This is quite simply the most important book ever written in the English language by a military man on the subject of equestrian travel.

It was designed to be used by the United States cavalry. Yet it differs from traditional army manuals in that instead of emphasizing mounted maneuvering, it concentrates on the preparation and practice of journeying on horseback. If you want to learn how cavalry men charged into battle waving sabers, this isn’t the book for you. If you want to learn how to properly pack and ride a horse over extremely long distances, then you are holding the cavalry man’s sacred text in your hands.

The author, Lieutenant Jonathan Boniface, traveled from Asia to Europe in search of the most valuable equestrian travel knowledge. He lists seventy-eight primary sources, including the finest equestrian scholars of the time, from a variety of countries. Boniface takes the reader through the step by step process of finding the best riding horse, proper saddling, rules for daily travel, care of the horse, and possible dangers. He also devotes a section of the book to working and traveling with pack horses and mules. At more than five hundred pages, the book represents the largest international study of its kind. Plus, the text is packed with nearly two hundred excellent photographs and diagrams. It is a superb literary achievement !

At the dawn of the 20^th century experts were busy predicting the imminent demise of the horse. Mankind’s most historically influential comrade would make way for the automobile, cynics said.

Yet the young author of this remarkable volume disagreed with the critics.

No machine of steam and steel, of cog or cam, no vapor-fed motor, no craft propelled by batteries or boilers would ever successfully displace the horse from our on-going needs, advised Boniface.

Part text book, part history book and all inspiration, “The Cavalry Horse and his Pack” is the lasting tribute to the great horseman and talented writer who foresaw the day when horse travel would once again flourish and a book such as this one would be cherished by unforeseen generations of Long Riders, cavalry students and horse lovers.

The critical need for a standardized Horse Travel Journal was recognized by the Founding Members of The Long Riders’ Guild in the year 2000, during their first international meeting of equestrian explorers. All of these mounted travellers shared stories about their assorted unsuccessful efforts to maintain a written record of their equestrian adventures. Though various literary avenues had been tried, no one had devised a book specifically designed to record the equestrian occurrences encountered during these long and often perilous journeys.

Thus was born the need and desire to publish a book intended to register the most important comments and observations of the world’s Long Riders.  It has been designed to fit into a standard saddle bag. Every daily diary entry in The Horse Travel Journal allows the Long Rider to make concise notes on the specifics of that day’s journey, the condition of the horses, problems encountered, etc. Additional pages are provided for personal recollections about daily events.

In addition, at the rear of the book, The Horse Travel Journal contains the world’s first Long Rider Pictionary. In their initial meeting it was discovered that despite the fact that many of the Long Rides were fluent in several foreign languages, normal linguistic training did not include the necessary equestrian terms often encountered during the course of such a journey. How does one say “have you seen my stallion” in Mongolian at midnight, for example? Now, with the aid of the Long Rider Pictionary, the equestrian traveller can point to the object in question in his or her search for local linguistic assistance.