Production has immediately been suspended and all filming stopped on the 8 part local South African reality TV docu-series The Ride after series creator and the show's star Barry Armitage fell off a horse and got injured in the show that recreating the famous postal horse ride system of 1835.
Executive producer Justin Bonello of Cooked in Africa Films has postponed production of the second season of The Ride after 256km of cameras following Barry Armitage and Joe Dawson traveling on horseback between Cape Town and Grahamstown. Barry Armitage injured his back when he fell off his horse just 28km outside Heidelberg. Filming of the second 8 part season of The Ride will resume in June when Barry Armitage has healed from his injuries.
''Barry is unable to continue on the expedition,'' says Justin Bonello in a press statement, saying that ''while Barry's injury has dealt a tremendous blow to the team's expectations, the unanticipated drama of the accident forms part of what makes reality television such a compelling and popular genre.'' The Ride wanted to replicate the 950 km journey that Sir Harry Smith undertook on horseback 176 years ago to take command of the British garrison in Grahamstown.
''Joe and I had changed horses at Swellendam at 14:30 and were about 4km outside Suurbrak, when my horse, Jaguar, shied at a stack of reeds along the downhill track,'' says Barry Armitage, series creator of The Ride. ''While the fall is an obvious setback, I'm optimistic that I'll heal quickly and look forward to getting back in the saddle in a few weeks to finish what we started.''
