Catherine Thompson
“I can't imagine my long ride happening without the Long Riders' Guild. Very close to the beginning of my ride preparations, which perhaps might better be called the beginning of my dreamings, I stumbled upon the LRG website and instantly buried myself within it spending hours reading and imagining; seeing other people's perspectives of what a long ride can be from both practical and philosophical angles.
This was a wonderful time, this imagining, but really, it was when my ride came closer into being, and I came into more direct contact with CuChullaine and Basha O’Reilly, that I learned of what an amazing thing they have created and what a true gift to the world of equestrian exploration they and the Guild are.
When many of those around me were telling me with a sort of knee-jerk negativity that what I dreamed of doing was not possible (and why would I want to do something so silly in the first place?), I would receive a lovely gentle encouragement from Basha or CuChullaine at various times that told me that not only was what I envisioned possible, but that it could be life changing, deepening, opening.
To me, they and the Guild represent a way of being in the world that brings together a quiet elegance with a vibrancy to create a way of being in the world through what appears on the surface to follow a path from another era. An honourable path. A beautiful path. It is a path to a new world I think. From my heart, I thank them both and those other Members in the Guild that have helped me along my way.”