| |
The Long Riders' Guild
Historical Long Riders
 |
Franc and Jean Shor - rode across the
Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to Gilgit, Pakistan, in 1952. |
|
 |
One
of the most unusual Historical Long Riders came from the tiny mountain
kingdom of Gahrwal adjacent to Nepal. Giyan Sing was one of these
hardy mountaineers who had enlisted to serve in the British army in India.
When Lieutenant Percy Etherton asked for a volunteer to
accompany him in 1909 on a 4,000 mile ride from Kashmir, north to Gilgit,
across the dangerous Pamir mountain range, through Chinese Turkistan and
Mongolia, the intrepid Sing accepted the challenge. His decision was made
all the more extraordinary considering the fact that Sing had no previous
equestrian experience. Nevertheless the small equestrian traveller rode
alongside Etherton throughout their lengthy journey. Upon reaching Yarkand,
the weary Long Riders were invited to a feast hosted by the local Chinese
governor. Though they were thousands of miles from Peking, the governor
nevertheless produced a plethora of tasty dishes including pigeon’s eggs
preserved in chalk, lotus seeds, stag’s tendons and sea slugs. The ride
turned deadly when Sing and Etherton rode into Siberia during the winter of
1910. The cold was simply appalling, with the temperature sinking to 46
degrees below zero, when Etherton suffered from frostbite. When they
remarked on the cold, a local Siberian told the equestrian explorers that
though the Czar might rule all Russia, it was King Frost who ruled Siberia.
Having ridden four thousand miles with Etherton, the young Gahrwali
tribesman completed the journey to England by train and ship, reaching
London fifteen months after first stepping into the saddle. |
 |
Gorn Skifter
- rode from the Arctic Circle, Finland to Haugesund, Norway in 1953. |
 |
Wilfred
Skrede was nineteen in 1941 when the Nazis occupied his homeland of
Norway. Determined to reach a training camp of the free Norwegian Air Force
located in Toronto, Canada, the daring young man set off across Russia,
Siberia, China, Turkestan and India before finally reaching his destination
in far away North America, more than one year later. After the war Skrede
wrote about this amazing journey describing how he made his way along the
tracks of Genghis Khan’s hordes, followed the silk caravans from China,
crossed the high mountains of Central Asia, and miraculously made his way to
freedom. Yet the liberty he sought demanded a high price. Being a Norwegian
refugee, he was frequently arrested by various police forces who threatened
him with deportation back to his Nazi-occupied homeland, and in communist
controlled Sinkiang the young adventurer had his back cracked by a wild
truck driver. His most perilous challenge however came when he was forced to
ride horseback over the infamous 16,000 foot high Mintaka Pass, a hideous
bit of trail known for killing horses and riders alike. Across the Roof of the World is an
epic equestrian travel tale laced with unforgettable excitement. |
 |
“Medicus”
was the pen name adopted by Daniel Denison Slade, an American physician, born in
Boston, Massachusetts, 10 May, 1823. After graduating from Harvard in 1844,
Slade went abroad for the purpose of higher studies, and on his return in 1852
he settled in practice in Boston.
During the
civil war he was appointed one of the inspectors of hospitals under the United
States sanitary commission.
Despite his
medical success, Dr. Slade gradually relinquished his medical profession in
favor of literary and horticultural pursuits, and in 1870 was chosen professor
of applied zoology in Harvard, which chair he held for twelve years.
In 1884 he
was appointed assistant in the Museum of comparative zoology and lecturer on
comparative osteology in Harvard.
Though he is
best remembered for his prize winning medical books, Slade also wrote this rare
account of equestrian travel. Like his fellow New Englander, Captain John
Codman, Dr. Slade was an advocate of the physical benefits of what was then
termed equestrianopathy. “No exercise can compare with that of horseback
riding,” he wrote.
His short
booklet, “Twelve Days in the Saddle,” recalls how in 1883 Slade and his
daughters rode through primeval forests, alongside rushing rivers and ventured
into the still unspoiled valleys of Connecticut, Vermont and Massachusetts. Yet
in addition to this lovely story, Slade was wise enough to provide would-be
equestrian travellers with a list of tips on how to make a successful journey.
The “Maxims” provided by the good doctor still hold true today.
|
 |
An English immigrant, J. Smeaton Chase
(1864-1923) came to California in 1890 where he pursued a career as one of
the state’s earliest social workers. Yet he never allowed his career to
interfere with the life-long pursuit of his twin passions, equestrian travel
and botany. Though Chase made many various horse trips throughout the
American West, his book California Coast Trails describes his most
famous journey, from Mexico to Oregon along the coast of California in 1910. The
amateur scientist doesn’t merely ride along, he treats us to a treasure
trove of observations, commenting on subjects as diverse as the architecture
of the Spanish Missions, the hospitality of the people, and the beauties of
a fabled countryside in the last days of its pristine natural glory. While
Chase regales the reader with adventures, such as rescuing his horse from
quicksand, the book is far more than a mere account of an equestrian
exploration.
