Latin America - page 2

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Latin America - page 2

Each of the HorseTravelBooks.com titles has a direct link to its own page on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.co.uk. You may visit either of the Amazon sites without any obligation to purchase the book; there you can see a full-size illustration of the cover, learn more details, and read recent reviews. Alternatively, all of our titles can be ordered from your local bookshop.

Through Five Republics on Horseback G. W. Ray ISBN 1590480708	Many places come to mind when one thinks of the dangerous and unexplored places of the nineteenth century world. Africa and Tibet, for example, both challenged brave explorers in that previous age. Yet one continent, though often overlooked, offered all the adventure a daredevil could want. South America was still politically unstable and geographically challenging. It was exactly for these reasons that George Whitfield Ray came sailing into Buenos Aires in 1889. A Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, Ray was a part-time missionary and full-time adventure junky. Within a short time he had managed to acquire a job as “Official Explorer for the Bolivian Government”. Shortly thereafter he began a series of explorations and misadventures which still make for hair-raising reading. Ray’s account of his South American travels, “Through Five Republics on Horseback”, was gathered from his years spent exploring the untouched interior, visiting unknown tribes, and making careful observations of native life in a host of countries. Yet it was his equestrian adventures that made Ray justly famous. On his most noted horse trip into the interior, the equestrian explorer set out to find a lost tribe of sun-worshipping natives who resided in the unexplored forests of Paraguay. The journey was so brutal that it defies belief. The horses were repeatedly attacked by vampire bats, thousands of which lived in nearby jungle caves. Then Ray and his horses were reduced to sucking dew off leaves to survive. By the time he discovered the tribe, Ray’s clothes were in rags, held together by horse hair thread. The intrepid American did eventually ride back to civilization, but not without paying a price for his boldness. He lost two toes to blood-sucking insects whose bites also caused much of the flesh on his feet to rot off. Long considered a classic of equestrian travel, “Through Five Republics on Horseback” is amply illustrated with classic photographs, as well as drawings that Ray made during the course of his remarkable adventures. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble.
Through Mexico on Horseback Joseph Goodwin ISBN 159048035X	At first glance one may wonder how qualified were the two young men who set off from a Texas border town bound for Mexico City in 1931. The author, Joseph Goodwin was a Yankee with an itchy foot and a taste for peril. In contrast to this homespun hero was his companion, Robert Horiguichi, the sophisticated, multi-lingual son of an imperial Japanese diplomat. To say these two mismatched, would-be equestrian explorers were unprepared for the deserts, quicksand and brigands they encountered in the Mexican wilderness would be a mild understatement. Luckily before leaving the Lone Star state they had procured what they believed were all the necessities for explorers, including a canteen, an old pistol, and a typewriter to chronicle their soon-to-be-famous equestrian escapades. Along with their mustangs, Pistole and Negra, the amateur adventurers set out to prove that the dangers of the road were as welcome as the pleasures, something for which they did not have to wait long to discover. In one particularly harrowing episode, they were surrounded, shot, and nearly kidnapped by an armed band of Mexican bandits. “Through Mexico on Horseback” is thus both a stirring tale of high adventure, as well as a look back at a more innocent time in a now-bygone world. Go to Amazon.co.uk or Barnes & Noble
Tschiffely's Ride Aimé Tschiffely ISBN 1590480112	No one knew they were looking at a hero and his two horses. Instead the local press derided him as "a lunatic proposing to ride overland to New York." The time was 1925. The place, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Standing on the threshold of equestrian travel history was a young Swiss Long Rider named Aimé Tschiffely. Next to him were his two faithful Criollo horses, Mancha and Gato. Their collective goal was to ride more than ten thousand miles from Buenos Aires to New York. No one had ever attempted such a journey. Everyone thought Tschiffely was mad. Looking back on what would become the most famous equestrian journey of the modern age, it is difficult to believe that anyone doubted the abilities of the legendary Long Rider and his hardy horses. Yet the school teacher who became an equestrian explorer had been told he was too inexperienced, his horses too old, and the journey too difficult. What Aimé Tschiffely was told was wrong. This is the story of the greatest equestrian epic of the twentieth century, a journey that came about because a man and his horses refused to quit - ever! During the course of their travels Tschiffely, Mancha and Gato crossed deadly deserts, passed through jungles, traversed sky-high mountain passes - and rode on. They were assailed by vampire bats, mistaken for gods and navigated the Panama Canal - but rode on. Nothing stopped them. No one since has rivalled their accomplishments. Often imitated but never outdone, this timeless book remains the most beloved equestrian travel classic of all time. So saddle up for the ride of a lifetime. But beware: the story of Tschiffely's Ride has inspired five generations to take to the saddle in search of mounted adventure. For more information, please go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon.co.uk
Viaje a Caballo William MacCann ISBN 1590481496	El mundo era un lugar totalmente distinto cuando William MacCann partió de Gran BretaZa para andar a caballo en 1848. Méjico y los Estados Unidos estaban envueltos en una sangrienta guerra de bordes. Oro fue descubierto en California, despertando la mayor estampida por oro en la historia de la humanidad, y revoluciones políticas eran fermentadas en Europa, donde una abierta revolución comenzaba en Hungría poco después de Klart Marx. Mientras las tensiones políticas eran muy altas, el compositor alemán Richard Wagner estaba trabajando en su famosa opera “The Ring of the Nibelung”, y un colegio experimental para mujeres era fundado en Londres. Dentro de éste mundo turbulento anduvo a caballo el joven William MacCann. Sabemos realmente poco respecto a MacCann basado en sus escritos, excepto que tenía un ojo agudo por la observación y era un explorador ecuestre por excelencia. Habiendo partido a América del Sur al comienzo de los aZos 1840, determinó explorar Argentina extensivamente a caballo, ¡y que exploración hizo! El libro original de MacCann abarcó el estudio de historia, literatura, política, economía , arte, filosofía y sucesos actuales. Éste volumen masivo, que documenta su jornada peculiar, combina asimismo descubrimientos geográficos, observación científica y aventura personal. Pero fueron sus aventuras ecuestres las que son el objeto mayor de este estudio. Este científico amateur, convertido en explorador, fue un talentoso hombre a caballo cuyas agudas observaciones de las costumbres argentinas continúan muchos aZos más tarde, siendo claras como un cristal . Desde sillas de montar a arneses, métodos de entrenar y estilos de montar, MacCann tomó notas de lo que ahora es una cultura ecuestre largamente olvidada. Entonces aquí va una abreviada edición de la gigantesca composición de MacCann, una edición especial en espaZol en la cual remarca la búsqueda por aventura de este fantástico explorador de las pampas salvajes de la hermosa Argentina.

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