Equestrian Travel – The Long Riders Guild
In our mechanised society the horse has been liberated from much of his work-a-day drudgery, he no longer routinely pulls the plough and strains in the shafts of an overloaded cart, or faces the sword and bullets of an enemy that was never really his. The horse has become a means of relaxation, an object of pleasure.Yet we tie him down with ever-increasing ingenuity, ever more sophisticated systems of training and hardware, he gives us so much and still we ask for more.
What do we give in return, a new rug and a bag of carrots? The most precious thing we can give is the simplest yet the most finite; it is our time. The best and perhaps the only way of building a bond with your horse is just to spend time with him. Of course it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Family, work, home, are all commitments that place demands on our time, and rightly so. But imagine leaving it all behind. Imaging spending 24 hours a day, seven days a week month after month, even year after year, relying totally on your horse and he on you, for mile after mile, for hundreds, thousands even tens of thousands of miles.
It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, but how much better to begin it with a single hoof beat.
Oldest and best
Apart from the use of our own feet, the horse is arguably our oldest and most consistent form of transportation. Before the show ring, or the racetrack, before the crack of the Polo stick or the elegant movements of dressage, there was the equestrian traveler. The horse was a form of escape, a way to break free from the immediate bounds of self-locomotion. “Pedestrians stay in the villages. Horsemen roam the world.
”Equine teeth found in Dereivka, Ukraine, show signs of wear from a bit, indicating that horses were being ridden about 6,000 years ago. Cheek pieces fashioned from antlers, with what seem to be holes for a rope or leather bit, were found at the same site. It was thought that horses were driven before they were ridden, but the Dereivka discovery predates the first evidence of any form of wheel by about 2,200 years.
Travel by ship, plane, car, motorcycle, even bicycle, and your journey is firmly rooted in the industrial present. Travel by horse, and you travel by time machine, you are no different from your 6,000 year old ancestor who first swung his tentative leg over the back of a wild pony, and galloped toward the horizon. The new world slows down and an old world opens up before you. This is the world of the Long Rider.
Philosophy
So what is long riding all about? A love of travel? A love of horses? A spiritual quest? Ask this question of ten different Long Riders and the odds are you will receive ten different answers. But hidden in each of them will be the key, that small golden nugget called freedom, and at the heart of it all, the horse. To quote the founding father of the Long Riders Guild, CuChulaine O’Reilly “We all agreed that at some time in each of our journeys, our horses were revealed in a different light. Though our individual mounts had stood close by for years, after travelling they were no longer merely objects to be possessed.
Thousands of miles and countless shared dangers had bonded us closer to our horses than our mothers. The later we loved the former we entrusted with our lives on a daily basis. Travel had made human and horse part of a new heard dynamic. Horses where no longer beasts, they were agents of change.”Formed in 1994 The Long Riders’ Guild is the world’s first international association of equestrian explorers. It is open to riders who have completed a continuous horseback journey of at least 1000 miles.
The only exception are ‘’those people who have undertaken equestrian journeys as either publicity stunts, or thinly disguised business trips, riding their horses merely to enrich themselves at the expense of their mounts. ‘’ Entry to The Guild is also open to people who have a real passion for equestrian travel but for whatever reasons are unable to ride the required 1,000 miles. These cases are decided individually based on an applicant’s equestrian history, and if successful the applicant will be awarded Associate membership.
Achievements
Members of the Long Riders Guild have ridden on every continent save Antarctica, and have collectively written well over 50 volumes on equestrian travel. In fact The Guild has catalogued and verified, more than 822,000 miles in the saddle accomplished by long riders past and present. From the youngest posthumous members, Bud and Temple Abernathy, 9 and 5 years old respectively, who in 1911 rode un chaperoned from Oklahoma to New York and then New York to San Francisco, to the Oldest living member George Patterson, now well into his 80’s, who in 1946 rode across Tibet to rescue the Dalai Lama. Members of the guild belong to a strong heritage of historical figures who have ridden many thousands of miles, both by necessity and choice.
