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The World Ride |
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The twentieth century saw human beings accomplishing a great many wondrous travel-related events.
Prince Don Scipione Borghese, of Italy, was the first person to drive an automobile from Peking to Paris in 1907. Roald Amundsen, of Norway, was the first to arrive at the South Pole, using dog-sleds, in 1911. Charles Lindberg, an American, was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, landing in Paris in 1927. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, of Britain and Nepal, were the first to climb to the top of Mount Everest in 1953. Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, of Switzerland and Great Britain, became the first humans to circle the world in a hot-air balloon in 1999. Dog-sleds, hot air balloons, automobiles, even human feet, all played a part in helping mankind reach new horizons. What's missing? The horse!
Now, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, two of the Founding Members of
The Long Riders' Guild will set out to make the longest non-stop equestrian
journey on record. Basha and CuChullaine O'Reilly are uniquely qualified to undertake this hazardous adventure. Basha rode from Russia to England in 1995 and traversed the infamous Outlaw Trail on horseback in 1999. CuChullaine made five separate equestrian journeys through Central Asia, including the longest journey in the history of Pakistan. Together they helped form The Long Riders' Guild, the world's first international association of equestrian explorers, as well as creating Horse Travel Books, the world's largest collection of equestrian travel literature - www.horsetravelbooks.com.
"The Long Ride" equestrian expedition will begin in Paris, at the Eiffel Tower, which witnessed the birth of modern equestrian travel. Famous Cossack Long Rider, Mikhael Asseyev, rode from Kiev to Paris in 1889. When he and his two mares arrived at the newly-completed Eiffel Tower, the French equivalent of the RSPCA gave Asseyev a special gold medal because his horses were in such superb condition!
This Cossack ride inspired Aimé Tschiffely, the most famous equestrian traveller of the twentieth century, to make his own incredible 10,000 mile journey from Buenos Aires to Washington DC in 1925, which inspired countless men and women to follow in his hoofprints.
More than 75 years later Aimé Tschiffely's legend and legacy will accompany Basha and CuChullaine as they undertake "The Long Ride." Jean, Lady Polwarth, who is Tschiffely's literary heir and the niece of famous horseman Don Roberto Cunninghame-Graham, has graciously agreed to be the Patroness of "The Long Ride" expedition. The Royal Geographical Society, of which Basha and CuChullaine are both Fellows, has also expressed support for this unprecedented journey. Basha will make the trip on Count Pompeii, the Cossack stallion she rode from Volgograd, Russia, to the little village of Denston in England. CuChullaine will choose two suitable horses to make this epic journey.
The Long Riders will ride through the following countries: France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia, Japan, Canada, Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
After an estimated 25,000 hard miles in the saddle the team will then ride back into
Paris four years after it departed.
During the course of this historic journey, CuChullaine will map the physical route so that other equestrian explorers will be able to follow "The World Ride" trail in the future. Copies of these maps will be presented to the RGS Map Room when they return.
Basha, meanwhile, will be taking DNA samples from the horses they meet, thus creating the first unbroken genetic equine map of the world! She is working with Dr. Gus Cothran of the University of Kentucky, who is the world's leading equine genetics expert. For more information about this ground-breaking scientific effort, please click here.
Yet there is more to this journey than mere miles. It has been designed to incorporate state of the art electronic technology into a nomadic movement. Using the Internet, and satellite technology, the World Ride will link horse lovers around the planet in history's first interactive equestrian epic.
While everyone will be invited to witness the journey, the special focus of this effort will be mounted visits to schools in each of the countries along the way. Basha and CuChullaine will give talks to children, encouraging classes of 7-10 year-olds to link up with each other via the Internet. There will be a page on this website devoted to each of the countries being visited, thereby bringing geography to life for this new generation of Little Long Riders. |
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