'Long Ride 4 Life' 100 days fundraiser horse ride from Queensland to Tasmania

Take 4 Horses, 4 Dogs and 4 Humans, Add Leukaemia, a Heart Attack and 3,000km and You've Got An Amazing Story of Courage (and Saddle-Sore Bottoms!). 

The Long Ride 4 Life (LR4L) originated through a crazy idea about how to transport four horses from Queensland to Tasmania.

Why not ride them, we thought? 4 people, 4 horses and 4 dogs!! It can’t be that hard. Two city slickers, an 76 year young mustering fanatic and a Dutch architectural technician along with 4 horses and 4 dogs will travel 3,000 kms over 100 days down the stock routes of eastern Australia to raise money for charity. Long Ride 4 Life is a journey of a lifetime.

Leaving from the Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Heritage at Longreach on July 16th, following the stock routes which will include many of eastern Australia’s towns that many people have never heard of and ending the journey crossing Bass Strait arriving in Ulverstone, Tasmania on 1 November, 2014 in time to enter the street parade for Show Day. That’s a lot of sore backsides!!

Terrill Riley-Gibson, self-confessed city slicker and cowgirl in high heels with her husband Andrew Gibson will soon embark on a ride of a lifetime. Their lives were turned upside down six years ago when Andrew was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. A few years later as Andrew was recovering from life-saving stem cell transplant from his brother Peter, Terrill suffered a stress-induced heart attack. After having brushes with death, the Long Ride 4 Life is their way to give something back to the Leukemia Foundation.

The $250,000 they hope to raise will also be shared with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Terrill’s 76 year young father Harold Riley will also join the ride. Harold has spent most of his life mustering in the Queensland outback, with work related accidents falling off horses only to be rescued by the RFDS on many occasions.

Dutch architectural technician and horsewoman, Anna Hoogeboom has returned to Australia and will add a global focus and fulfill her dream of trekking outback Australia.

Throughout the three months, the group will stop at bush camps and one-horse country towns where they will meet and be greeted by the townsfolk. From Longreach to Ulverstone, the group will camp out under the stars, with their selffunded motorhome that will support the ride, their four horses (Wallaby, Lucky, Pedro and Jasper) and the four dogs (Rock, Minnie, Lucy and Terrill’s dog Snap). Snap will turn 16 on the ride, which is proof that you can’t keep a good dog down.

Long Ride 4 Life is about the spirit of Australians. From city-dwellers to country folk, it will tell a story of passion, family and community. It is also a story about fund raising, supporting the Leukemia Foundation and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) with the aim to raise $250,000 and increase awareness about the stem cell registry.

Quick Link

• Find out more and show your support at the website longride4life.com