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Long Rider Fellows of The Royal Geographical Society
We are delighted to announce that the Royal Geographical Society in London has informed us that any Full Member of The Long Riders' Guild who has made an exceptional journey may be eligible to apply for Fellowship of the RGS via The Guild.
This is literally an historic first for global equestrian travel and all Long Riders, as it marks the first time in history that equestrian travel has been acknowledged in this way.
The historical, philosophical, and scholastic view of equestrian travel which we all believe in, as well as the physical courage demonstrated by Long Riders, has now been recognised by the most prestigious organisation of its kind in the world.
For more information about the RGS, please visit their website at http://www.rgs.org
In March 2005 a complete collection of the 107 equestrian travel books in The Long Riders Literary Project was presented to the Foyle Reading Room at the RGS. 29 Long Riders flew in from five continents to witness this historic event. Please click here to read about it and to see the photographs.
Here is a partial list of those Long Riders who have now been honoured by being named Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society
Pedro Luiz de Aguiar – at the age of seventy, made an 18,000 mile journey across Latin America.
Richard J Barnes – after riding to all four corners of Great Britain, called for the preservation of England’s endangered bridleways. Author of Eye on the Hill.
Laurence Bougault – was attacked by natives and nearly died while trying to ride across Africa.
Timothy Cope – currently riding 8,000 miles solo in the hoof prints of Genghis Khan from Mongolia to Hungary.
Christina Dodwell – famed English explorer whose many equestrian adventures include riding solo through the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Author of Travels with Fortune.
Hans-Juergen Gottet – rode 8,000 miles from Arabia to the Alps.
Robin Hanbury-Tenison OBE – the doyen of English explorers, has made a number of equestrian expeditions in all parts of the world, including riding the length of China’s Great Wall. Founder Member of The Guild and author of Chinese Adventure.
Shamsuddin Hashemi – risked his life to ride across Taliban controlled Afghanistan.
Dr. Wendy Hofstee – rode across the Andes in Ecuador.
Jeremy James – England’s poet of the saddle, has made several historic journeys in Europe and Turkey. Founder Member of The Guild and author of Vagabond.
Stephen McCutcheon – currently riding 10,000 miles solo from Delhi to Peking.
Louis Meunier – made the first modern ride across war torn Afghanistan.
Enrico Modola – led an equestrian expedition across Africa, retracing the ancient caravan route from the Atlantic to Lake Victoria.
Gordon Naysmith – rode 14,000 kilometres from South Africa to Austria. Author of The Will to Win.
Stephen Nott – is the only person in history to have ridden to all four corners of the Australian continent.
Steven O'Connor – despite suffering from bipolar, rode from Santiago, Spain to England along the ancient pilgrimage route of St. James. Author of Dare to Dream.
Basha O'Reilly – rode from Volgagrad in the Soviet Union to London. Founder Member of The Guild and author of Count Pompeii – Stallion of the Steppes.
CuChullaine O'Reilly – made the longest ride in the history of Pakistan. Founder Member of The Guild and author of Khyber Knights.
George Patterson – rode across the Himalayas in the winter of 1949 to alert the world to the Chinese invasion of Tibet. Author of Journey with Loshay.
Douglas Preston – retraced Coronado’s route through the deserts of the American Southwest. Author of Cities of Gold.
Hjordis Rickert – at the age of nine, rode the length of the ancient pilgrimage route across France to Santiago, Spain.
Ian Robinson – rode alone across Mongolia and Tibet. Author of You Must Die Once.
Julian Ross – first person in modern history to explore newly freed Transylvania on horseback. Author of Travels in an Unknown Country.
Allen Russell – rode alone from Canada to Mexico via the Rocky Mountains.
Harry Rutstein – first person in modern history to retrace Marco Polo’s journey completely, a portion of which he rode. Author of In the Footsteps of Marco Polo.
Pat and Linda Schamber – mother and daughter team who rode from the Atlantic to the Pacific shores of America.
Mikael Strandberg – journeyed across Patagonia and re-discovered the “lost” Yakut horses of Siberia. Author of Patagonien.
Countess Alexandra Tolstoy-Miloslavsky – rode across the Silk Road of Central Asia. Author of The Last Secrets of the Silk Road.
Sir John Ure KCMG LVO – rode across the Andes. Author of Cucumber Sandwiches in the Andes.
Francois Varigas – rode from Mexico to Canada alone.
Howard Wooldridge – only person in modern history to ride from the Atlantic to the Pacific in America, then ride from the Pacific back to the Atlantic. Author of Misty’s Long Ride, Across America on Horseback.