New Start for Belinda's Long Ride

Belinda just provided an update that she will likely be able to continue on the trail. In her words:

Howdy,

I'm still waiting to hear from Christina about her Mom. My prayers go out to her.

Well, looks like I may have someone able to join me after all. It 'ain't ' a done deal yet. I will be going up tomorrow, with Donna, for a week in the mts, continuing the route. However, we will drive from here, with the horses, to the trailhead. I can't wait to get there. It is bear and wolf country. We will have to be careful and hang our food, etc.
I' downloaded a few photos- here's a few.
Happy trails, Belinda

I'm sure y'all join me in wishing Belinda and Donna a safe trip and we're hoping for good news from Christina's family.

Mature Rider Starts 1000 Mile Ride

My friend and mature rider, Belinda Daugherty, is truly starting the riding adventure of a lifetime. A week from Monday, Belinda will be leaving her home in Ten Sleep, WY, to ride 1000 miles through Wyoming and Montana to the Canadian Border and hopefully win admission to the Long Riders' Guild.

The Long Riders' Guild is an international association of equestrian explorers, with an invitation-only membership drawn from 39 countries. To win an invitation, a rider must cover at least 1000 miles in a single, continuous equestrian journey. The rider must also conduct the ride humanely, and abusing or neglecting the horses and mules used will disqualify a rider.

I met Belinda about 15 years ago when she was leading rides through the Big Horn Mountains from Lander, WY. For many years, she operated her own adventure riding business called Renegade Rides, and she led rides in Wyoming and around the World. The information below was provided in an email from Belinda:

"Hi everyone,
Hope the sun is shining on your trail and your horses stay sound.
As some of you already know, I am going on a very long ride this summer, beginning July 6th. I thought you might be interested in how we get along. I am doing the ride with Christina, my guide from Patagonia. She is a heck of a hand and will be a good person to do the ride with. Below is the description of the ride that I sent to the 'Long Riders Guild". Who knows, we may be eligible to join if we have a successful ride!


We will be riding 2 horses which I have raised. Petunia, a Morgan, is 7 yrs, has hoofs like iron and travels smooth. Sandy is an 8yr old QH gelding and has nice gaits. They have both been raised in rough country, are surefooted and sensible, and know the camping routine. We will be packing 2 mules. Jim Bob is a big Arkansas sorrel, 9yr old and Rosalita is a little grey, 14 yr old, molly mule. I've only had the mules since the 6th of June. However, I have been working with them both and they are working well.

Our route: We will ride from Ten Sleep, heading west across the Big Horn Basin. We will ride through Worland, and on to Meeteetsee WY, resupply and stabling are arranged here. This route is pretty gentle, compared to the mountains ahead and will be a good way to break the horses in gently, to the trail. From Meeteetsee we head into the Absarokas, along the Greybull River. Our route takes us throught the SE corner of Yellowstone, before coming to Pahaska, at the east entrance of Yellowstone. There, a friend will meet us for resupply. Next town is Cooke City MT. We will be met again for supplies. Then west , through the Beartooths and on to Gadnier. We will stay at the rodeo grounds. Then it is on to Ennis, where we have someone to stay with, Dillon, then north to Wise River, again with stabling and a ride for supplies, arranged. We continue north, crossing I-90 at Drummond- to Ovando. At Ovando, we enter the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Heading north through the Bobs, we will be met half way, at the Spotted Bear Trail head, for supplies. Then north to St Marys, at the east side of Glacier NP. Depending upon conditions, we may go into Glacier, or we may just ride north to the Canadian Border. From there we will begin our ride back south, ending somewhere around Cutbank MT. I'm trying to avoid big towns and stay in the mts as much as possible. I figure the Canadain border will be around 900 miles. We will ride south from there to make sure we did a thousand.

That is a condensed version of our route. As I'm sure you know, unpredictible events can lead to a change in plans. We have 10 weeks scheduled for the ride, July 6th - mid Sept. I am hopling to average 20 miles per day, 5 days a week and 2 days off. We shall See!

