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Historical Long Riders
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Isabella Bird
(1831-1904), the daughter of a clergyman, was born in the north of England
in 1831. She was a sickly child, suffering with terrible back pain. In
1871, after both her parents had died, her doctor suggested that she
should travel to improve her health. Isabella sailed for Australia in
October 1872, visited New Zealand and then set sail for the United States
in January 1873. By chance she stopped off in Hawaii, and spent six
months there riding round the islands - astride! At last, at the age of
42, Isabella had found her true calling: adventurous equestrian journeys.
On Horseback in Hawaii was published as The Hawaiian Archipelago.
From Hawaii Isabella went to San Francisco in August 1873 and spent the
rest of that year riding around the Rockies. A Lady's Ride in the
Rockies was published as Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains.
Her next journey was to Japan, where she travelled around on horseback
between May and December 1878. Unbeaten Tracks in Japan was
originally published in 1880. When she was almost 50 years old the
legendary traveller married John Bishop, but he died in 1886. In January
1890 she travelled from Baghdad to Teheran, and then went on to the Black
Sea. This resulted in her third equestrian travel book, Journeys in
Persia and Kurdistan. Among the Tibetans, the thrilling tale of
her journey in Tibet, was originally published in 1894. The complete
Isabella Bird Collection,
which document the amazing adventures of the woman whom The London Times
described as "the boldest of travellers," is now available on Horse
Travel Books.
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In 1878, Lady Anne Blunt, accompanied by her husband, Wilfred Scawen Blunt, journeyed into northern Arabia and the Nejd desert in search of pure-bred Arabian horses. Only three Europeans had preceded them into this hostile part of the world. After surviving a number of desert dangers, the Blunts returned to England with the Arabian horses which they would use to form the famous Crabbet Park Arabian stud. |
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Sir Francis Bond Head was a soldier in the British army, who afterwards attempted to set up a mining company in Argentina. In 1825 Bond Head sailed for Buenos Aires with a group of Cornish miners. Under Bond Head’s guidance the miners rode across the Pampas, then crossed the Andes mountains and crossed into Chile, only to find that the promised mining concessions had in the meantime been granted to rival companies. Leaving his staff in relative safety, Bond Head rode back across the Andes alone, journeying to Buenos Aires for instructions. When it became evident that the mining proposal was doomed to failure, Bond Head rescued his men and oversaw their safe passage back to England. His subsequent book, “Rough Notes Taken during some rapid journeys across the pampas and Andes,” was produced in 1828 by the famous John Murray publishing house. Bond Head’s book was praised by his fellow English Long Rider, Charles Darwin, who had also made extended equestrian journeys in various parts of South America. In later life Bond Head was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in 1836, where he was called upon to put down a rebellion. He later moved back to England, where he organised protests against the proposed outlawing of horse-riding in the area in which he lived. |
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Gabriel Bonvalot – The annals of the Historical Long Riders include men and women of astounding bravery, remarkable resourcefulness and enduring optimism. Then there is Gabriel Bonvalot, whose remarkable rides “through the Heart of Asia” mark him as the most influential French Long Rider of the 19th century. Bonvalot (1853-1933) was a French explorer, author, and legislator whose exploits in the saddle began in 1880 when he set out to explore Central Asia. Accompanied by the noted French scientist, Dr. Guillaume Capus, the intrepid French Long Riders explored the fabled kingdoms of Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand. A few years later they once again rode across Central Asia, then turning southward, tried to penetrate into the hostile kingdom of Afghanistan. They were seized, imprisoned, then expelled back towards Samarkand. Refusing to concede defeat, Bonvalot determined to reach India via an obscure caravan track which reputedly ran across the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains. According to legend, this “Roof of the World” had been created when the Devil lifted the entangled mass of 20,000 foot high mountains to see what mysteries lay underneath. After a perilous winter passage, the Frenchmen managed to reach the remote mountain kingdom of Chitral. Instead of being hospitably received, they were again imprisoned as trespassers but, with the help of sympathetic British authorities, were eventually released and allowed to travel on to India. These two expeditions placed Bonvalot among the ranks of the English explorer Younghusband, the Russian explorer Prejevalsky and the Swedish explorer Hedin. Yet these two journeys could be considered “training trips” for what came next. In 1889 Bonvalot set out to make an unparalleled journey from France to French Indochina. Accompanying the seasoned equestrian explorer this time was Prince Henri d’Orleans, a young aristocrat with a craving for adventure and a talent for photography. After crossing Russia, the Frenchmen mounted up in Siberia, then headed south towards Tibet. The resultant equestrian winter journey across the Tibetan plain and the Himalayan mountains is nearly too arduous to believe. The men routinely rode in weather so cold that their Siberian companions begged them to turn back when the mercury in the thermometer froze. Yet Bonvalot’s courage and resistance overcame all obstacles. “Our diet is always the same,” he wrote. “The frozen meat we chop with an ax. Our water is always dirty because its comes from melting ice. Tea never really boils on account of the altitude. The