The Long Riders' Guild

News!

2014

Another article by Basha O'Reilly in the magazine Randonner à Cheval.

Five new editions of Randonner à Cheval with articles by Basha O'Reilly.

In 2005 the French Long Rider Louis Meunier set off on a perilous ride across war-torn Afghanistan. His intention was to ride from the northern city of Maimana, south through the heart of the country to the ancient minaret of Jam, then west to Herat. Accompanying him was the Afghan Long Rider Hadji Shamsuddin. Their adventures, and Louis’ near death, marked one of the most remarkable equestrian journeys of the early 21st century.

At the conclusion of his ride, Louis stayed in Afghanistan, where he undertook many special projects including helping organize the first Afghan ascent of that nation’s highest peak and directing an award-winning film about the Kyrgyz who reside in the remote Wakhan Corridor.

Louis also became deeply involved with buz khazi, the fabled and often violent national equestrian sport of Afghanistan. Riding his Afghan stallion, Tauruq, Louis participated in many buz khazi tournaments in Kabul.

“I can't imagine my long ride happening without the Long Riders' Guild. Very close to the beginning of my ride preparations, which perhaps might better be called the beginning of my dreamings, I stumbled upon the LRG website and instantly buried myself within it spending hours reading and imagining; seeing other people's perspectives of what a long ride can be from both practical and philosophical angles.

This was a wonderful time, this imagining, but really, it was when my ride came closer into being, and I came into more direct contact with CuChullaine and Basha O’Reilly, that I learned of what an amazing thing they have created and what a true gift to the world of equestrian exploration they and the Guild are.

When many of those around me were telling me with a sort of knee-jerk negativity that what I dreamed of doing was not possible (and why would I want to do something so silly in the first place?), I would receive a lovely gentle encouragement from Basha or CuChullaine at various times that told me that not only was what I envisioned possible, but that it could be life changing, deepening, opening.

To me, they and the Guild represent a way of being in the world that brings together a quiet elegance with a vibrancy to create a way of being in the world through what appears on the surface to follow a path from another era. An honourable path. A beautiful path. It is a path to a new world I think. From my heart, I thank them both and those other Members in the Guild that have helped me along my way.”

“One of the great horseback adventures of the modern era has drawn to a sad close, with the death of respected South African Long Rider Billy Brenchley.

The death of Brenchley on May 10, at the age of 45, after a long battle with leukaemia, closes the last chapter in a remarkable journey of exploration on horseback. It was an adventure that claimed the life of his fiancée, Christine (Christy) Henchie, 29, early last year in a horror accident involving a bus.”

Sea rode "ocean to ocean" from California to Maine, following in the hoofprints of Historical Long Rider Messanie Wilkins. She wrote this:

As to this matter of the Glorious Guild of Equestrian Explorers which Basha and CuChullaine O'Reilly have manifested. If ever I wanted to be a member of a group (and I never had before) here was such a group.  Have you seen the photo of the gathering in London?  Like heroes from another age - these were my rock stars!

Not that I realistically thought that they would ever accept me as a Member. I knew when I was out of my league - me with my $1 pinto gelding and my outlaw pack pony - with no fancy degrees or patrons or sponsors or name-brand equipment. I was flying by the seat of my pants, scared and more than a bit defensive. I certainly wasn't keen on following rules and being judged by people who had no idea what I was dealing with. In short, at 46 years of age, I was an adolescent Long Rider - caught on the horns of bravado and insecurity.

Which of course the Guild understood perfectly as they/you gently pulled me in to a fellowship the likes of which I thought had passed centuries ago, a fellowship of encouragement as well as accountability, one that shares hard won wisdom across continents and centuries.

The word "solidarity" springs readily to mind. From Messanie Wilkins, riding Tarzan across the USA in 1954, before there even was a Long Riders' Guild - who wrote a book about her journey, which kicked through the rest of my excuses when I read it the summer before I finally packed my ponies and started my own ride; to Katie Cooper, now a Long Rider in her own right, reaching out to me with incredible grace and compassion when I was at the lowest point of my own ride with an injured animal and her first attempt had just dead-ended for the same reason, befriending me during my long lay-up, and gently nudging me to contact the Guild, calming my fears; to Basha O'Reilly, patient with my prickly e-mails as she vetted me for Membership in the Guild, inquiring into the welfare of my ponies, my methods of funding, who I was and what I stood for, getting to know me and making sure I understood what the LRG stands for; to Doug Preston and Walter Nelson, the first Long Riders I met in person, inviting me to Walter's birthday party in Abiquiu, New Mexico as I rode through and welcoming me into the Guild as a peer; to CuChullaine O'Reilly, sending timely historical photos and stories to remind me that no matter what was happening it wasn't the first time and I wasn't alone; to Lucy Leaf, playing trail angel in Massachusetts when the ponies and I were so very weary of the trail and then coming to the Messanie Wilkins celebration and parade in Minot at Journey's end; to Jeremy James, the best pen pal and source of wisdom and laughter a Long Rider could ever hope for, reminding me to be gentle with myself when I stepped down from the saddle and re-entered "normal" life.

