President Chester Arthur – Though he is normally remembered as being the twenty-first President of the United States, Chester A. Arthur was also a Historical Long Rider who made a unique American equestrian journey. The son of Irish immigrants, Arthur turned a thriving law practice into a political career that resulted in him being elected Vice President in 1880.

When President James Garfield was slain by an assassin in July, 1881, Vice-President Arthur was unexpectedly sworn in as the country’s leader. He served in this capacity until March, 1885. To the chagrin of corrupt politicians, the new president insisted on political honesty. He required that certain vital government positions be obtainable only through competitive written examinations and protected other employees against removal for political reasons.

Though he enjoyed a reputation as being one of the most society-conscious presidents, because of his style of dress and courtly manner, Arthur maintained another side to his life. Despite the responsibilities of his office, the president was an avid fisherman and hunter who enjoyed spending time away from the political pressures of Washington DC. It was this longing for nature that prompted the portly president to become a Historical Long Rider. When the noted landscape painter, Albert Bierstadt, displayed his beautiful depiction of Yellowstone Falls in the White House, Arthur decided the time had come for him to visit this legendary part of the American kingdom.

The President proceeded by train with General Sheridan to Wyoming. Accompanied by an escort of cavalry, President Arthur proceeded to mount up and spend a month exploring Yellowstone by horseback. Many hundreds of miles later, the refreshed executive returned to the duties of his political office.

Soon after his term in office came to a conclusion, Arthur’s health failed. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 57.

Though he had entered the White House unexpectedly, Chester Arthur enjoyed a lasting legacy as a trusted leader.

"No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted, and no one ever retired… more generally respected," one historian noted.

Yet of even more interest to The Guild was Arthur’s desire to ride horses, enjoy nature and preserve his privacy.

“I may be President of the United States but my private life is nobody’s damned business.”

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 19^th 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.”

Douglas Carruthers - Few people are blessed with the clarity of purpose which the English Long Rider Douglas Carruthers carried throughout his remarkable and event-filled life. Born in 1882, as a boy he had determined to cross “Darkest Africa,” see the ruins of Petra and reach “that strange capital at the back of the world, Bokhara.” Before he was 26, he had done all three. During this remarkable burst of intense exploration, Carruthers had scrutinized the Middle East, examined Arabia, travelled across Africa from east to west, followed the course of the Congo River, and investigated Central Asia. Yet it was his equestrian journey across Dzungaria which marks Carruthers as an important Historical Long Rider.

In 1910, at the age of 28, the young scientist was joined by a journalist, M.P. Price, and a professional hunter named J.H. Miller. The trio were determined to see Dzungaria, an ancient Mongolian kingdom which lay between Siberia and Mongolia. In fact the obscure realm had been named for the Dzungars, the left (züün) hand (gar) of Genghis Khan’s army.

Our aim was to explore the last stronghold of the indigenous tribes of Southern Siberia and the Great Mongolian plateau,” he wrote.

It may surprise modern equestrian explorers to learn that many of the problems currently affecting 21^st century equestrian travel presented challenges to Carruthers and the Long Riders of his generation as well. This included visas and money.

Unlike in today’s ATM or credit card culture, Carruthers noted that he had to estimate all of the expenses for the six month ride across the mountains, tundra and desert that lay before him because, “Our next banking town would be six months and 1,500 miles away.” Adding to his problem was the culture consideration that many of the Mongolian nomads he would encounter had never seen bank notes. Consequently, the English explorers were forced to carry much of their wealth in small gold and silver bars.

But having the money was no guarantee of success, especially when the cynical representatives of the Czar’s Imperial government mistrusted your motives. Thus, despite their scientific credentials, the Long Riders had to contend with a hostile Russian government who disbelieved in their purpose.

“That is an absurd route to take,” the skeptical officials announced. “Nobody goes that way. Besides, the track to Usinsk will be open in a week or two; so why choose this difficult one?”

It was only after Carruthers had appealed to the Governor-General of Siberia, that the proper paperwork was produced and the travellers were permitted to depart across Russian territory, bound for faraway China, via Dzungaria.

The resultant trip took the men and their horses across 5,000 miles of trackless forest, insect infested taiga, freezing steppes and dreary deserts. But despite the physical hardships, Carruthers remained enchanted with travel.

