Tschiffely’s Ride

Book excerpt: THE UNDISPUTED CLASSIC OF EQUINE ADVENTURE In the early 1920s, a peaceful Swiss schoolteacher accomplished one of the most extraordinary equestrian journeys in history: Aimé Tschiffely and his two trusty steeds, Mancha and Gato, traveled the incredible distance of ten thousand miles between Buenos Aires and New York. Tschiffely’s Ride recounts the dramatic story of that daring journey. Along the trackless Pampas of Argentina, over Peru’s towering Andes Mountains, through the malaria infested jungles of Central America, across the deserts of Mexico, and on to a rapturous welcome in faraway New York, Tschiffely carries the reader along on an unforgettable quest. Although many taunted him as a fool for daring to make a ride that had never been attempted, the author was greeted as a hero by the president of the United States and given a ticker tape parade by the mayor of New York City. Nearly a century later, the modest Tschiffely is revered as the most influential Long Rider in history. Tschiffely’s journey has inspired five generations to swing into the saddle and seek their own equestrian adventure; his beloved book remains the most famous and enduring equestrian travel tale ever written. “It is a fascinating personal narrative....Tschiffely has told a romantic and adventurous tale.”—Kirkus Reviews “A ride that beats all the great rides of fact and fiction clean out of the field.”—The Times