Five Years on Horseback: An Epic Journey Across the Americas

Amanda Uechi Ronan, , , Comments Off on Five Years on Horseback: An Epic Journey Across the Americas
Olivia and Ben, a Canadian and an Aussie, are crossing the Americas from bottom to top with horses, following the famously known Pan-American Highway that starts in Ushuaia, Argentina and finishes in Alaska.

The World from a Horse

Tell us about yourselves!

Benjamin is from the Australian Outback, where he spent the majority of his life working with horses, cattle, and working dogs. After almost two years working in Saskatchewan on a grain operation, he met me, Olivia, on a small ranch in British Columbia. It was there that we decided to start planning this crazy idea of traveling and living with horses for the next five or more years. I am an anthropologist who was born and raised with horses on a family ranch in Québec.

As I specialized in the study of culture and traditions in the Argentinian horse world, and being a passionate traveler, I immediately jumped at the idea of planning and living this incredible adventure with Ben. We LOVE horses, so why not live with them 100% of the time while crossing the length of the world from South to North? Yep, why not indeed!

What inspired you to do such a long and ambitious journey across the Americas on horseback?

Traveling on horseback allows us to move slowly and meet people who, like us, have horses at the center of their daily lives. Ben lived on horseback with his dogs as companions and coworkers for a long time in Australia. He slept on his bedroll under the stars, with the vast Outback as his home. In his words, “he just wanted to do it in a new place!”

I am an anthropologist who was born and raised on a ranch. I was sitting on a horse before I could even walk. Driven by a desire to combine my lifelong passion and knowledge of horses with my studies, I decided to pursue a master’s degree focused on horses and traditions in Argentina, where I conducted fieldwork in the fall of 2023. Discovering and learning about horse culture around the world? Count me in! Traveling with horses gives us the opportunity to meet horse people from different countries and cultures, and I hope to ride in 14 countries between Argentina and the U.S.


Can you tell us about the planning process?

Ben is a very spontaneous person. Once he gets an idea, don’t ask him the why’s and how’s—he’s just going to do it because he can, and because he wants to! His “planning” approach is as simple as that: “no plan is the plan.”

I’m more about planning, but without getting too caught up in it: “If you plan too much, you lose sight of the real thing. You can’t control everything!”

Instead of rigid planning, we try to prioritize the immediate needs of the horses while keeping the bigger picture of the trip in mind. We now break down the organization into small “steps” between cities and villages. These steps can be as short as 100 km or as long as 300 km, depending on where we are. We have a general idea of the itinerary and study maps for access points, water sources, food, and ideal camping spots—keeping in mind that we aim to travel around 25 km per day, as long as the weather and horses are in good condition. As we head further north, we’ll need to cross multiple borders with the horses, and the paperwork is something we’ll need to plan for. We already did a little bit of that to cross briefly into Chile, now, we’re staying in Argentina for a couple thousand kilometers until we reach Bolivia. We think of the journey as a way of life more than a “trip to be planned.” A two-week trip, or even a three-month one, can be planned pretty easily. Five years or more? That’s an entirely different story!


You mentioned the borders and customs process? Can you briefly tell us a little more about that? Are you worried about being denied? Particularly coming into the United States considering the current politics?

Each country, and even states or provinces, has its own regulations and laws about entering its territory. This applies to us and our passports (Canadian and Australian), but also to the horses. Human transit between countries around the world is well-managed, and it’s easy to find the necessary documentation and requirements to cross borders. For us, it usually means figuring out how long we can stay in a country without a visa, or if we do need a visa, understanding the process to acquire it. For example, in Chile, I (Canadian) didn’t need a visa. I simply presented my passport to the customs agents and was free to roam the country for up to three months. For Ben (Australian), we had to apply for a visa. There are two types: the first is a three-day visa, which is valid for crossing part of the country or for a layover in an airport. That’s the one we used, as we were only crossing the southern part of Chile to reach the other side of Argentina. This visa is free, and everything we needed to do to get it was available online and easy to access. The other option is a multi-entry, three-month visa that requires a fee and more extensive documentation.

