Round up cattle on horseback

Our beautiful Drover’s Quarters building provides a comfortable, homely resting place at the end of a long day in the saddle. It’s a six bedroom building, with a communal living space where you can curl up to read a book, make a cup of tea at the coffee station, or sit around the table with your fellow riders to chat about the day’s adventures. Each room is identical, with a queen bed and a single trundle bed. You can tell us at the time of making your booking whether you’ll be travelling with a companion, and whether you’d like to share a room, and a bed (we don’t like to assume!).

There are toilets and showers on site, in a separate building, approximately 100m from the Drovers Quarters.

Accommodation is provided on the two and three day cattle musters. Check-in is 3pm the day before the event, and check-out is 10am the morning of the final day. Extra nights can be added at the time of making your booking if you’d prefer not to drive home after the event.

Accommodation is not included in the one day muster, but can be booked separately.

Maybe, maybe not. This will depend on a number of factors;  individual horse’s fitness levels, the terrain covered each day, and where the horse is up to in their rest schedule. We may also feel that you may be better matched to another horse in our team, and will often shuffle riders to find the ultimate fit.

3 day muster: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner on day 1 and 2. On the last day (day 3) breakfast and lunch are included, but be sure to bring dinner if you book the extra night.

2 day muster: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included on the first day. Breakfast and lunch (no dinner) on the second day. Be sure to bring dinner if you book the extra night.

1 day muster: Lunch and snacks are included on the day. Please note no breakfast or dinner is provided.

Yes. All sheets, blankets and doonas are already made up in your private room (2 and 3 day musters only). We also provide towels, please BYO toiletries.

Yes, so long as it meets our Accepted Helmet Policy and is cleared by the guides on the day as being in good condition.

No. Our horses have individual saddles, which are professionally fitted to their shape. You may bring accessories for medical reasons, for example specific stirrups for ankle injuries, seat covers/padding, so long as the guides on the day deem the equipment as safe to use.

Yes – but this is a separate event. We run two types of musters … one where we provide the horses, and another separate event for those who have their own horse. The information on this page is for those who are riding our horses – please see the Holiday with your Horse page for information about bringing your horse to Chapman Valley.

We ask that those coming on the two and three day cattle musters are able to at least be able to confidently do a rising trot, for safety reasons. However, the majority of this ride is walking pace. Our horses cover up to 30km in a day, sometimes on back-to-back days on these events, over terrain of varying difficulty. Likewise, the goal of the adventure is to find and round up the cattle. They will often be hiding in bushes on the side of the track, so we take it mice and slow to listen and look carefully for signs of where they might be.

If riders are capable, there may be opportunities for some trotting and cantering, however this depends on many factors. Come prepared for a slow, relaxing ride. 

The one day muster is beginner friendly, and will likely be mostly walking.

Yes. You can book this at the time of booking the cattle muster by adding an extra night as an add-on (subject to availability). Or if you decide later that you’d like to add a night, simply contact us.

The show must go on! We still ride in light rain, so come prepared with raincoats and gumboots (for the saddling and feeding horses, the yard can get muddy). We have thresholds for when it’s too dangerous to ride (high temps, strong winds, torrential rain) and will make a call on a case by case basis, but generally we continue to ride with light rain.