It’s been a pretty sweet journey so far. Roxy and I are both doing well and we have met lots of great people along the way. We travelled from Rockingham to Cormac, Eganville, had a day off then went from Douglas to Calabogie, had another day off, then went south for 4 days thru Hopetown, Lanark, Playfairville, before finally reaching Perth. About 125 miles.
We’re now in Perth resting for a couple days before making our push south to the border crossing. We have been rIding and walking and we’r slowly building up our conditioning.
We have been meeting so many new people everyday…But that’s what happens on a trip where you’re always on the move.
The people I meet along the way are so great and now that I’m just getting into farm land proper 10 days in there’s both more road options to travel and people to meet.
I met a really cool store owner in lanark on day 10. Joun, a retired Korean who immigrated in 1973 and lived his first 12 years in Canada 15 minutes away from me in Scarborough. He’s thinking of going on a trio somewhere but doesn’t know if it would be fun. I told him go for it you never know when you’ll die. He donates $100 to the Maya Pedal Fundraiser. Once I get $1000 donated I will send it over to them and then do the same evert thousand after that.
I said he could go down and volunteer in guatemala, building homes and pedal powered machinery. He said he’d rather give from here and not give money to the airlines as that doesn’t help them down there. He said he’s a businessman and that’s how he thinks. He signed my friendship book in Korean. That’s awesome.
Later that day, I stayed at the wonderful home of Stan and Gayda Errett in Playfairville. They are from Alberta, but retired here with their horses that are now grazing in the greenest pastures. We talked horses, Alberta and trail riding, as well about Maya Pedal. They wished me well and donated to the Maya Pedal Horse Ride Fundraiser. I will be sending the first $1000 down to MP shortly.
On another note, year round grazing for a Canadian bred horse and horse owner is very weird.
Being in these parts of ontario in September means that I can get permission to graze Roxy on fields that were cut as little as 3 weeks ago. Haying was late this year so most farmers won’t have time to do a second cut. This is a major blessing for taking care of Roxy. With such grass, I don’t really have to feed grain or alfalfa. If the trip goes to schedule, as I go further south into New York and beyond, I will be able at times to graze on areas that were already cut twice, for even sweeter grass. And if I make it to Tennessee by December I will enter areas where there is grass year round! – a completely foreign concept for this Canadian.
Timing my trip to start in the fall is similar in ways to traditional peoples planning their hunts according to the migrations. We’re just trying to meet the pasture where it’s the sweetest and most plentiful.
















Chris MacLuckies’ professional career began with a decade-long stint as an organic vegetable grower in Ontario Canada. His career is prolific in breadth and scope. He has farmed organics commercially, volunteered in Guatemala, ran a gardening business, raised and raced sled dogs, tended his livestock, and ridden his horse on a multi-country expedition.
Chris is a certified TEFL ESL English Teacher, author of seven books, freelance content creator, and outdoor travel gear designer.