Then
in 1916 Chase mounted up and rode into
the Mojave Desert to undertake the longest equestrian study of its kind in
modern history. The book of this journey, California
Desert Trails,
is one man’s love affair with the Mojave Desert.
|
 |
Beryl Smeeton - rode across South America
in 1938. |
 |
Cornelius Smith was no stranger to danger, having already won the
Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry against the Sioux, when the
dashing young lieutenant announced he was going to spend his leave attending
his sister’s wedding. Only problem was that this happy event was half-way
across the American west. Yet Smith had no doubts that his horse, Blue,
could carry him the thousand miles from Fort Wingate, Arizona to Fort Sam
Houston, Texas. “I had purchased Blue from Lieutenant Bruce Wallace, who had
used the animal to run down the Apache Kid in Arizona. Blue was not of proud
lineage, just a good-sized horse bred at the Maxwell Ranch in New Mexico. He
was a fifteen hand high gelding known to the Mexicans as a “grullo. ”… I
have always thought myself fortunate to belong to an organization whose
Captain believed in making camp early in the day. To do so, he trotted his
horses, perhaps three-quarters the length of any march we ever made. This
allowed men and horses to rest comfortably in camp, a rest they could not
attain by loafing along the road all day. I patterned my ride after this. Of
the thousand miles of my ride to Texas, I trotted Blue for about 700 miles.
I did not gallop him one step. I rode into Fort Sam Houston just
twenty-eight days and ten hours out of Fort Wingate. The ride had been
pleasant all along the way.” |
 |
Edith Somerville and Violet Martin
were the two fun-loving, hard-riding, co-writing female cousins who penned
a total of fourteen books, including their immortal classic, Some
Experiences of an Irish R. M. While readers of that generation would have recognised the names of the co-authors' pseudonyms, “Martin Ross” and “E.
Œ. Somerville,” few knew that the books were actually the pen names of
these light-hearted Irish Long Riders. Their most famous equestrian work
was entitled Beggars on Horseback.
This delightful book recalls how the high-spirited young ladies decided to
tour North Wales on horseback. Finding suitable horses was their first task: even in
1894 this was no easy matter, especially when they explained why they
needed them: “We were conscious of social shrinkage as the work for which
we required the ponies was explained; a fortnight’s road work in Wales,
with the proviso that the animals would have to carry packs, held a
suggestion of bagmen, not to say tinkers.” They were both avid horsewomen,
and in due course they hired two ponies who have pride of place in this
enchanting tale.
|
 |
Alexander
Spotswood - led the first mounted expedition from Virginia into
the Allegheny Mountains in 1716. The cavaliers from this company
formed North America's first equestrian corps known as The Knights
of the Golden Horseshoe. "After the adventure, and when the
party had returned to civilization, Governor Spotswood, bethinking himself
that there should be some token of the exploit, had made in London a
number of small golden horseshoes, set as pins to be worn in the lace
cravats of each of the adventurers." |
|
 |
Freya Stark - Dame Freya Madeleine Stark was a
British travel writer, who was not only one of the first Western women to
travel through the Arabian deserts, she also explored Turkey, Nepal and the
Pamir mountains on horseback. The intrepid lady Long Rider believed there
were two kinds of people in the world, villagers and nomads.
“There can be
no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we
do,” she wrote, before setting out to ride alone across the Turkish plateaux
to the distant Tigris River. Along the way she journeyed from Lake Van
through desolate mountains, during which time she encountered Turkish
governors, mad men, villagers and policemen, all of whom were baffled at her
unhurried manner of travel. Never a quitter, the woman known as
the “poet of travel,”
climbed the notorious
Annapurna mountain at the age of 86 and lived to be a hundred.
|
|

|
Edward Percy Stebbing - Like many of his English generation, Edward Stebbing was
deeply involved, and affected, by the First World War. Though he inspected
the Serbian front, his most important war time experience occurred in
Russia, which he visited in 1917 between the fall of the Czar and the rise
of the Bolsheviks. A keen political observer, Stebbing correctly prophesized
that Germany viewed Russia as a potential bread basket and that it was in
England’s best interests to protect her ally. “The object is to save the
Russians from the Germans, for if we fail now the war will have to be fought
out again in the future,” Stebbing wrote. His warning proved to be all too
true, as Hitler later invaded Russia so as to seize its vast resources.
Stebbing was no mere political columnist. He spent many
years living in India, where he served in Forestry Service. Once again his
observational skills were employed, this time to write a book about the
insect life of the Indian subcontinent. Upon returning to Great Britain, he
became a professor at the University of Edinburgh. During his forty-year
career, he led one of the earliest efforts to study the danger of
desertification presented by the encroaching Sahara.
Yet it was thanks to Stebbing’s organization and
participation in the largest mass equestrian journey in English history
which led to him being named as a Historical Long Rider.
While doing research for The Guild’s
Horse Travel Handbook,
the Guild recovered a rare book entitled
Cross Country Riding.
Written by Stebbing in 1938, there are less than half a
dozen copies of the book now in existence. In addition to sharing the wisdom
gained from years of riding in both India and England, the author made the
startling announcement that he had been inspired to write his book because
of the immense success of “The Long Distance Ride.” A diligent hunt through
a great many archives finally located a copy of Stebbing’s article wherein he described
how hundreds of equestrians rode from all points of England so as to gather
in a grand ceremony in southern Britain.
