The Long Riders' Guild

International Alliance to promote equestrian travel in Russia

The world is enduring very negative events. Yet a remarkable demonstration of equestrian friendship acts as an antidote to today’s political poison.

 

The Long Riders’ Guild has teamed up with NETO, Russia’s official national equestrian tourism authority, to encourage horse travel in that country.

 

NETO currently operates in 18 regions of the Russian Federation, including Moscow, Novosibirsk and Bashkortostan. The organisation also has extensive contacts from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka, as well as the Archangel area and the Caucasus Mountains.

 

Thanks to NETO’s efforts, Russian citizens are encouraged to ride and explore their country.

 

Gennadii Semin, President of the National Equestrian Tourism Organisation, confirmed that “there is much enthusiasm for outdoor horse riding today, via several different types of equestrian activities.”

 

In an important diplomatic development, the NETO President confirmed his nation’s desire to encourage individual Long Riders to travel in this vast country.

 

“Our organization deals with everything connected with equestrian tourism: horseback riding, traveling, competitions and training schools. We will begin to compile a list of stables where travellers can stay for a rest. My idea is to create a network of horse tours in the most diverse regions of Russia for the most interesting places."

 

This is welcome news because Russia's role in equestrian travel history is of the greatest importance.

 

Russia – Homeland of the Long Riders

 

Russia has produced incredible equestrian explorers for three centuries!

 

An article entitled The History of Equestrian Travel explains how Russia is the birth place of modern equestrian travel and tells how the modern Long Rider movement began in Russia.

 

Here are some inspiring examples of Russian Long Riders.

 

In 1889 Dmitri Peshkov left the outpost of Blagoveshchensk in the far east of the Russian Empire.  He arrived in St. Petersburg at the Tsar’s court having covered more than 5,500 miles – in temperatures sometimes as low as minus 60!

Alexandra Kudasheva holds a special place in Long Rider history because she rode across Siberia – alone – twice. In 1910 she rode her Manchurian horse, Mongolika, 12,600 miles from Harbin, China to St. Petersburg, Russia. Czar Nicholas II then asked the equestrian explorer to ride his valuable Arabian stallion (left) on another journey from Vladivostok to St Petersburg.

Starting in 1988, Vladimir Fissenko rode from the bottom of the world, Patagonia, to the top of the world, Alaska. The journey began in Ushuaia, Argentina and concluded in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, covered 30,000 kilometres (19,000 miles) and took five years to complete. This photo shows Vladimir riding through the notorious Darien Gap jungle that separates Columbia and Panama.

 

Jing Li is the latest Russian Long Rider to follow in the hoofprints of history. In 2007 he set off on a 7,000 kilometre solo ride across Russia, Siberia and China. He then rode 3,000 kilometres along the Great Wall of China. He is now making a 5,000 kilometre solo journey across Russia that will conclude at Murmansk in the Arctic Circle.

 

The Language of Friendship

 

The Long Riders’ Guild is not about competition, commercialism or nationalism.

 

With Members in 46 countries, the Guild’s message crosses borders, applies to male and female, and includes young and old. It is an example of the peaceful and positive force which horses can have on human lives.

 

This is why the Guild also ensures the protection of the horse.

 

“I believe that the activities of the Guild are very important for promoting equestrian travel,” Gennadii Semin said. He also confirmed that NETO shares the Guild’s belief that the horse is a sentient being, not a disposable commodity.

 

“The Guild’s approach to the well-being of the horse is understood by NETO. That is why each of our members is required to comply with the Code of Ethical Treatment of a Horse,” Semin explained.

 

Count Pompeii is the Cossack stallion who travelled 2,500 miles from Volgograd to London with Basha O’Reilly. This legendary Russian horse is now the flying logo of the Long Riders’ Guild.

In the Guild we say that the mother tongue of all Long Riders is "horse."  

That is the ancient language of friendship which NETO and the Long Riders’ Guild both understand.


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