10/31/08 Long riders

How long would you feel like riding your horse just for the adventure of it? I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back right after this to talk about long riders. Long riders are more or less loosely defined as horseback riders who take journey of one thousand miles or more in one continuous time frame. The October America's Horse magazine had an interesting story by Tom Moates discussing long riders. Moates focused on two riders from 1975, Allen Russell who rode from Canada to Mexico and John Egenes who crossed the nation from west to east. Russell's trip totaled 2400 miles and was completed in five months. His travel route was the Rocky Mountains starting in Glacier National Park and ending at the Mexican border. Russell rode his horse Kono predominately backcountry, only riding about fifty miles along roads. John Egenes' travels on four-year-old Gizmo took him 4400 miles in seven months. His ride was a southern U.S. course that used more roads than Russell's, but did include a trek across the Mohave Desert. John would only ride 20 miles a day and rested Gizmo one day each week. I can only marvel at the commitment these men made to complete their journeys. Other long riders were mentioned and believe me one was totally unique, but those stories we'll have to be for another day. I also have some thoughts about every day ranch cowboys and their travel miles. I'm Jeff Keane. America's Horse October 2008