Celia Fiennes traveled around England during the reign of Charles II and rode more than 1,500 miles alone during the summer of 1698. Her exploits have been researched and mirrored by guild member Elizabeth Barrett.Queen Elizabeth I was such an avid equestrian traveler that she was still riding at the age of 70, and was known to have ridden on journeys to Warwickshire, Suffolk and Devon, preferring to ride than take a coach. There is even evidence that Charles Darwin was in fact a long rider. Though the father of evolutionary theory is closely associated with his ship, the Beagle, he apparently spent much of his five years away from home travelling on horseback. There is conjecture that Darwin actually died from complications, which resulted from the difficult riding undertaken when voyaging with the Beagle. Lord Byron, and Oscar Wilde both made long horseback journeys. Jonathon Swift is said to have made an equestrian journey across 18th century Ireland, which seems to have had a great influence on Gulliver’s Travels.
Could the last chapter of Gulliver, in which the eponymous hero meets the Whinnim, the talking horses, be directly related to Swift’s own emotional relationship to the horse he traveled on, and “spoke” to, while riding across Ireland in 1722? One would like to think so .However, long riding is not just about history, long riding is alive and well, and, perhaps ineffably in a world of such political upheaval, growing. Marianne DuToit, of South Africa, recently rode from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Washington DC. A solo attempt to retrace the historic ride of famed Long Rider, Aime Tschiffely, who made the original ride back in 1925. Magali Pavin, of France, is on a four-year ride from France to China and back.
She will be hosted by friends of The Long Riders’ Guild along the way, including the Ministry of Horses in Turkmenistan. Steve McCutcheon, is riding from Pakistan to China to raise money for Action aid and education in poor rural communities. Australian Tim cope, is on an epic journey from mongolia to Hungary, retracing the footsteps of the Mongol Army.Gene Glasscock is the only person to ever ride from the Arctic Circle to the Equator. This two year, 12,000 mile ride earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Gene has climbed into the saddle again, and this time plans to ride 20,000 plus miles to all 48 state capitals in the continental USA.
Amazingly Gene is embarking upon this epic equestrian trip at almost 70 years of age!The Long Riders Guild website, gives information and progress reports on all current known equestrian expeditions. CuChulaine O’Reilly, is a personable Irish American with a calm intensity, and the presence of an old western movie star. Equestrian travel is his passion, many would say obsession, for over twenty years he has been collecting information on his favourite subject and has built a vast archive of rare material on long riders and equestrian travel, much of which forms the basis for his publishing venture www.HorseTrave lBooks.com. O’Reilly himself, is no stranger to adventure. After teaching journalism to Afghan fighters during the Soviet occupation, he was at one point the subject of an assassination order.
The Afghan communist secret police had a price on his head, for his work and assistance to the Mujahadeen. His own exploits form the basis of his part fact part fiction book Khyber Knights, a griping and often moving story of equine adventure, laced with social commentary and gems of historical information. Along with his wife Basha, who rode a team of Cossack horses from Russia to England, O’Reilly is a fellow of the Royal Geographic society, an honour bestowed as a result of leading the Karakorum Equestrian Expedition through Pakistan. A journey, which took him through five mountain ranges including the Himalayas, and a crossing of the Diamar. The longest documented ride in Pakistan’s history. However, guild members are not simply irresponsible adventurers,
They realise that equestrian travel in often remote and perhaps politically unstable areas are inherently dangerous for both man and horse, and they in no way condone an expedition that knowingly subjects its animals to needless suffering. Although members of The Guild have between them set more world records than one could shake the proverbial stick at, there is no obsession with the longest the quickest or the most difficult, these things are more a bi-product of the journey. The guild does not encourage what it calls a ‘pointless obsession with mileage or speed’; instead it encourages a ‘life-changing equestrian journey’. “What none of the equestrian magazines and horse whisperers are ever going to tell you is that travel on horseback brings with it a special kind of wisdom, helps you see through the world’s pretensions, and opens you up to the adventure of self-conquest,’ says O’reilly. ‘Equestrian travel is not merely about covering vast amounts of mileage.
