http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2010/03/01/a-vital-female-perspective-on-adventure/ Explorer, Motivational speaker, Lecturer, Tour Guide, Film maker, Author and Photographer Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:46:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/2010/03/01/a-vital-female-perspective-on-adventure/comment-page-1/#comment-234 Basha O'Reilly Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:40:23 +0000 http://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/?p=1457#comment-234 I totally agree with both Paula and our dear friend Arita – there is absolutely no reason to let our gender interfere with our desire to travel and explore. I was lucky enough to have a father who encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, and to pay no attention to the fact that I was a girl. Here at The Long Riders' Guild we completely ignore gender, race, language, nationality and religion: all that matters is that you have the courage to get on a horse and head for the horizon. Male chauvinist piggery can be a problem: when I was in Russia the men there simply couldn’t believe that a woman could ride! But, when they saw that I could ride at least as well as they could, they made me an Honorary Cossack and gave me a Cossack whip. Thereafter they treated me with great respect. As for marriage breakdowns, I fear they are quite common among Long Riders. This is because the “dream” to ride from here to there is usually much stronger in one spouse than the other – and if tension arises, you can’t get away from each other. Luckily my husband, CuChullaine, is as passionate about equestrian travel as I am, and our forthcoming World Ride is equally important to us both. I totally agree with both Paula and our dear friend Arita – there is absolutely no reason to let our gender interfere with our desire to travel and explore. I was lucky enough to have a father who encouraged me to do whatever I wanted, and to pay no attention to the fact that I was a girl. Here at The Long Riders’ Guild we completely ignore gender, race, language, nationality and religion: all that matters is that you have the courage to get on a horse and head for the horizon.
Male chauvinist piggery can be a problem: when I was in Russia the men there simply couldn’t believe that a woman could ride! But, when they saw that I could ride at least as well as they could, they made me an Honorary Cossack and gave me a Cossack whip. Thereafter they treated me with great respect.
As for marriage breakdowns, I fear they are quite common among Long Riders. This is because the “dream” to ride from here to there is usually much stronger in one spouse than the other – and if tension arises, you can’t get away from each other. Luckily my husband, CuChullaine, is as passionate about equestrian travel as I am, and our forthcoming World Ride is equally important to us both.

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