dust, mud, sand and hairs from our furs and beasts which we find in our food, are things which we have long ceased to pay attention to.” On one occasion, as the illustration on the left demonstrates, Bonvalot's horse stumbled and nearly went hurtling over a 300-foot precipice with his rider. But Bonvalot carried coolly on. No doubt this terrifying scenario was repeated several times. The French Long Rider needed to be tough, as not only the terrain, but also the xenophobic Tibetans, were trying to deter him. The government of Lhasa had a standing order to turn back any foreigners attempting to enter their “hermit kingdom.” But the observant Bonvalot was able to enter Tibet by following a trail considered so secret that many Tibetans did not even know of its existence. This attention to detail caused one caravan traveller to declare that even though he was a European, Bonvalot was certainly a “Saia.” When asked to explain, the wise traveller explained that a saia was a man who cannot stay in one place for long because “when our mothers were pregnant with us, they travelled, and as they strained their eyes to see beyond the horizons, they made us journeyers.” Though Bonvalot and Prince Henri did indeed reach faraway Indochina, their most remarkable legacy is that they are the only Europeans known to have ridden the fabled meat-eating horses of Tibet. Due to a lack of grain and traditional forage, the Tibetans fed their horses on a special protein diet. Bonvalot noted, “We have had some small Tibetan horses given us which are full of go, and which feed on raw flesh, as we have seen with our own eyes. These carnivorous beasts have marvelous legs, are as clever as acrobats and carry us at a rapid trot.” Bonvalot’s observations form part of an important new research project currently being carried out by The Long Riders’ Guild Academic Foundation. The French Long Rider’s findings have been incorporated into a study of the hitherto undocumented use of carnivorous horses in cultures around the world. Before his journey was over, Bonvalot had ridden across Siberia, the Takla Makan desert, Tibet and China, reaching Hanoi in little more than a year after setting off from Paris. This astonishing journey, which has never again been attempted, inspired Jules Verne to use Bonvalot as the role model of his intrepid fictional reporter, Claudius Bombarnac, who also travelled in this remote portion of the planet. Yet Bonvalot’s ride was fact, not fantasy, and remains the record of the man who the natives said “was never happy unless he was seeking a fresh road.” In admiration of this phenomenal equestrian explorer, The Long Riders’ Guild Press is preparing to re-publish Gabriel Bonvalot’s classic books, Through the Heart of Asia and Across Tibet. For further information on these exciting titles, please contact The Long Riders’ Guild. |
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Edward Borien - known as "the Cowpuncher Artist," he made a trip through several Western States, accompanied by his fellow artist, Maynard Dixon, in 1901, searching for Western themes. |
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George Borrow – (1803 – 1881) - English author who travelled extensively. Two of his books, “The Romany Rye” and “The Bible in Spain,” contain some of the most important equestrian travel observations recorded by a Long Rider during this period. These books have just been republished by The Long Riders' Guild Press - please click here to go to Borrow's page on Classic Travel Books.. For more information, visit the website of The George Borrow Society. |
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The year 1939 was a bleak and gloomy time in England. Fire and darkness loomed on the horizon as war with Nazi Germany drew ever closer. In the midst of this national angst young Mary Bosanquet had a revelation. She would toss off college in London, board a steam-ship, voyage to Vancouver, Canada, then buy and ride a horse alone more than 2,500 miles to New York city. Simple enough! She could ride, had a grand total of eighty English pounds to fund the one-woman expedition, and figured horses would be cheap out in the Wild West of Canada. Besides, she reasoned, if the world really was going to self-destruct, she wanted a memorable adventure, “such as befell heroic voyagers”, before the global ship sank. If it was adventure the young English adventuress wanted, she got it! Bosanquet rode through the mighty Rockies, was wooed by love-struck cowboys, chased by a grizzly bear, feasted with lonely trappers, was adopted for the winter by a family of Irish farmers, and even suspected of being a Nazi spy, scouting out Canada in preparation for a German invasion. And through it all she had Jonty and Timothy, her whimsical and charming horses. If the three inseparable companions sought to put the news of Europe’s descent into the madness behind them, then their eighteen month journey through the silent mountains, dreamy forests, and mighty plains of pristine Canada provided the sanctuary they sought. Bosanquet’s story, Saddlebags for Suitcases is as heart-warming today as the day it was written. |
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Even though she lived and rode in the adventure-soaked nineteenth century, there were few women who could match the amazing life and exploits of Catherine de Bourboulon. Born in Scotland in the 1820s, Catherine Fanny MacLeod was taken by her mother to live in the United States at an early age. Later the young traveler journeyed on to Mexico. There MacLeod discovered Phillipe de Bourboulon, a Frenchman who not only became the love of her life but harbored a spirit as wild as her own. Soon after they married the newlyweds left Mexico, arriving in China in 1849. They lived among the splendors and intrigues of the Chinese imperial court for ten years before deciding it was time to return to Europe. Then Catherine made an amazing suggestion. Rather than embarking on the first ship bound for France, she and Phillipe would instead ride 12,000 miles through some of the most desolate and dangerous portions of Asia - Mongolia, Siberia and Russia! Shanghaï à Moscou is the account in French of this amazing journey undertaken by the young lovers on horseback from 1859 to 1862. Alas, Catherine MacLeod de Bourboulon died soon after her return to Europe. She was only 38 years old. Much of her exciting story was later plagiarized by Jules Verne for his famed Cossack novel, “Michael Strogoff.” |