And always, always the remembrance of what's truly important, that which the Guild embodies and helps its Members to always hold sacrosanct. It's not the name, the fame, the hardships endured, the mountains summitted, the miles or seasons or borders crossed. It's the relationship with our equine partners that matters.

I think about the idea of a "lineage," not the literal sort of blood lineage that produces kings and cretins, but the spiritual lineage of, for example, a lama or martial arts master. (Though these tend to produce a sense of hierarchy - of which the LRG feels blessedly free.)  The art and act of mentoring is one of the most important human relationships - and behind the immensity of valuable, fascinating, historical and practical information collected and made accessible by the LRG stand the conscience and wisdom and invested intelligence of true mentors, not only CuChullaine and Basha O'Reilly, but (largely because of them) the entirety of the Guild, reminding us that we are not riding alone, sharing the stories of other Long Riders past and present, each with our place in this planet-spanning tribe, passing the gift on as we have received it, not for money, not for glory - but because it's the right thing to do! I humbly find myself now a member of this lineage, blessed by the mentorship inherent to the form. I have become a better human being - in and out of the saddle

I recognize and deeply appreciate how critically instrumental the help of the O'Reillys, and my fellow Long Riders, has been in this Sea Change. Their inspired and erudite mentorship steadied me when I wavered and trimmed my sails when I'd lost the wind. They called me to my highest, gently and persistently, believing that's who I most want to be, tactfully ignoring my failings while shining like the sun on what little virtue and grace I do possess, encouraging me to grow in positive directions. I have been so blessed, spiritually and morally, by their attention and guidance.

Thank you, Basha and CuChullaine, for two years of encouragement, advice, camaraderie, understanding, patience and psychic first aid. Most of all, thank you for envisioning and upholding the Long Riders' Guild.

The Guild regrets to report that the legendary South African Long Rider Billy Brenchley passed away on Saturday 10 May, after a long battle with leukaemia.

The Guild deals with hundreds of equestrian travellers, from all parts of the world. That's not to say that their trips are not important to them on a personal level.

But what Billy and Christy attempted to do was Homeric in terms of its scope. The couple set off in 2005, determined to complete the first ride from the most northern point of Africa, Cap Blanc in Tunisia to the most southern point of Africa, Cape Agulhas in South Africa. Ten countries and an untold number of hardships awaited them.

They were detained in the Sahara desert for 75 days while the Libyan government debated whether to allow them to enter. Egypt, with its sandstorms, tick bite fever and heat waves proved difficult.

After riding across Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and northern Sudan, Billy and Christy were halted by the impassable swamp known as the Sudd. If the equestrian explorers wanted to progress they would have to load their two horses onto one of the few remaining cargo barges and float south to the distant city of Juba. Their thousand mile nautical journey is unique among modern equestrian travellers.

 As they made their way through Southern Sudan, they passed areas where major battles had been fought. The landscape was littered with unexploded mines.

It was in Uganda that Christy and Billy made an astonishing discovery. Horses had disappeared from the country during the reign of Idi Amin. The unexpected sight of two Long Riders mounted on mysterious animals caused pandemonium in the countryside. They were followed by hundreds of curious people. Billy can be seen in the photo (above) speaking to a group of school children who asked, “Is that a kangaroo? Does it grow horns? Does it eat people?”

Soon after their arrival in Uganda, Billy became very ill. He was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and immediately flown to South Africa for emergency treatment. After a lengthy sixteen month treatment, he and Christy returned to Uganda and resumed their journey, determined this time to reach South Africa.

The Long Riders had travelled into Tanzania when tragedy struck. In the worst accident in the history of modern equestrian travel, English Long Rider Christine Henchie, 29, was killed instantly on Monday, January 28 2013 by an out-of-control bus in Tanzania. Her fiancé, South African Long Rider Billy Brenchley, 43, escaped death by inches but suffered a broken leg.

A crowd of enthusiastic locals who had turned out to cheer the Long Riders past their village were also killed and injured by the reckless driver. Charles Mahugija, 60, and Willy Masanja, 55, were slain and twenty-five bystanders, including many small children, were brutally mown down by the speeding vehicle.

