverance. He possesses the greatest heart of any
horse I have ever had the privilege to ride. Day after day,
he arrives with the same unwavering commitment, giving
more than is asked, never holding back. His consistency
sets him apart. His bravery is beyond question. And his
willingness to give never diminishes.
“
In his veins runs my family’s
legacy; in his preparation lives my
trainer’s steadfast dedication; and
in every stride, he carries my heart.
He is not simply the horse of a lifetime.
Then came 2025.
Winning the World’s Open Air Grand Champion FiveGaited title with a horse bred by my father was more
”
He is the story of where we come from - and the
promise of everything still to come.
SA SADDLE HORSE
45
