Long rider treks to 48 state capitals

By John Myers, Internet Photojournalist

Gene Glasscock travels alongside U.S. 1 south of Hoffman aboard his horse George, leading his horse Frank with supplies.

Gene Glasscock is on a missionary journey by horseback to 48 state capitals.
(He's already been to Alaska and it's too far for the horses to swim to Hawaii.)
He's been on the road with his two horses, George and Frank, for 14 months since his start in Denver and estimates his journey will take another two to three years.
It's a missionary journey because it's the result of missionary work Glasscock did in Paraguay in South America from 1999 to 2002, teaching English and the Bible to children.
"You can't tell someone you love them and then watch them go hungry," he explains.
He's using this 20,000-mile journey as a fund-raiser to send high school graduates from Paraguay on four-year scholarships to Pensacola Christian College in Pensacola, Fla.
His dream is to raise $2 million which would provide scholarships for 95 students for $21,000 each, providing tuition, room and board for four years at the Florida college.

Trek chronicled on website

His journey is being chronicled on the Web site of the Long Riders' Guild, which says, "At 67 Gene is the oldest person that we know of to set out on a journey of this magnitude."
He's recreating a journey that's been done only once before, from 1912 to 1915, "the longest continual equestrian trip of the 20th century," said the Long Riders' Guild.
"Four ... hardened horsemen rode a total of 20,352 continuous miles, making them the first and only Long Riders to ever accomplish such a feat," the guild Web site says.
Glasscock turned 68 a few days after he started his journey on Sept. 17, 2002 and another birthday has come and gone since, so he is 69 as he passes through Richmond County, NC.
He's on the way from Raleigh, NC to Columbia, SC, spending Monday night at a home in Hoffman and Tuesday night with another family in Cordova.
"It's unbelievable how kind people have been to me," he said.
In the 14 months he's been on the road, he's spent only three nights in a barn and stayed in hotels seven times. For the rest of his journey so far, he's stayed in people's homes.
"The Lord has really been taking care of me first class. E.M. Bonds said 'God's method is man.' And He's been working overtime on a lot of people on this trip to provide me a place to stay," Glasscock said.
He's visited 22 state capitals so far and has had several governors ride one of his horses, plus meeting numerous lesser state officials and has letters from nine governors.
But it's the children he's met along the way who have been the highlights of his trip. One he remembers was a young girl in a wheelchair at a Richmond, Va., hospital.
He said his horse Frank "picked her out. She was the one he thought was the sickest. He went up to her and nuzzled her cheek very gently. He gave her all the love he was capable of. That made me the richest man in the world. It still almost brings tears to my eyes."

Second long ride for Glasscock

Gene Glasscock takes a break to talk alongside U.S. 1 south of Hoffman with his horse George and his horse Frank with supplies.

Glasscock is already well known for being the only person on record to have ridden from North to South America, "one of the great equestrian journeys of the 20th century," said the Long Riders' Guild.
He is a native of Texas who was raised in Oregon and learned to ride wild horses young, breaking his first at 11 when his father gave him a wild pony.
"I rode him until he got tired of bucking me off," he said.
He was saved at 18 in Birmingham, Ala., then worked as director of a boy's home in Alaska and worked in Seattle in high-rise construction for more than 20 years.
Construction injuries to his back and wrist gave him the time off to make his first long ride, a 1984-86 trek on horseback, when he rode 12,000 miles from the Arctic Circle in Canada to the Equator in Ecuador.
He said he made that ride "just for the kick in the pants," but it led to his second ride. "That trip opened my eyes to the real need for missions."
He returned to work for a year, but his injuries and the arthritis that followed them forced his retirement in 1987, leading to missionary work in Mexico and then in Paraguay.
"Love is giving. It's putting other people ahead of yourself. If I didn't love those children in Paraguay, I wouldn't do this.
"After I made the first trip, I made the statement that I wouldn't take a million dollars for the experience, but I wouldn't do it again for a million dollars.
"It's not easy to climb on that horse every day, but it brings joy. It's sort of like the joke, it feels good when it stops hurting. But I don't hurt a bit once I get up on the horse."
Glasscock said he's lost 50 pounds so far on his journey, which he expected as he lost from 240 down to 160 during his long ride from the Arctic to the Equator. But he adds he has plenty more to lose, as he still weighs about 230. "I need to lose some more."
And his horses are gaining weight. Frank's up 60 pounds and George has gained 40.

Want to contribute for Paraguay children's scholarships?

He said he prefers not to take scholarship contributions personally. Contributions to honor Glasscock's ride can be mailed to Philip Scholarship Fund, Pensacola Christian College, 250 Brent Lane, Pensacola, Fla. 32523. For more information on Glasscock's ride, see the Web site of the Long Riders' Guild at http://www.thelongridersguild.com/Glasscock-2.htm