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Eileen Bowdage - undertook an extended journey across England during the Second World War, riding through Exeter in 1942 after it had just been partly destroyed by the aerial bombing of the German Luftwaffe. The Long Riders' Guild is currently preparing to publish Eileen's account of her war-time ride in the "Stories from the Road" section of this website. |
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The author of Journey From the Arctic was apparently, as Voltaire put
it, “A perfect Englishman – traveling without motive.” Yet Donald
Brown had a deeply personal reason to ride by horseback from
Lapland, through Sweden, into Norway during the winter of 1954. He believed
that a journey on horseback was the most absorbing and eventful way to
travel, a way to discover the world that becomes a mode not just of travel
but of life. |
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There is an old saying among the equestrian journeyers of Central Asia that a unique occasion will produce a special man. When such a rare occasion arose in 1905 for a courageous horseman to ride from Kashmir to Peking, Major Clarence Dalrymple Bruce stepped into the saddle and cantered into Long Rider history. As the 20th century dawned this soldier turned author found himself on the wrong side of the Himalayas. Bruce had previously led a regiment of Chinese solders. Yet fate now placed him in picturesque Srinagar, Kashmir, thousands of miles away from faraway Peking where he wished to be. So Bruce did what any Long Rider would do – the impossible. He began by making his way to the mountain kingdom of Ladakh. There he enlisted a crew of “wild looking ruffians and 28 rugged ponies,” then set off on an eight-month journey that taxed men and horses to their limits. Mounted on his trusty 13 hand high Kashmiri pony, Bruce started by leading his caravan over 18,000 foot high Himalayan passes, before descending onto the Devil’s Plain in Tibet. The caravan was hard pressed to avoid detection by these xenophobic mountaineers who were adamant about keeping foreigners like Bruce out of their “forbidden kingdom.” They needn’t have bothered. Bruce had set his sights on Peking, thousands of kilometers away, so he wasn’t inclined to linger near Lhasa. From freezing in Tibet, Bruce next crossed into Chinese Turkistan. There he stood face to face with the infamous Lop Nor desert. It was in this dreaded wasteland, as they followed “in the hoofprints of Marco Polo,” that Bruce’s caravan suffered. Men collapsed. Ponies died. Yet they still rode towards mythical Peking. “The ponies never failed us, no matter how impossible the ground was,” Bruce recalled. In the Hoofprints of Marco Polo is that rare kind of book, one that reads as fresh today as it did the day Bruce set his pen to paper. Its pages are full of brave men and braver horses, wild mountains and picturesque tribesmen. Amply illustrated with photos taken by the author, this equestrian travel classic also contains an excellent appendix, complete with all of the author’s geographical observations. |
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The English officer, explorer and gentleman, Colonel Frederick Burnaby, was so large and strong that he could carry a pony under each arm. He was also courageous to the point of lunacy. He made two remarkable journeys across Asia in the 1870s, after having almost assuredly been influenced by the previous ride of Catherine de Bourboulon. Burnaby first rode across all of Central Asia, ending up at the Amir's palace at Khiva. Then, after having avoided the Czar's spies in Constananople, Burnaby rode across all of Turkey. His books, A Ride to Khiva and On Horseback through Asia Minor are part of The Long Riders Literary Project. After surviving these equestrian adventures, Burnaby led a contingent of English cavalry against the Mahdi's troops in the Sudan. He died there from a spear wound. |
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Isabel Burton - made an equestrian journey across the jungles of Brazil in 1867 and rode across the deserts of Syria to reach the forbidden ruins of Petra in 1870. Unlike the majority of aristocratic women of her day, the intrepid Isabel shunned the English side-saddle and riding habit, preferring to don gaucho clothes while riding in South America and loose fitting Arab robes while exploring the deserts with her famous husband, Sir Richard Burton. |
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Sir Richard Burton - though he is rightly remembered for his courageous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1853, his undercover exploration of the forbidden city of Harar in 1855 and his extraordinary journey across Africa to discover Lake Tanganyika in 1858, few recall that England's most celebrated linguist and explorer was also an avid horseman and Long Rider. After serving as a Captain of 4,000 Bashi-Bazouk cavalry in the Crimean War, Burton travelled to South America where he made extensive equestrian journeys in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Then in 1870 the man who many consider to be the father of anthropology rode across the deserts of Syria to reach the legendary ruins of Petra. Accompanied by his equally intrepid wife, Isabel, Burton mounted his Kurdish rahwan and led a small mounted caravan through a desert bristling with brigands. |
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Lord Byron - explored the mountainous regions of Albania on horseback in 1809. This journey later served as the inspiration for his famous poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." He described himself as "the humblest of thy pilgrims passing by." To read about Byron's journey, please click here. |
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