Though we will be packing the mules, we still will pack like backpackers. I have an excellent tent suitable for almost anything. We will have a Kelly Kettle, water filter, etc. I have an electric corral kit for the horses plus hobbles and they are all picket broke. The horses will be wearing sheep bells, because of the bears. We will be packing pepper spray and a handgun. I have an extensive first aid kit.
We will have excellent photo and recording equipment, a gps and our cell phones. I also plan to do watercolors along the way, besides keeping a diary."

I'll post updates of her progress and any photos as I receive them. I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her a safe and successful journey.

The Ultimate Horseback Riding Vacation -- Horsequest USA

I think many of us dream of completing a distance riding trek in the US or another country or trailering our horses to ride for weeks in some distant national parks. Since I picked up a guide to following the trail of Lewis and Clark several years ago, I've been thinking of loading my horse, Mason, in my trailer and following in the footsteps of that Corps of Discovery. Unfortunately, the day-to-day demands of work and family make that very difficult for most of us; however, we keep hoping that some day circumstances will allow us to take that big trip.

For David and Anita Hasbury-Snogles, that dream became a reality when they decided to leave their native England; purchase two horses, a truck, and a live-in trailer in the US; and travel through the US with the goal of visiting and riding in every state. They came very close to achieving their initial goal -- visiting 40 states and riding in 35. They called their adventure Horsequest USA, and it is described in a recent article in Virginia's Orange County Review Insider section, written by Phil Audibert, titled, "Travels with Max and Roo." This is a summary of that article.

David and Anita were going through what David describes as a "crazy mid-life crisis type of thing," when they saw an ad for a live-in horse trailer in the US. After some "what if" analyses about using such a trailer to travel and ride around the US, they decided to do it. The only major problem was that David had limited experience with horses. A horseback riding vacation in Italy functioned as a tune-up, and David emerged from that experience as an equestrian.

David and Anita purchased their trailer from Blue Ridge Trailers in Ruckersville, VA and found a suitable truck in Florida. Anita found her horse, Roo, online, and David found his horse, Max, at a "meat sale" auction in Marshall, VA. A base of operations was established at Andora Farm near Culpeper, VA, and David arranged to write a weekly account of their adventures for the Culpeper Star-Exponent. With preparations complete, they were ready to set forth.

Starting from Culpeper, VA, on a cold day in March 2007, they drove to Ohio, where they picked up Roo and completed a three-day Natural Horsemanship clinic. Then it was off to Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina, before returning to Culpeper for a brief respite. In April they set off again for the Deep South, encountering sleet in New Orleans. David came off Max in Mississippi and cracked several ribs, but they pressed on to Oklahoma and then to Kansas. Typically they would spend several days at a place before moving on, and since they had established a website publicizing their travels, they often received offers of hospitality before arriving in the states they visited.

The horse coped with the travel well and remain inseparable companions today. Feeding horses during extended travel can be a problem, due to the stress and removal from pasture. A colic incident during their initial trip taught them to keep moving roughage through the horses, and they relied on a diet of hay, wheat bran, and soaked beet pulp, plus Purina pelleted feed, to keep the horses healthy.

David and Anita had a near miss with a tornado in Michigan, did some trail riding in Indiana, visited a ranch east of Denver, and took a trail ride in the Rockies. After crossing Utah and Nevada they arrived in California and camped on the Coast, where they rode the horses on the beach. After traveling up the Pacific Coast and resting in Seattle, they headed east for Montana, and rode the Little Bighorn Battlefield with a Crow Indian guide. Continuing east through Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri, they returned to Virginia for a welcome rest.

The next leg of the quest was to New England, where they rode in eleven states in six weeks. Returning to Virginia, they decided to remain in the US, and purchased a home and obtained green cards.

David and Anita and Max and Roo have settled into a new life in Virginia. The trailer has been sold, and they've found employment at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. David founded and manages the "Horse Lovers of the Business World" group on Linkedin. For a much more complete account of their adventures, visit their Horsequest USA website. Perhaps their adventure will inspire some of us to reach for our own horseback riding trip of dreams.