Update

Dear supporters, friends, and family,

Thanks so much for your patience and support as we respond to an evolving situation. The plan we have developed maintains the spirit and intention of our original mission while fluidly responding to recent events.

Viper’s passing was a startling event to take place at the onset of the expedition–one that we have been deeply affected by. We intend to hold him in our hearts, minds, and plans as we move forward.

In addition to losing Viper, after working with our other horses for several weeks, we grew concerned that two of them were not physically fit or sound enough to make the trip. This past week we returned Bongo and Barry to Wyoming Horses and picked up a great little mare named Ruby in exchange. We were sad to see them go, but are excited to meet the horses that will join us.

We plan to spend the coming weeks putting together a new set of horses and spend the coming month and a half working with them. If our search for two new horses is successful we hope to begin our trip in September. We are grateful for the opportunity to spend the next six weeks working on the Flying H ranch in Sheridan, WY as we reorganize our team. From the ranch we can continue our search for appropriate horses, work with them extensively before we begin our trip, and begin exploring grassland conservation in the Sheridan Area.

Because winter will be just around the corner when we begin in September, it won’t be possible to make it all the way across the plains before the weather hits. We will alter our route to take into account a later start date. We plan to hone in on projects and initiatives that particularly excite us along a path most appropriate to the season we’ll be riding in. We’ll keep you up to date as our modified route continues to develop. We expect to ride for approximately two months before wrapping up around the end of October/beginning of November. At that point we will begin post production of our documentary and will dive into our educational initiative which will remain an integral component of our project. Though our route will slightly diverge from that which we originally outlined, we intend to retain the heart, spirit, and intention of our trip: to get the word out about the beauty and importance of the prairie.

 In the meantime, here in Sheridan we are situated in an area that will prove to be an interesting ecological case study for our trip. From ranching to fishing to oil and gas development, the land around here has myriad uses that in turn have diverse effects on its surrounding ecosystems. We will begin filming from here, and will keep you keyed into our findings from the surrounding prairies.

Thanks so much for your continued support as we move forward.

Take care,

Robin and Sebastian