The Long Ride 2010

 

Personnel

The Leader.

I have been persuaded, much against my better judgement I might add, to add a note about the leader of this trip who is largely an unknown. Modesty forbids going into too much detail – for those who sign up, access will be granted to ‘The Corral’ wherein you will find out more about me. In the meantime, then, I have had considerable expedition experience, either as a member of an expedition, assistant leader or leader. I have lived out of a backpack, a pulk, a canoe or a Landrover, in conditions ranging from desert, through semi desert, to the Arctic, tropical jungle, and all points between!

The Assistant Leader.

I have pleasure in announcing the appointment of a permanent Assistant Leader, Emma Payne whom I have known for a while now, more importantly, seen her under trying expedition conditions.  More detail to be found in the Corral.

Expedition ‘Wrangler’.

I also have pleasure in welcoming Lisa Waller as our expedition wrangler! She too, has been tested in the forests of Sweden! More in the Corral.

The Team -UK

The proposal is to recruit experienced riders, initially from UK, to keep a minimum team of five on the ground at any one time. The decision to travel with five riders as a minimum, is based on safety.

It is fully appreciated that not all will be available to devote the full six months to the ride, therefore it will be necessary to fly riders in and out at pre-determined points on the route. It has been established that airports are well spaced along the route, and efforts will be made to facilitate transporting of personnel to and from airports. However, this cannot be guaranteed and travellers may have to make their own arrangements.

The core personnel from UK will be invited to attend a training weekend, before departure, with a view to gaining some experience in expedition conditions and possibly some experience in the use of expedition equipment. This weekend will also serve the purpose of enabling travellers to get to know each other. It may be that they are vastly experienced expeditioners, but, for the moment, it is necessary to assume that they are not and plan accordingly. Again, the practicalities of bringing people together from far-flung parts of Britain may make this difficult at best.

I have made provisional arrangements with a farmer friend for the use of his land in Kent for the proposed training weekend and he has agreed, in principle, that riders may bring their horses, although riding will not be the main thrust of the weekend.

There are some extraordinarily ‘good value’ people signing up, it will be a delight to get together and meet them over the training weekends.

The Team - US

We have received an enormous amount of support and assistance from a large number of people across Texas and Colorado, foremost amongst them being Robert Liner, professional horse trainer in Frisco Texas.

Robert is assisting us with the animals, tack, training and providing a holding facility and  base from which to operate in the build-up phase. His assistance has been invaluable.

Likewise, Sandy Holmes, from Arizona, has been working away behind the scenes, engaged in less visible tasks to ease our way. She will be assisting us at the Texas State Fair in September and probably driving the support vehicle for up to three months.