The Long Riders' Guild

Billy Brenchley

"What does it mean to belong to the Long Riders Guild?"

 

I have always been a loner, highly controversial and yet somehow always surrounded by unique people. Christy and I after knowing each other for a long time finally got together seven months before the start of the African Hoofprints expedition; not in the planning.

 

I did not want to do the expedition for a cause or belong to any group. However Christy had already changed my "loner" status and not long after that, when we had completed the requirements for membership to the Long Riders’ Guild, she confirmed us as Members. I was sceptical but soon found myself amongst a unique group of people who felt like I did; tough, salt-of-the-earth, God fearing animal-lovers.

 

Lying next to Christy's body on the Tanzanian plains believing that our horses were dead under the bus that had mowed us down, I had a long time to reflect on my decision to let Christy come along on the journey. My emotional state made me doubt that decision. But then this unique group of people started rallying around me. That’s when I understood these like-minded Long Riders were not going to criticize where I had taken Christy. Instead they too mourned and gave me their moral support.

 

The Long Riders Guild has a wonderful ethos and when the pressure is on they do not falter. I am proud to be a Long Rider as was Christy!

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