British woman begins last leg of world horse ride

A British woman passed through Ottawa Thursday on the last leg of her around-the-world horse ride, a six-year journey that has already taken her to the Great Wall of China and along the shores of the Caspian Sea.

“It’s been a long ride,” Megan Lewis told AFP during a brief stop to snap a photo outside of Canada’s parliament while being informed by a friendly federal policeman that horses are not allowed on the main lawn.

Lewis, 65, a pony breeder from the village of Pumpsaint in the United Kingdom, started the globe trot at China’s Great Wall in April 2009 following the Beijing Olympics.

Her journey took her along the ancient Silk Road, around the northern shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, and through Europe’s vast fields and forests.

The route, completed in stages, spanned the breadth of the Asian and European continents. Along the way she raised money for charities for children.

The Welsh equestrian borrowed and traded horses for the trip, including one reportedly rescued from a meat market, according to her blog.

The trip was supposed to end in London in 2012, commemorating the move of the Olympic Games from Beijing, but Lewis just kept going.

She landed in Canada’s island Newfoundland province for a tour of the Maritimes region last year. Lewis returned to the trail in April to begin the end of her campaign.

Lewis now plans to cross the Great Lakes region over the coming months. She will then head south and west along the Pony Express Trail to San Francisco, California where her North American journey is scheduled to end in November 2016.

She’s broken a few ribs in a fall, come across snakes and spiders, and was warned to watch out for predators.

But she said everyone she met has been very friendly, including a couple in Quebec who introduced her to poutine — a French-Canadian dish of fried potatoes, gravy and cheese curds.

SOURCE: AFP / THE TIMES OF EARTH