As soon as the Guild learned the news, it published this special report.

That story was in turn printed by Horse Talk, the international equestrian news service, which spread the news round the world like wildfire.

Within hours, Long Riders began sending in messages, registering their shock and loss.

This in turn led to the creation of a special condolence document for Christy. When Long Riders from around the world heard about Christie Henchie's death, they rushed to send their heartfelt condolences.

Christie’s memorial service was held in South Africa, where the injured Billy had been flown in time to attend. But soon afterwards his leukaemia struck again. In emails to the Guild he explained that no matter how much time he had to spend in hospital, he was determined to regain his strength and finish the ride in honour of Christy.

That desire was not to be.

In February he rallied his strength enough to pay a final visit to see the couple’s horses. They have been cared for by friends in Tanzania. After seeing his horses a final time, Billy returned to South Africa.

Life is full of forgettable people, who fill the world and our lives with trivialities and trouble.  A handful of us were blessed, for too short a time, to say we were enriched by knowing Billy and Christy. They were heroes on so many levels.

Few Long Riders ever attracted more spotlights than did the would-be movie star who called herself Vonceil Viking. The year was 1927 when the attractive blonde announced to the press that she was going to ride her horse, “Broadway,” from New York to Los Angeles. Whereas other equestrian travellers have told reporters that they were setting out on horseback to find fame, fortune, love or just a job, Viking’s mission was to ride to Hollywood, where she hoped to become a movie star. According to a photo caption from the Los Angeles bureau of the Associated Press, Viking arrived in Los Angeles on February 10, 1928, after having “covered 4,000 miles in sixteen states.” But details about the journey have long been shrouded in mystery.

Thanks to historical research undertaken by Dr. Alfred Willis, newspaper accounts have just been discovered which indicate that Vonceil did in fact make the entire journey “ocean to ocean” as she planned.

“Vonceil reportedly left New York City on 3 October 1927.  On 8 November 1928 she was reported via wire service to have passed through Washington, DC, on an unspecified date, possibly late October? Two 1927 press photos show her and her mount in front of the US Capitol.  She spent two days in Lynchburg, Virginia, then passed through Danville, Virginia, on 7 November 1927, per a local Danville report. From Washington to Danville via Lynchburg is a distance of about 250 miles.  A retrospective feature published in Lexington, North Carolina, on 1 March 1928, recounts her journey through North Carolina in the past November. This article contains a report of three accidents and includes details about two of them. The worst of the three accidents had occurred in Concord, North Carolina. From Danville to Concord is a distance of about 120 miles. On 30 December 1927 the Victoria, Texas Advocate reported that Vonceil Viking had left Fort Worth, Texas, on the 29th, thus 74 days into her ride.  On 6 January 1928, the Las Vegas, New Mexico Optic announced her imminent arrival in Roswell, New Mexico. Her arrival in San Bernardino, California, was reported in the local paper on 8 February 1928, thus shortly before her arrival in Los Angeles on the 10th.  From San Bernardino to central Los Angeles is a distance of about 60 miles.” 

Dr. Willis has promised to supply more details about Vonceil’s ride as and when they are found.

Though few today remember either their journeys or their books, Cora and Jan Gordon were top notch English travel writers of the Jazz Age whose exploits took them to a variety of exotic locales. In 1923 they travelled through Spain with a donkey cart. The photo above shows an amused Cora standing beside their donkey, “Colonel Geraldine". Then in 1925 the Gordons undertook a perilous equestrian journey through the mountains of Albania. The Guild has now been asked to inform our readers about “the oldest and only primary source of information and research on the net about Jan and Cora Gordon.” This website is a treasure trove of information, photos and pictures regarding the life and travels of this colourful couple.

Prior to his departure on this historic ride, the LRG warned Filipe that it wasn't bandits and bears that posed the greatest threat to his dream of riding from Canada to Brazil. It was, as accurately predicted, the hostility of bureaucrats at the borders which would threaten to halt his progression.

The unreasonable antagonism which Filipe encountered at the Panamanian border marks a low mark in modern equestrian travel history. Panama has already unfairly halted many other travellers from continuing to ride either north or south. In one particularly infamous incident, Panamanian authorities threatened to shoot a Long Rider's horses on the airport tarmac, if they were unloaded from the plane which had just brought them from Ecuador.

Anyone reading Filipe's recent blog entry about this difficulty can sympathize with the tactical and emotional crisis he found himself in.