It is the journey you and your horse take together to reach the borders of an otherwise invisible place. It is a journey you see from the top of that altar of freedom, your saddle. It is an antidote to the world’s obsession with speed because the three-mile-per-hour pace of your horse forces you to slow down your body, which in turn results in the opening of your spirit. Thus an equestrian journey does not merely transport you along the physical road stretching ahead, more importantly it allows you to ride on the secret trail traced deep inside your soul.”Talking to Cuchullain, it is obvious that he is sincere, and deeply bound up in his love of horses and travel. Yet there is more than this, he truly believes in the power of the equestrian journey to open up something innate and hidden in all of us, an almost genetic need to travel by horse.
“The rare riders who undertake such a journey become saddle bound pilgrims leading a life based on physical freedom. Their horse takes them on a daily journey deeper away from the never-ending search for consumer products and shows them the way back to the nomadic principles of the past; grass, water, fire, and contemplation. These are the keys to equestrian travel. Such a journey transforms current equestrian stereotypes into spiritual equestrianism and develops the boutique rider into an equestrian mystic.”“I’m a dyed-in-the-wool horseman” he continues, “ Up on that horse you have a different view of the world. That is why we invented The Long Riders’ Guild, to document the collective human-equine history of this mutual event, to encourage others to follow in the hoof beats of their ancestors, and to collect and distribute the world’s equestrian travel knowledge.We all have that “itch” to go.’
Research
CuCullain and Basha are dedicated to expanding the base, of equestrian travel knowledge and to ensuring that the valuable experiences of fellow long riders, are documented to help and inspire future generations of would be riders. Much of their time is spent researching and seeking out potential Guild Members, both past and present. They are working to preserve an otherwise neglected area of equestrian history, and provide an international forum for discussion of the horse as a means of travel and a medium for change. In their own words, they are “resolved to provide a clear and accurate historical record of all equestrian travel accomplishments. Thus any claims to having been “the first” or “the longest” on horseback will henceforth be rigorously investigated, and verified, by a panel of qualified Equestrian Tribal Elders’.
"Those people", says O'Reilly, " who spend all their time riding in the show ring, are like a man swimming in a goldfish bowl, pretending he is in the ocean. Find your courage! Change the rhythm of your life!Think how free you will be if you saddle up and ride away. You will not only discover a poetry of riding, you will learn that the ride and the horse place a lasting spiritual fingerprint on your soul.What’s stopping you? Saddle Up!” “Thousands of miles and countless shared dangers had bonded us closer to our horses than our mothers. The later we loved, the former we entrusted with our lives on a daily basis.” Box OutBasha and CuChulaine are planning another epic horse ride. This time around the world. Starting in Paris they propose to Ride to Hungary, then through Eastern Europe to Turkey, around the Caspian sea,up through Russia to Vladivostock, Fly to Alaskaand ride across North America to Halifax, Fly to Morocco cross the straits of Gibraltar, then ride up through Spain to France.
Box out Royal Geographical Society. The Royal Geographical society based in London, have recently recognised the activities of the Long Riders Guild, by inviting the entire membership to become fellows of the Society. O'Reilly, is understandably proud of this achievement, and sees the involvement of the RGS as a cornerstone in the recognition and development of equestrian travel. "I think that the RGS invitation, with its implication on academic rather than commercial rewards, means that the 6,000 year old art of equestrian travel is about to enter a new Golden Age, one where the marvels of the internet will be successfully wed to the desires of this Bronze Age activity.All of that gives us hope for the future.