For the horses, it’s a different story. We need to research and inquire about live animal imports and exports, as the horses will be entering a country for a certain period before leaving again. We then research and contact the relevant government office that oversees this. Every country has its own system for handling such cases. Once we find the right office, we contact them and make a list of all the requirements that need to be fulfilled before we present ourselves at the border. I’ll explain this using the same example as with humans, Chile.

The horses couldn’t set foot in Chile because they are Argentinian, and importation wasn’t an option. We needed to either transport them in a trailer or swap them for Chilean horses for about 200 km. The decision to keep our own horses and cross with them wasn’t a hard one, as we had already become attached and wanted to continue the journey with them. We found a trailer, got it certified by SENASA (the office responsible for food and agricultural matters in Argentina), and then a vet vaccinated the horses and issued each of them a “sanitary booklet” — their own little passport, stamped by SENASA. After a few days of paperwork with customs and border control to inform both countries about our upcoming trip, we were ready to go.

As we continue, each country will have its own bureaucracy and regulations to follow, both for us and for the horses. Our plan is to keep our minds clear of that until a couple of weeks before we arrive, as much of the paperwork needs to be handled then. If quarantine or specific certificates are required, or a vet consultation is needed, we’ll usually deal with that process when we’re close to the borders. This applies to the United States as well, as we need to cross 10 countries before we’re ready to enter! It’s a lot of time and miles, and things move so fast in our modern world, so we’re focusing on the here and now. It can be worrying at times, not knowing exactly what’s ahead, but we’ll find solutions and thrive. Our project is no longer just a dream—it’s our life.

How do you manage food, water, and supplies while traveling through such diverse and remote areas?

When we reach a town or city, we try to speak with the locals and study the maps to calculate how many days we’ll be on the road before reaching the next place where we can give the horses a rest and stock up on supplies for both them and ourselves. We then buy food for ourselves accordingly. For the horses’ feed and water, we plan to always be in places and seasons where they can graze on grass and alfalfa and drink from natural water sources. Occasionally, we ride through areas where such resources aren’t available, so we stop at local ranches, rest stops, or police checkpoints along the way to ask for a drink and, sometimes, a bale of hay.


Can you tell us about the horses you’re traveling with?

We’re accompanied by five horses that we bought in Ushuaia. They are Argentinian mixed-breeds, usually used to work cattle and sheep on local ranches, or Estancias. They are all between 4 and 14 years old and are very good with traffic, plastic bags, and barking dogs. They sometimes get riled up by a wild guanaco or nandú, the Argentinian versions of a llama and ostrich, but overall, they’re great with the packsaddle and their new way of living on the road!

My horses are Cacique and Bullseye. Ben has Magpie, Miss Piggy, and Marshmallow. While on the road, they all wear shoes because the roadside and mountain terrain in Patagonia are very rugged and rocky.

How do you take care of the horses in terms of feed/farrier/vet needs, especially during tough weather or rough terrain?

In terms of feeding, we travel only 25 km daily, so the horses have plenty of time to graze. Every day, we look for the best possible place to stop for the night, ensuring they have access to enough feed and water to stay in good health. For vaccines and other health matters that we can’t handle ourselves, we stay in close contact with horse people from the region we’re in, in case we need a vet to see our horses. For any emergency, whether human or horse-related, we always have our GPS tracker (the Garmin InReach Mini), which allows us to send messages even when there’s no cell service (and we usually have none in most of the places we travel through). As I mentioned earlier, we shoe all our horses because of the rough terrain they walk on every day. We carry all our trimming and shoeing gear, as well as a couple of shoe sets and nails, so we can shoe them ourselves if needed. If we need to replace all of the shoes on one or multiple horses, we usually do it in a town or ranch, where we have the time and space to do it safely.