"With the Panamanian door literally slammed in my face, I was left winded and searching for a new plan of action. I felt so hopeless. So scared. And I feared the worst: having to leave Frenchie, Bruiser and Dude behind."

Those of us who have followed and supported Filipe's efforts from the beginning joined in his anxiety as weeks of delay turned into months of a paperwork nightmare, all the while he struggled to find a way to rescue his horses from the clutches of pen-pushers and office-wallahs.

Thankfully, he and his equine pals are now safely in Bolivia and their journey is once again on track.

Upon reflection, this incident reminded us of a scene from an old John Wayne movie. In that film a young man found himself worried, consumed with doubt, fearful that he when the moment of truth came he might not have the courage needed to overcome fearful odds.

In his rough way, the Duke expressed his confidence in the young man's bravery.

Wayne said, "You're going to find yourself standing your ground when you ought to run. Speaking out when you ought to keep your mouth shut. Doing things that seem wrong to a lot of people, but you'll do them all the same. You're not the type to run. You're going to spend the rest of your life getting up one more time when you're knocked down."

And that's what Filipe Leite has done.

He has stood his ground, done the right thing, had the courage to get up when life knocked him down, to swing back into the saddle and ride on to Brazil.

Panama may bow its head in shame. But Brazil should be proud to welcome this hero home.

To learn more about Filipe’s extraordinary journey from Canada to Brazil visit his website.

Robin Hanbury-Tenison, explorer, Long Rider, author, and photographer has been honoured by having the valuable collection of artefacts and photographs he collected during decades of travel placed on permanent display at Eton College’s Natural History Museum.

Often described as the “Doyen of British Explorers,” Robin is also one of the founders of Survival International. As such, he has been a tireless champion of the rights of indigenous peoples and, in the early years of his travels, an obsessive photographer of their homelands as they were eroded by the modern world.

Hanbury-Tenison photographed extensively and collected objects from remote tribal people while travelling during the 50s, 60s and 70s. These objects and images were unearthed recently to create the exhibition, many having not been looked at for fifty years.

Following the very successful two month exhibition of the photographs and artefacts at the National Theatre last year, they went on to the Dimbola Gallery on the Isle of Wight for four months and will then be going to Aberystwyth University for July and August before returning to Eton.

The Guild receives a constant stream of news from equestrian and wagon travellers from all points of the globe. In Europe, we are happy to report, extraordinary progress is being made to not only encourage equestrian travel but to make it easier for horse travellers to cross international borders with increasing ease.

In stark contrast, three reports have arrived within a few days of each from the United States and Canada, all of which should be of great concern to the citizens of those countries.

American Long Rider Jayme Feary (pictured above) wrote to share news about a development which has terrible implications for recreational, trail and Long Riders.

“I am contacting you about a matter of some importance to Long Riders and other persons who travel horseback in the U.S. The National Park Service is proposing a rule change for Bryce Canyon National Park that could spread to all national parks. The new regulations, if approved, would require all horseback riders riding in--or passing through--Bryce Canyon National Park, to pay for a guide employed by the park's official concessionaire. The fee would depend on the number of riders. This essentially means that Bryce Canyon National Park would become the equivalent of a dude ranch. If these rules are accepted in Bryce, they may spread to other national parks. Can you imagine a day rider or equestrian traveller having to hire a guide and pay $100-$345 every time he or she enters a national park? Here is a link to a brief from the National Park Service that summarizes the proposed rule changes. . It includes an email address for any persons who wish to provide written comments.”

To learn how lady Long Riders fought for their political and equestrian rights click here:

Main Testimonials Page

In an equestrian world all too often awash with stories of commercialism, corruption and cruelty, the public yearns for a positive perspective and classic heroes. The Long Riders’ Guild is an equestrian honour society dedicated to protecting the horse from abuse, the public from being misled and the media from being deceived. Testimonials have been gathered over the course of many years and now appear in a special collection. They cover a broad range of activities connected to the various activities of the Long Riders’ Guild, including exploration, ethics, spirituality, historical research, literature and social justice.

Unlike the entrenched equestrian sports world, which often turns a blind eye to abuse and cruelty so long as it does not disrupt their income stream, the Long Riders’ Guild is intent on maintaining the highest ethical standards in the equestrian world. It encourages harmony between horse and human. Its mission is to care for the vulnerable and speak up for the voiceless. Admittance is never a foregone conclusion based upon the accumulation of mere miles. because it s job of the Guild to reassure the public that they can trust the word of a Long Rider, the Guild has published a strict set of ethics. A new section on the Guild website articulates these ethical guidelines.

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