Will Ben Theyre pick the old, reliable trail veteran, Thunder (right), or “independent thinker” Be-Bop as his steed on his July trip westward?

If you’re a frequent reader of The Trail Rider, you likely recall from my last entry in the May/June issue that Vanessa and I are planning a three-week trip with our horses.  

In July, we’ll travel from our farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York, west to the Tetons in Wyoming. Before we return home, the vacation will probably put a good 5,000 miles on the new truck.

We’ve been planning for the adventure. A recent national tourism report revealed that, on the average, people spend less than two weeks planning their vacation. In an effort to raise the national average, we decided to make our planning a six-month project. It’s an extraordinarily long time by standards. But, as every good trail rider knows, good planning for a trip takes time — and is worth the effort.

Van and I are seasoned horse travelers in the distance-riding world and have mostly used primitive camping facilities in and around our national parks. What we haven’t had is the wilderness experience. That’s where horsemen romantically ride into the bowels of our national parks (with their global positioning systems) camp, and witness what few see.

Certainly, we’re not wimps and would love to see the sights. Our years of endurance racing taught us how to ride hard over rough terrain. It toughens body and soul. But, we admittedly have been spoiled a bit. Management at events we’ve frequented over the years often provided a cadre of support personnel. Ignoring the actual competition part, having water, direction, and available emergency help offered a low risk, relaxing equine-camping situation; and we sorta-kinda, well, have become used to it.

We also need to consider the risk. While some might think it to be their 15 seconds of fame, I for one would be quite embarrassed to be on the “live cam” with my horse dangling from the bottom of a helicopter. I really don’t want to be interviewed by Katie or Matt. So, we’ll avoid wilderness camping. Primitive camping will offer a nice balance. To quench our thirst for the wild, we’ll look for opportunities along the journey to have a guided ride into the wilderness. 

Developing a route seems to take a larger block of time than we expected. We wanted the journey to be the vacation, too. Interstate highways offer speed, but we also wanted to travel the old U.S. highways across our country. They offer a slice of Americana we love.

With 10 weeks to go, the route we’ll travel is still in a dynamic state. We have, however decided to take a path through a known entity, the Brown County Horseman’s Park in Indiana. It’ll be our first stop. If we drive 500 miles in between stops from there, we’ll be in Iowa and South Dakota before we reach our destination in Wyoming. Flexibility would be the theme of the return trip. It could take us through Michigan or, if time is short, we might take a more direct route on Interstate 90.

Four back issues of The Trail Rider became our primary reference source. We researched, surfed, and measured on road maps. We also viewed Garth and Kathy Rumsmoke’s DVD on Wyoming. The devil is always in the details. Knowing the general direction of our travel gave us flexibility in finding ads and announcements for horse camping and riding for the states we’d be camping in.

All the big decisions we made developing our route paled in comparison to the biggest choice of all, which horses to bring. There was no question, Vanessa is bringing Beene, her well-traveled gray Spanish Arabian gelding who’s become sound after recovering from debilitating ringbone.

The $50 question is, “Should I bring Thunder, our 19-year-old reliable trail horse or Be-Bop, the Internet Horse, our 6-year-old?”

If you recall, Be-Bop was the steed I was riding when Vanessa and I had our September 2003 incident, in which I broke my wrist and Van suffered a concussion.

To the fainthearted, there would be no decision. Thunder (his real name is PFLA Rahad) would be the choice. The chestnut is a straight Egyptian Arabian gelding and a seasoned trail horse. He proudly carries the marks and temperament of a 2,000-plus-mile endurance veteran who’s logged 15 100-mile races. He travels well and is steady and powerful on the trail. Best of all, his adventures make great campfire material. 

Then there is Be-Bop. He’s one of those intelligent, cerebral horses. Vanessa calls him the “independent thinker.” Despite the misunderstanding he and I had in the road in 2003, he’s found a place in our hearts. The problem with bringing the young gray gelding is that although he travels well, he’s not well traveled. He needs a good trailer ride up to Otter Creek for a weekend camping trip and a refresher course on trail riding if he’s going to participate in our adventure.

Decisions, decisions. Mulling over this choice of horses isn’t something to lose sleep over, but I’m concerned about taking a 19-year-old horse on a 5,000-mile, 18-day romp on the highways and byways of our nation. Moreover, equine health issues on the road can change the entire demeanor of a vacation, if you know what I mean.

On the other hand, Be-Bop would gain a world of experience from the trip. It would do him good; make him more worldly. Also, he represents the younger horses on our farm and our future mounts as we face retirement in the next 10 years. We’ll see how his conditioning progresses and will make the right decision.

Time continues to tick away as our departure date of July 1 approaches. No matter which horses come along or what route we settle on, we hope you’ll look for our rig around Yellowstone National Park for a week or so after the Fourth of July holiday. 

Not in the vicinity? For regular updates during our trip, check out our Website,

www.bentheyre.com, from July 1 to 18. Drop us an e-mail. We’ll respond from the road.

Taking six months to plan a vacation is a great way to get excited about your approaching adventure, and make it the best. Bottom line, our boys are depending on us. Ultimately, it’s our responsibility to make the trip safe for the horses so they can learn from the experience as much as we will.

Life is good if you live it.

If you’re located along the U.S. 80-90 loop, know of a community event, or have suggestions on a great place to see or spend a day or two from July 1 to 18, please let me know. My e-mail is bentheyre@juno.com. As always, I’ll  answer every e-mail personally.