How have local communities responded to your journey?

We couldn’t have dreamed of a better response from the communities and the Argentinian people right now! Well, they all think we’re a little crazy (and we do think we’re crazy ourselves, so eh!). We’re starting our trip with just over a month and a half done in Argentina, but everywhere we go, we’re warmly welcomed, and people are very interested in meeting us, learning about the trip, and hearing about our horses.

Argentina is a country where horses are everywhere— from the Estancias, where they work cattle and sheep, to the towns, where they feature in festivals and parades. People are used to seeing them and are proud of the Argentinian criollo, the national horse breed. Since the beginning of the journey, we’ve been interviewed by local TV stations, radio stations, and YouTube channels.

Everybody here knows the famous long rider Aime Tschiffely and his horses, El Gato and El Mancha, who rode 10,000 miles from Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, to New York between 1925 and 1927. This year marks the 100th anniversary of that ride, and the locals are very proud of Tschiffely’s valiant horses, who were criollos, the national horse breed. So, when we say we’re trying to ride twice that distance— around 20,000 miles— they get very excited about it!


Have you encountered any support or kindness from strangers?

A LOT! People are very supportive of our trip and eager to help us in any way they can. From horn calls on the road by truck and car drivers to people welcoming the horses for a couple of rest days, giving them feed and water, and offering shelter for everyone when the weather is challenging. Tourists, as well as locals, are giving us a hand, sometimes saving our day, with all sorts of help, advice, and moral support!

We are often out of town and cell service for up to 8-10 days. If we miscalculate the food for ourselves or the distance to the next water source for the horses, it can lead to very tough situations. For the trip to succeed, we NEED the help of the locals, the people we meet along the way, and the support we get from Instagram, Facebook, and our GoFundMe. Traveling with horses is very different from any other type of travel. We’re codependent; their well-being and ours are very tightly woven together. They need us as much as we need them, every hour of the day. In this sense, any bit of support and kindness is a real game-changer!

How has traveling by horseback compared to your expectations before you started?

Ben has worked and lived in that manner for a long time, so he’s confident in saying that it’s exactly what he expected! Horseback traveling is something he’s known and done all over Australia. Right now, learning a new culture and language is what gets his mind working!

For myself, a lot of it is brand new. Packing a horse, caring for them in places where the environment isn’t suited for them, always being on the lookout for possible sores, and needing to think “horses” 24/7 feels like “same same but different.” As a very outdoorsy person (climbing, trekking, trail running, camping, cycling, etc.) and seasoned traveler, it feels like combining all my passions and experiences into one.

We both expected to travel more “in the middle of nowhere” and less along roads and highways, but in Argentina, the Estancias are private properties and all fenced, so it’s making it hard to get out there. Hopefully, it’ll change along the way!


What advice would you give to others who want to embark on a similar adventure?

Ben’s advice is short and simple— he’s a man of few but good words: “Just go out there and do it.”

He says that people don’t like hearing that. They usually respond with lots of “buts” that make it seem impossible to do in their own situation. From our point of view, no matter what happens, no matter your situation, and no matter the size of the project, there will always be “buts” and “ifs.” But if you have the willpower to do it, make it happen.

My advice is something similar. Everyone has dreams, and sometimes they feel like they’re just that— ideas and projects that, deep down, you know you’ll probably never accomplish. But if a similar adventure is your dream, see it as a goal, break it down into smaller steps, and then get to it. Focus on each step as it comes, without losing sight of the bigger picture. Yeah, it’s not easy, and everyone, even with the same project, has a different starting point. Be conscious of your own means and capabilities and start from there!

And with horses, there’s just one rule: take care of them! They’re the most important part of the project. They’re sentient companions, not tools or means to an end. They’re as much a part of it as you are.

Go riding.

Amanda Uechi Ronan is an equestrian, author, and wannabe race car driver. Follow her on Instagram @amanda_uechi_ronan.