(Click on photo to enlarge.)
Equestrian Travel Equipment
Before you begin to investigate this new section of The Long Riders' Guild website, we would like to say something vitally important.The Long Riders' Guild does not accept advertising revenue, or any type of outside funding, from anyone - ever. In other words, you can't buy your way on to this website. We're not for sale!
The opinions expressed here by the various Long Riders are unvarnished, sometimes harsh, often complimentary, but always spoken from the heart. They have to be.
Unlike ring riders, our lives and those of our horses depend on our gear. If a piece of equipment fails in the middle of the Amazon jungle, while riding over the Himalayas, or fording a Russian river, we can't load up our pony and go home. You don't get ribbons or trophies when you're a Long Rider. If you do it right, you and your horse make it through in one piece.
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This photograph shows
Irish Long Rider Hugh MacDermott making his perilous way over the frozen
Andes between Argentina and Chile. When a piece of equipment fails in
a situation like this, the equestrian explorer and his animals are at risk
of injury or death. The Long Riders' Guild, therefore, takes the
testing of all equestrian travel equipment very seriously. (Click on photo to enlarge.) |
When something breaks down, or doesn't work, Long Riders suffer and their horses become injured. Occasionally a Long Rider or his horse will die. When the death is due to natural causes, brigands, etc., that's one issue. But when it happens because a vital piece of equipment failed, that is an avoidable accident - one we wish to stop from ever happening again. Therefore the need to discuss the subject of equestrian travel equipment has been an overdue priority for everyone in our global community for many years.
Yet despite the critical need, no one has ever undertaken a systematic study of this overlooked area of the equestrian world. There have been a few faint-hearted attempts. But these were largely based on national prejudices that displayed individual perceptions, or advocated using out-dated equipment and techniques, which have now been largely relegated to the past.
Thus with the publication of this issue of The Long Riders' Guild website, we are presenting the world's first planet-wide study of equestrian travel equipment. This will be an on-going project, one that will have new information added to it as Long Riders continue to send in their experiences and recommendations. Moreover, what we are sharing with you now represents the most up-to-date ideas and equipment that were submitted by Long Riders from more than 30 countries.
What you will discover on these new pages will alternately amaze and thrill you. It is hard not to get excited when you read about the revolutionary adjustable pack saddle, the instant horse shoes that don't require nails, or the training device that turns the wildest horse into a lap kitten in only a few minutes - to name just a few!
We're not kidding. These pages don't just harbour "recommendations." The inventors and companies featured here deserve high praise from everyone in the equestrian travel field, because their products represent the "best of the best" that were submitted from around the world.
Consequently, this issue of The Long Riders' Guild website has taken more effort than anything we have ever attempted. Because of these various factors, we apologize for the delay in publishing this highly anticipated body of equestrian knowledge. We would also like to publicly acknowledge Rosie Swale Pope, and Howard Saether - who were the world's first Long Riders to go on-line and share their knowledge of equestrian travel equipment with their fellow travellers. It was their wisdom that laid the foundation for this important study.
Finally, there have been so many requests for an up-to-date book about equestrian travel that The Long Riders' Guild will soon be publishing "The Horse Travel Handbook." This will be a guide to everything you need to know to travel with your horse through any part of the world.
This volume will truly be the world's first equestrian travel literary project - click here for more details.
For initial advice on preparing for a journey, please click here.
In conclusion, we feel that the important new information about equestrian travel equipment presented here today will provide a literary key that links the ancient Bronze Age activity known as equestrian travel to the Space Age wonders of the 21st century.
Read - Learn - Dream - Plan - then Saddle Up and Go !
The Long Riders' Guild -
New Energy and New Ideas for a New Millennium
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