Be Prepared

I would like to dedicate this post to my father, with whom we had many dinner table discussions about "thinking ahead" and who has instilled in me a need to be prepared that tempers my otherwise impulsive nature.

Preparing for a long ride seemed daunting task. There are many different pieces that need to come together in order for the riders and horses to be ready to set off on a journey like this one. There were also many lessons to be found in the preparation stage of the journey that I am sure will serve us once we are on the road. My preparation for Cabalgata del Cielo Roio involved lots of hard work, lots of uncomfortable messages sent to people I did not know asking for information or advice, and a lot of learning to let go and accept things as they are.

Hard Work

There are numerous skills necessary to care for live alongside horses for months at a time. Learning and practicing these skills takes dedication and work. As a lifelong horsewoman and outdoor enthusiast, some skills such as human and equine first aid, horsemanship, and backcountry skills I have already been learning and practicing for many years. Other skills were relatively new to me and required much more investment in order to develop to the point where they would be useful to me on the trail.

A skill that I felt was crucial to learn was hoof trimming and shoeing. While I do not think this may be necessary for all long riders, due to the location of their rides or the availability of hoof boots, for my ride through Argentina I need to be able to care for my horses feet and to replace a shoe in the case that a horse were to lose one. I signed up for a week long course offered by the Associacion Argentino de Polo and taught by an experienced veterinarian and farrier. The students in the course were a mix of professional farriers, veterinarians, and horsemen from all around Argentina. We learned about the mechanics of the hoof and then practiced using different tools on frozen dead horse feet before moving on to actually trimming and shoeing a live horse under the watchful eye of the instructor. It was hard work physically and my skills left a lot to be desired. At the end of the week I felt as though I had learned enough to continue practicing, but I needed another mentor. Back at the estancia, I asked our farrier to give me feedback as I worked alongside him shoeing the estancia horses. With many more hours of practice, working at a glacial pace alongside a true professional, I gradually began to improve. So I signed up to attend another farrier course with the same instructor. He was pleased (and probably surprised) at the progress I had made and I was able to learn so much more in the course now that I had a bit of foundation. Although I would never consider myself a professional farrier, I am now completely comfortable caring for my horses hooves on the ride.

Another important part offer the ride preparation was learning to correctly pack a horse. We will be using a pack horse and in order to ensure her health and longevity throughout the trip we need to know how to pack right. While I was studying at Colorado State University I was fortunate to learn packing and outfitting with the legendary instructor Chuck Peterson. With many years as a packer and instructor, Chuck was able to teach us the technical skills involved in packing (creating the loads, hitches, etc) and also pass on the practical experience that one only gains from miles and miles of leading a string in the backcountry. I loved the course, and returned as a teaching assistant. Helping other students learn these skills solidified my own knowledge, and with a few backcountry pack trips under my belt I feel like I have a solid packing foundation. Fast forward three years when the idea for Cabalgata del Cielo Rojo was just beginning to become a real project, I realized it had been many years since I had worked with a pack horse. My skills were rusty to say the least, and I was sure I would not be the best instructor to show Louisa the ropes. We organized to spend a week at the wonderful UXU Ranch near Yellowstone National Park and let the staff of Hidden Creek Outfitters sort us out. They were experienced and patient teachers and in just a few days I had sharpened my skills and Louisa could throw a hitch with the best.

As we began training our own horses to pack and preparing them for the ride, many times we would finish a hitch only to decide that it was too loose or that the load wasn't sufficiently balanced and centered, and we would take it off and do it again. While frustrating, I believe that this practice achieved two things: we have developed a system between the two of us that allows us to work quickly and smoothly as a team and the horses became more desensitized to the entire packing process. While learning to be a farrier and a packer take a significant amount of hard work, I have also found it incredibly rewarding. To think that one year ago I would not be able to do things that I now consider normal is empowering and motivating. The outcome is definitely worth all the work put in. Being Uncomfortable Part of the preparation for this ride has really forced me to step out if my comfort zone. Reaching out to people I do not know and asking them for advice and support is something that did not come easy. At the start it took me days to write my first email to the Long Riders Guild, and I agonized over every sentence worried about what they would think of me based on what I wrote. This initial contact with the LRG gave me more contacts, and as I reached out to each person my list of contacts grew. Which means I got a lot of practice sending emails and WhatsApp messages to people explaining who I was, who had connected me with them, and what I needed: advice on planning the ride, a place that my horses could stay the night, and/or another contact, please. I sent long voice messages to people I didn't know in a non-native language. I met with people in coffee shops and pubs to talk about their experience on a long ride. I approached organizations with flyers about my project to see if they would be willing to promote it. I even did a short interview to be shared on Instagram and a longer interview for a radio program about tourism and Patagonia. What I have learned from all this is that these things are uncomfortable, and they get a little easier with practice, but they never stop being uncomfortable. We just need to do them anyway.

While many of my efforts did not result in anything, many did. I have met and spoke with so many interesting and supportive people since beginning this project, many of whom are people that would never have crossed my path otherwise. The amount of enthusiasm and support people offer two young women who want to ride across a country is incredible. I am so grateful to all of the people who have already offered us support, and to all those who will follow. I know that they are the key that makes a ride like ours possible, and it was totally worth all of the uncomfortable moments. Letting Go The last, and perhaps most difficult, lesson in preparation was being able to accept things as they are and letting go of the need to have everything figured out. During the planning stage, I wanted reach out to many estancia owners on my proposed route to see if we could ride through their land, but was unable to get the contact information of many land owners. Instead we will need to ride up to their gates and ask permission to cross and to camp on their property. And we will need to be able to develop another plan in the case that they tell us "no". While it was originally frustrating to look at the map and see nothing but question marks, if you change your perspective that becomes the real essence of the adventure. It is both scary and exhilarating to relinquish the idea that we are able to plan everything. The philosopher Epictetus wrote "Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen: this is the path to peace." This is certainly true as we are about to embark on a journey in which we will be completely at the mercy of the weather, the horses' health and attitude, and other people. Long riding and travelling with horses simply something that you cannot pin to a schedule or plan each campsite in advance on a map. The ability to be flexible and resourceful in every situation that presents itself is the only way to be successful on a trip like this. In this case being prepared is more of an attitude of acceptance and security in your ability to deal with anything the road presents to you, rather than an actual act of planning every step in advance. As we are about to start the ride, I know I am prepared.

So if you are planning a long ride, the skills and details of your preparation are likely to be different than mine. Each ride and rider are different. However, I am willing to bet that the lessons you will learn along the way to the ride will be similar. In fact, I believe that these lessons are applicable to anyone chasing any dream, whatever that dream might be. With hard work, willingness to persist through uncomfortable situations, and acceptance of elements outside of your control without abandoning your path, I think you will find the realization of your dreams within your reach. Now that the time for preparation has reached its end and the ride is about to start, all that is left is to saddle the horses, step up, and ride away.