We are hoping therefore that the RGS acknowledgement will mean that the Guild's emphasis on private passage and academic research will gain a new respect among an increasingly restless equestrian world."In May 2005 The Royal Geographical Society, became the recipient of a unique resource when the Long Riders Guild donated 107 volumes of equestrian travel literature to the newly opened Foyle Library. The Long Riders library of both historical and contemporary accounts, guides and manuals, is a welcome addition to the already, extensive and unique RGS collection.
It will form a core research facility for anyone planning an equestrian expedition. Many of the titles have been out of print for decades and represent a fascinating and important history of equestrian exploration. Earlier in the day the nearby Polish Club saw what turned into something of an historical event in itself, when Long Riders from every corner of the globe, many of whom had literally stepped off their horses and onto an aero plane, converged for a pre presentation lunch.
The building at 55 Exhibition Road once famous as the wartime headquarters of the Polish Resistance became a very exclusive club of equestrian adventurers, with what must amount to many hundreds of thousands of miles under their saddles. Many stories where shared between a unique groups of individuals, one rider commented, “it’s now the headquarters of the equestrian resistance”. Young Australian explorer, Tim Cope, currently Riding from, Mongolia to Hungary, flew in from Kazakhstan, and was made a fellow of the society, Gene Glasscock, a veteran long rider interrupted his journey to all 48 state capitals of the USA to fly to London.
Swedish explorer Titti Stranderg, whose fellow adventurer and husband Michael, is currently traveling across Siberia, brought along her own film crew who are making a documentary about her. Other members came from afar a field as Australia, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Africa, and the USA all of whom have accomplished amazing feats of equestrian endurance. On display as something of a totem was the cavalry saddle used by Swiss rider Otto Schwarz on his epic 48,000km ride through six continents. Closer to home author, long rider and welfare campaigner Jeremy James attended, along with explorers, Robin & Louella Hanbury-Tenison, who have made many long horseback journeys, Including the length of Great Wall of China, and through both islands of New Zealand, and whose books have been republished as part of the Long Riders Literary project. Irish born Steven O’Connor, rode from Andalusia to Cornwall, with a newly acquired Spanish horse, an AA road map and a compass.
His colourful and robust accounts where particularly entertaining. Ex farmer, Keith Clark recently returned from a journey through the far reaches of South America. Gordon Naysmith rode the length of Africa, and now in his early 70’s is embarking on a journey that will see him circumnavigate the globe in a high-tech yet homemade canoe. Now in his 80s, George Patterson, rode through the mountains of Tibet, being pursued by Chinese forces as they invaded that country, he also had a hand in the escape of the then Dali Lama, and worked extensively with Tibetan resistance.
More recently he worked as adviser on the film A Year In Tibet. The meeting of these extraordinary people, marks the culmination of many months of hard work and organisation by Cuchulain and Basha O’Reilly Box out The Long riders Guild will always offer advice and encouragement to any rider planning to point his horse towards the horizon, and to this end members have created an invaluable, ‘crib sheet’, called ‘The Hazel’ for would be equestrian travelers, they will assume that you are familiar with horses and that you can ride! By this they mean that you have ‘real experience of caring for a horse on a daily basis, that you can recognize a horse that is lame or sick, or even just a little ‘off-colour’, that you understand the principles of feeding and first aid. If you do not you will be putting yourself and your horse under risk.
The first piece of advice is not to listen to anybody who has not ridden at least five hundred miles on one journey! The advice covers,Choice of Horse, Saddle, Luggage, Distance, Weight, Time Maps and finally the guild urges would be long distance travelers to ask themselves four questions. What will your horse eat and where will you get it?Where will it sleep?Can you replace a shoe if your horse loses it?Do you realise that on an equestrian journey you may have to shoot your horse if it breaks a leg or gets hit by a lorry or truck?
To obtain a copy of ‘The Hazel’, visit the guild website at http://www.thelongridersguild.com and drop them a line