By: Stephanie Springer -
ALBANY, GA (WALB) –Some horse lovers are taking the ride of a lifetime, A 500 mile journey on horseback. Right now, they're in south Georgia.
The group is made up of four people, all from different areas, but they have one major thing in common, they love riding horses. It took years of planning, and conditioning to get these horses prepared for this trip of a lifetime.
Eric Keef loves riding horses, "Every time I got on one and rode for 3 or 4 days I didn't want to stop," he said.
So he decided he wanted to take a long journey riding his horse Scarlet, non-stop, "Actually, this is a dream I've had for about 25 years doing a real long ride," he said.
With enough supplies to last him several weeks, packed right on top of this horse. "I carry Ramen noodles, instant oatmeal a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly," he said.
He started the adventure 25 days ago, near Birmingham Alabama, traveling several days all by himself before he met up with a friend in North Georgia and two others in Sylvester."He wanted to log a 500 mile continuous ride and asked me if I wanted to go along," said Carol McCauley, who is from Bowdon, GA.
So the horse lovers started riding, attracting attention in the towns they pass through. "I get two reactions, either that is cool or you got to be crazy," she said.
Even police escorts have helped the group get across busy roads, "I guess I'm making up for lost time, because I got my first horse when I was 52," she said.
But they've run into some scary moments, "I've run into a pit bull attack and a wild hog coming into camp," he said.
The horses even got stuck, shoulder deep in mud. But the memories and friends they've made along the way, have helped complete the trip. "We've had people just walk out of their home to the street and say oh you can stay here," said Carol.
"Total strangers have taken me into their homes and made meals for me," he said.
The group plans on ending their journey in Calvary next week for the Mule Day festival.
Believe it or not, takes the group 8 hours to travel 20 miles. They plan to ride across the Florida line just so they can say they rode their horses into Florida. Eric says his next goal is to ride his horse on a 1,000 mile trip.