Dated August, 1937, the story described how a host of
British horse riders set out from eight starting points, bound for a central
meeting place at Eastbourne. Not only were the editors of the sponsoring
magazine surprised that more than twice as many people as expected decided
to ride across Southern England, they also reported that one contestant came
from as far away as Norway. Nor was an age a factor, as the oldest rider was
76 and the youngest only 11 years old.
What Long Rider Stebbing’s terrific article reveals is
that there are unexpected lessons to be learned when ring riders venture out
of doors, be it in 1937 or more than seventy years later. Not only do they
develop their courage, more importantly, they realize that riding isn’t
merely about detail, it is about individual accomplishment. Regardless of
what year the calendar says, equestrians in search of the “centaur moment”
are learning that it isn’t “Thou
Must” but rather “This
Is.” |
 |
Even in the Age of Adventure, there were few men to equal Thomas
Stevens! He scouted for the famous African explorer, Henry Morton
Stanley. Then in 1866 the American reporter proceeded to pedal a
penny-farthing bicycle around the world, seeing the sights in Europe,
out-racing a mob in Persia, and baffling the Japanese in Yokohama. No sooner
had Stevens returned from his four-year bicycle marathon than he was hired
by a New York newspaper to go to Russia on a special assignment. Only this
time Stevens was ordered to travel through the heart of the Czar’s vast
domain on horseback! Though the intrepid traveler had already lived through
dozens of dangers, Russia presented new challenges. Mounted on his faithful
horse, Texas, Stevens crossed the Steppes in search of adventure. Cantering
across the pages of Through Russia on a
Mustang is a cast of nineteenth century Russian misfits,
peasants, aristocrats—and even famed Cossack Long Rider Dmitry Peshkov. This
exciting equestrian tale is illustrated with photographs taken by Stevens
during his historic trip. |
 |
A. W. Stirling
FRGS - explored North Queensland, Australia, on horseback in 1882. |
 |
Few equestrian
travellers
had a more politically radical life than did the American, Anna
Louise Strong. Having been raised in Seattle in the early 1900s
where she was strongly influenced by the labor
riots and social unrest of that time, Strong turned her back on her
otherwise normal suburban roots and fled overseas. Denouncing capitalism,
she began a series of state-sponsored journeys deep into the secretive heart
of the recently formed Soviet Union. Her resulting books described a
worker’s paradise and invariably praised the communist experiment. Dictator
Joseph Stalin was so pleased with this American convert, he encouraged her
to visit the far-flung corners of the new Red Empire.
The Road to the Grey Pamir is the
story of how Strong accompanied a group of Soviet geologists as they rode
into the seldom-seen Pamir mountains of faraway Tadjikistan. Mounted on her
horse, American Girl, the political renegade turned equestrian explorer soon
discovered more adventure than she anticipated. |
|
 |
John Mcdouall Stuart
was one of the most important explorers and
equestrian travellers in Australian history. A Scotsman with a military
background, he arrived in Australia in 1839. After having explored around
Port Lincoln and the Flinders Range in the 1840s and 50s, Stuart led his
first expedition into Central Australia in search of legendary inland sea
called Windjulpin. Stuart departed on horseback in 1858, accompanied by an
Aboriginal guide and a man named George Foster. The hardy travellers made
their way into barren country, relying on Stuart’s compass and navigational
skills to keep them alive. At one point hostile Warramnuga Aboriginals
attacked their horses with boomerangs and set fire to the grass around their
camp. Though they only carried rations for four weeks, Stuart and his men
rode for more than two months, covering more than 2,000 kilometres before
finally being forced to turn back. Still undaunted, Stuart returned to the
saddle in 1860 by riding to the centre of the Australian continent. He
followed that with an expedition in 1862 when he reached the northern coast
of the continent. However, the toil taken by the difficult and dangerous
journeys undermined his health. He retired to his sister’s home in London
and died in 1866.
|
 |
Jonathan Swift
- rode extensively in Ireland in the early 1700s, journeying from Cavan to
Carbery. The solitude and interaction with his horse laid the
foundation for his famous book, Gulliver's Travels and was the
inspiration for the talking horses in the Land of the Houyhnhnms. |
 |
At
a time when polite Victorian
society severely curtailed a woman’s activities, famous female adventurer Ella Sykes risked her life on a
daily basis. Religious fanatics failed to frighten her. Forsaken, hostile
deserts never slowed her horse-bound progress. Instead Ella Sykes rode
side-saddle 2,000 miles across Persia, a country few European woman had ever
visited. Mind you, she travelled
in style, accompanied by her Swiss maid and 50 camels loaded with china,
crystal, linens and fine wine.
In her day Sykes was considered one of the bravest women alive. Today her
remarkable story, replete with rajas and rogues, camels and caravans, is all
but forgotten.
Illustrated with photographs taken by Sykes, Through Persia on a Side-Saddle is a rare glimpse into a
lost and romantic portion of the nineteenth century world! |
Click here to go to next page
Back to Main Historical Page
Home
Top
|