“Day after day, as we travelled across the boundless wastes of Central Asia, we were surrounded by views possessing the magic which inspires a man with great thoughts and makes him long great longings,” he wrote.

At the conclusion of the journey, Carruthers wrote a tremendous book entitled Unknown Mongolia. Not only did it provide its readers with loads of entertaining excitement, the book was also filled with accurate observations of the Uriankhai reindeer herders and other lesser known cultural secrets.

Carruthers was awarded the Patron’s medal by the Royal Geographical Society in London. He went on to inspire a new generation to become explorers and Long Riders. However, he had no tolerance for fools or frauds. Carruthers especially disliked those authors who enriched themselves by writing about how their lack of proper planning had caused them to “suffer this or endure that.” Such actions, he thought, were merely a way for inept travellers to disguise their incompetence and issue a license to lecture. Carruthers, on the other hand, was always eager to advise and encourage young people. Shortly after the Long Rider’s death in 1962, the equally famous camel traveller and Central Asian explorer, Owen Lattimore, recalled the man who had encouraged him to follow the caravan trail across Mongolia.

Hieronymous Münzer - Born in Germany in 1437, he was a humanist scholar, physician and Town Councillor in Nüremberg. 

In 1494 he and three friends embarked on a journey, on horseback, to visit the Iberian Peninsular.

Münzer authored one of the earliest printed maps of Europe and in 1493 he wrote to the Portuguese King arguing that the eastern coast of Asia could be reached from the Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa within a few days.  He poured scorn on "inexperienced" people who tried to prove that the Ocean covered three quarters of the world.  (Oh dear!)

Prince Henri d'Orléans.  An heir to the throne of France, a notorious duelist, a big game hunter, an acclaimed author, and handsome to boot, Prince Henri d'Orléans was a dashing French Long Rider whose ride across Asia in 1889 remains the stuff of legend.

Though born with an ancestral claim to the French crown, the dashing aristocrat embraced democracy in its place.  Denied a role in the military because of his nobility, the Prince succumbed instead to the call to adventure by volunteering to accompany the rugged French Long Rider, Gabriel Bonvalot, on that explorer's journey from Paris to Hanoi, via the frozen wastes of Siberia, the burning Takla Makan desert and the forbidding Himalayan Mountains.

They made an equestrian odd couple, the rough, good-natured, older Bonvalot and the twenty-five-year-old princely cub in search of an exciting quest.  Yet together they overcame hardships and accomplished one of the greatest equestrian journeys in human history.

One interesting point about their journey has just been discovered.  Upon leaving Tibet, the French Long Riders used a remote and carefully guarded route known as "The Little Tea Road" which led them into China.  In a strange twist of fate, the modern equestrian traveller, Daniel Robinson, journeyed into Tibet in 2006 via a route known as The Tea Horse Trail.  Consequently, The Guild is attempting to verify if Robinson's road matched the one used by Prince Henri and Bonvalot.

Upon the completion of their record-making ride, Prince Henri and his mentor returned to Europe where they were both awarded various honours.  Prince Henri was singled out for a Gold Medal by England's Royal Geographical Society.

Yet despite the acclaim, the Prince was soon involved in other explorations.  This included hunting tigers in India, exploring Madascar, venturing deep inside Abyssinia and discovering the headwaters of the remove Irawaddy river.  When he wasn't exploring, the Prince engaged in a number of swordfights with Italian nobles, etc. (as one does).  Sadly, the suave Long Rider died as he had lived, while travelling.  During a journey around the world, Prince Henri was stricken by illness and died soon afterwards in Saigon on August 9, 1901.  He was thirty-four years old, and though there was talk that a statue was to be erected in his honour in Cochin, The Long Riders' Guild has been unable to confirm if this occurred.

Ida Pfeiffer - If England is rightly proud of the doughty Long Rider Isabella Bird, the German-speaking world can take equal delight in recalling the mounted adventures of its own intrepid lady Long Rider, the brave Ida Pfeiffer.

Ida was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1797 and, thanks to an indulgent father, was encouraged to follow her tomboyish tendencies. This instilling of courageous behaviour at such a young age led to Ida becoming a determined, brave and outspoken young woman.  After the death of her father, Ida reluctantly married a man several years older than she was.  Yet though they had two sons, Ida laboured under the constraints placed upon her by conventional society.  Therefore, after her husband died, and as soon as her sons had homes of their own, the still-young Ida set off from home anxious to fulfil one desire:  to explore the world at last!

