Equine beauty is unparalleled. Flowing manes, sweeping tails, smooth forelock, and sensitive muzzle… Here’s why spending a day with horses at the DS Stud Farm in Tarakol, on the Maharashtra-Goa border, is the best idea ever.
On that unending road to J2XC+4JW (that’s Google place syntax) the unrelenting handsomeness of a man helped ignore the vicious gashes, rumblers, rambling cows, and speeding vehicles. The mental image of a staggeringly handsome man with ocean-blue eyes, blonde tousled hair, a near-perfect jawline, and his ability to whisper to horses. Succinctly, a handsome Robert Redford from the film The Horse Whisperer.
On that craggy road to DS Stud Farm, memories of horse safaris in Rajasthan along with thought bubbles of Redford galloped unsought. Of riding through arid deserts, of a night under a starry sky, and a dance in an unexpected rain shower. And the rare breed of Marwari horses with unusual inward curving ears. Am not a deft horse-rider but I’d drive miles to be recast as a reflection in the beautiful crystalline eyes of a Marwari horse.
Pony up
It was for that overloaded horse-mush in my heart that I agreed to drive 45 kilometres to DS Stud Farm to meet 15 Marwari horses, one pony, two dogs, and several cows who live in a terracotta-hued stable in the shadow of a dark hill. When the network failed and no one man knew the exact location of the stud farm, I stood on a forlorn street to hear a neigh in the ceaseless silence of a non-descript village. Not a neigh, just the whistle of the autumn air. I walked alone until I found two golden horses on a large black sliding gate.
‘Caution. She bites.’ That’s the first thing I read. She, the colour of ivory, was peeping from the arched grill of her box. She, the young female Marwari, did not look menacing and I was about to appear as a silhouette in her eyes when Veronika Berkana, the horse trainer, walked in with a warm hello and a warmer smile. Dressed in denim dungarees, a marl grey tee, her hair tied in a disorderly plait, Veronika has had a busy morning exercising the horses and fathoming their physical and mental health. She was also prepping hard for tomorrow’s birthday celebration and a weekend Painting Day at the Stud Farm.
Galloping goals
“Horses change lives. They give young people confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquillity to troubled souls, they give us hope,” I still remember what Terry Pratchett had said of horses. Do horses really change lives? Have horses changed Berkana’s life? I was curious.
They did. While still in her pinafore, Berkana had two horses in her home in Trojanovice, a tiny village in the Czech Republic. “Even as a little girl, I was drawn to horses. I do not know why. Perhaps I was born with this. I have no other explanation,” Berkana speaks softly as two black Doberman nudge and jostle for her attention. That horse-draw was undying and she took it forward with working for stud farms in Italy and the United Kingdom and topping them with courses in Intelligent horsemanship in the UK, Kinesiotaping and Dorn method, Horse rider certification, and Natural horsemanship in the Czech Republic.
At the farm, horses are still changing lives for those who come for horse-riding classes and/or to learn natural horsemanship.
Canter banter
“We have a variety of horses coming from different backgrounds with different age, condition, gender, and beauty. All horses have their own feed plan, training schedule, everyday turn out (in the fields), grooming, and bathing. For training, we merely focus on promoting animal well-being to raise the awareness of inhumane treatment and horse handling. We use completely non-violent training methods developing stronger bond with the horse via positive interaction and mutual conversation. For me, animals and their well-being is always a priority before any commercial activity,” Berkana, who moved to Goa three years at the behest of her twin sister, said.
For years, these horses were solely the love of Prakash D’ Souza, who partnered with Siddharth Singh of Korta Stud (Rajasthan) to bring in the Marwaris, the indigenous desert horse that for centuries had been the cavalry mount of Rajput warriors. Straddling Doha (Qatar) and Goa, D’Souza dreamt of creating Goa’s first stud farm complete with arenas, paddock for grazing as well as a training facility and livery yard. But when the pandemic halted everyone’s existence, plans were shelved.
The mane thing
After Berkana joined in August this year, the stud farm sprawled over a vast verdant tract of land turned into a horse-lover’s delight. One can pick a hairbrush and comb the horses’ mane, feed them hay, pat/paint them, ride on their backs, and those who can, whisper in their ears. One can pack a picnic basket and spend an afternoon with horses in the middle of nowhere. Or stand in the paddock for couple photography. If the horse photobombs, say cheese.
‘Caution. She bites.’ I read again. She, the ivory coloured, still did not look menacing. Will she bite if she is hungry? Perhaps she isn’t hungry. Horses are ‘trickle feeders’, they eat small amounts almost continuously. There was hay in her box. I was safe. Am no animal whisperer but I have always believed that animals and I are from the same extinguished constellation where mutual love flourished.
I knew even if She Bites, she won’t bite me. She did not. I ran my fingers through the blaze on her nose. She fluffed up her hair and whinnied — a short, low-sounding whinny that has been scientifically proven as an expression of contentment. When I rubbed her mane, she smiled — not really a smile as humans know it, but happiness shown through the quiver of her upper lip. We were becoming friends, I thought.
Horse sense
The black gelding was chewing his favourite grass and the nameless pony waited for his turn for a free-run in the fields. Another horse, the colour of nutmeg, was catching sleep while another ivory pranced in solitude. Not all one-hoofed raised their heads to acknowledge my presence but the Dobermans were bouncing around affectionately.
Out of the stable and on the same unending road with vicious gashes, on my way home, I had forgotten the relentless handsomeness of the cinematic horse-whisperer. The horse’s beauty had taken over. Now, if someone asks me what does heaven’s wind feel like, I’ll tell them it is the one that blows between a horse’s ears (borrowed from an Arabian proverb).
At a glance
Where: J2XC+4JW, Tarakol, Ayee, Maharashtra/Goa border. The network in the area is very unreliable, save the map offline | Instagram: @dsstudgoa; @ashvashastra | Website: dsstud.com; ashvashastra.com | Booking: veronika@ashvashastra.com; +91 8468980346 | Activities: Joy ride (Rs 500 for 20 minutes) | Packages per person: Basic (Rs 4,000); Standard (Rs 6,000); Premium (Rs 8,000) | Horse-riding training: 8 classes group (Rs 10,200, Private: Rs 20,400). Natural Horsemanship class held every Saturday and Sunday (11 am and 3 pm) | Photography for couples: Between Rs 6,000 and Rs 12,000.
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