ROBERTS, Idaho — Riley Mickelsen set out on a 500-mile journey on horseback last month that will take him from his home in Roberts to the Canadian border.
During a phone conversation with EastIdahoNews.com on Monday afternoon, Mickelsen said he and his horse, Dasher, have traveled 325 miles so far. They were in Seeley Lake, an unincorporated community in Missoula County, Montana. He’s still got 180 miles to go and hopes to reach his final destination — the Roosville border crossing, which connects Montana and British Columbia — in about two weeks.
He and his wife, Ashtyn, have been documenting the entire trip through their YouTube channel, “Dasher: The Outlaw Mustang.”
When asked why he’s doing this, Mickelsen said, “It’s just a dream.”
“I just wanted to do it!” Mickelsen explains. “The ultimate dream is to ride from Canada to Mexico. This is just the first leg of it.”
Next spring, his goal is to ride from Roberts to Utah and then later in the year, begin in Utah and ride through Arizona.
Mickelsen began the trip on July 27 and says he averages about 60-80 miles a week. A 12-mile day is a light day and a 20-mile day is a strenuous pace. Mickelsen says he tries to keep it between 12-15 miles a day.
“My horse’s welfare comes before anybody else’s,” says Mickelsen. “Sometimes, we’ll go for a day or two and I can just feel that my horse is tired. Then we’ll take a day off and let his legs recover. A lot of times, I’ll hop off and lead him for a while just to take the weight off his back.”
Dasher is one of 12 mustangs Mickelsen and his wife adopted last year. Dasher was a breeding stallion running wild in Murderers Creek, Oregon and he was “a crazy animal.” Taming Dasher over the last year has been quite the ordeal, according to Mickelsen. He says he’s been in the hospital three times to get him to this point.
Mickelsen says he’s never had the right horse for a cross-country journey, until now.
“Dasher was the meanest and the craziest and I thought, He’s perfect for this ride!” Mickelsen says, laughing.
Mickelsen’s love of horses stems back to childhood. He and his wife opened a horseshoeing school in Roberts in 2020, which has allowed them to work with students and horses across the country.
During the journey to Canada, Mickelsen says he’s seen a lot of pretty countryside. On day 11, he met Diana Morris. She and her husband, Bill, own the Morris Ranch, which is featured in Taylor Sheridan’s “1923.
Mickelsen says the ride from Kilgore to the Montana border has been his favorite stretch so far.
“It was really secluded. Everything was green and it was cool (referring to temperature),” he says.
In contrast, he says dropping into Dillon, Montana, was difficult.
As of Monday, Mickelsen says he’s making his way through Flathead National Forest in Swan Lake, Montana, which he also describes as a beautiful ride.
“When you’re moving at the pace of the horse, you sure get to look at things for a long time,” he says.
Challenges and lessons learned
Along the way, Mickelsen says it’s been eye-opening to discover the challenges of taking a cross-country trip on horseback. Secluded trails ultimately lead back to civilization, and he says the United States “isn’t built for horse travel anymore.”
Mickelsen says the No. 1 thing he’s learned on the trip is “getting around with my horse in the modern world.”
“I’ve ridden my horse under overpasses, around roundabouts, through gas stations and Walmart parking lots just trying to find the best way to get through places,” he says.
The hardest part, he says, has been dealing with passing vehicles and finding camping spots.
“You can’t just tie your horse to a tree at a public park and pitch a tent,” he says. “Unless I’m in national forest or U.S. Bureau of Land Management ground, it’s really hard (to find a place to camp).”
Mickelsen says his wife “has done all the heavy lifting” for this trip and he couldn’t have done it without her. She and the kids are making the journey with him in a pickup and horse trailer. The trailer has a 250-gallon water tank and she catches up with him every 10-15 miles to water the horse.
She also helps plan his route and keep him out of harm’s way.
When he arrives at the border, Mickelsen says his wife will be there waiting with the pickup and horse trailer so they can load up the horse and drive back to Roberts.
“If I would’ve done this alone, it would’ve been miserable,” says Mickelsen. “Having my wife and kids along the way has made it a lot of fun.”
This article was originally published by Rett Nelson.