Ida's travels took her to many of the most exotic parts of the planet, including Scandinavia, South America, the South Pacific, China, India, Persia, Asia Minor, Europe and North Africa.  It was, however, her equestrian journey across Iceland in 1845 which marks Ida as an Historical Long Rider.  During that journey the observant traveller described the island kingdom as "a whole world of glaciers, lava-peaks, fields of snow and ice, rivers and miniature lakes."  Her equestrian journey allowed her to visit the locals, witness the geysers, climb to the top of volcanoes and observe the interesting local customs.  These included "passionate addictions to brandy-drinking, snuff-taking and tobacco-chewing," but not, she noted, any strong desire for excess work.  By 1856 Ida's travel books had been translated into seven languages, she had seen a great deal of the world and survived a host of dangerous adventures.  With those qualifications in mind, the diminutive Long Rider ventured to London.  Her goal was to meet England's most celebrated explorer, Richard Francis Burton, and convince him to allow her to accompany him on his forthcoming journey to find the source of the Nile River.  Despite having entered into Mecca in disguise, the flamboyant Burton wasn't able to evade the persistent Pfeiffer, who methodically peppered him with requests.

Despite her excellent travel qualifications, and disregarding her documented courage, the normally unorthodox Burton sided with the patriotic forces of conventional society. As history later revealed, this was one of the most remarkable "what if?" moments in exploration history.  What if these two incredible Historical Long Riders had defied custom and ignored the allure of patriotism by creating an International Expedition?

Instead of travelling with Pfeiffer, the widely-travelled and talented linguist, Burton chose John Hanning Speke.  Speke was not well-travelled and no linguist, and is the man whom history as often defined as an infamous cad and who later betrayed Burton's trust in an act of notorious self-interest.

When her hopes were dashed by Burton, Pfeiffer responded in her usual resolute manner by announcing that if Captain Burton would not allow her to accompany him into the interior of the Dark Continent, then she would venture into another area of that world alone.  Soon afterwards, the intrepid Ida set off to document the secrets of Madagascar.  There she became afflicted with a series of fevers which eventually slew her.

Sir Hanns Vischer (born in Basel, Switzerland in 1876, died 1945) was a Missionary, an official in the British Colonial service and African explorer.

Before Vischer obtained British citizenship, he was on his way to becoming a Missionary in Hausaland;  as a British citizen he could work for the Colonial Administrative Service and he developed an educational system which ensured that the local cultural specialities were included.  Following the success of this educational system in northern Nigeria, Vischer was knighted.

The Swiss-born Briton became famous for crossing the Sahara, from north to south, on horseback in 1906.  The journey started in Tripoli, Tunisia and ended at Lake Chad.  For this he had to get permission from England to be allowed to make the return journey to his post as administrator in Kukawa.  A second journey in the opposite direction was refused by his superior, W. P. Hewby.  He published the book about his journey in 1910, entitled Across the Sahara.

Harriet Wadsworth Harper, a cousin of Historical Long Rider Martha Wadsworth.  Unlike other women of her time, Harriet was unusual in that her side-saddle placed her legs on the right-hand side of the horse, not the left-hand side.  "The family woke up one day to the fact that I had begun to look like a crooked little gnome.  Something was wrong, so off I was sent to a surgeon, who ordered a steel and leather brace for me and suggested that a saddle to go on the right side of the horse should be made. This was to help correct my crooked back.  No girls rode astride in those days - it was unthinkable.... I never changed back to riding on the near [left] side," Harriet wrote.

But what sets Harriet apart from other Historical Long Riders was not her saddle.  It was the fact that she and Martha are the only Long Riders in history to have undertaken an equestrian journey together during which both riders used a side-saddle.  In May 1907 they made a 1200-mile journey "down through Virginia to West Virginia, up the Ohio River, across Pennsylvania, and home to Genesee, New York. We stayed at farmhouses, in mining camps, any place that had spare beds."

In an interesting historical aside, one of the "pleasant companions" who joined the intrepid side-saddle Long Riders for a brief period was Gutzon Borglum "the sculptor who carved the heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt into Mount Rushmore, South Dakota."