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Filipe Masetti Leiti Rode a Horse 16,000 Miles. This is What he Learned.

“I’d never ridden more than 3 kilometers.” That’s what author, filmmaker, and Long Rider Filipe Masetti told me after riding 16,000 miles across North and South America. That quote will give you hope you can do whatever you’re dreaming of doing.

Long Rider Filipe Masetti Leite
Filipe on the trail
A boot to navigate by: Filipe’s route for the first leg of his trip, from Calgary, Canada to Barretos, Brazil, spelled out on one of his boots

Interview With Filipe… Continue reading

Listen to the Creston Dinosaur on Atlas Obscura

In 2008, my mule Polly and I traveled from Canada to the Mexican border in a homemade mule wagon. I interviewed folks along the way, and one of the favorite characters I met wasn’t a person. It was a giant green cement dinosaur outside Creston, South Dakota.

Mule Polly and the Creston dinosaur (Creston, South Dakota)

Flash forward to now. Recently Atlas Obscura, the website dedicated to obscure Americana, contacted me about doing a story about the Creston dinosaur. I… Continue reading

The Long Ride: Melissa Priblo Chapman Discusses Her Book “Distant Skies” (Part 2 of 2)

In the early 1980s, twenty-three-year-old Melissa Priblo Chapman rode her horse Rainy 2,600 miles alone across America. She encountered rattlesnakes, thunderstorms and Great Plains busters, but she also encountered kind ranchers like the one who hooked her up with a pack mule. Almost forty years after her trip, Melissa wrote a book about her voyage called “Distant Skies”. I recently interviewed Melissa about her book and trip.

“Distant Skies: An American Journey on Horseback” by Melissa Priblo Chapman / published… Continue reading

“Distant Skies”: Melissa Priblo Chapman Discusses Her New Book (Part 1 of 2)

Melissa Priblo Chapman dreamt of “riding through some distant town on a trustworthy horse” in elementary school. It was the late 1970s. When she was 23, she saddled her horse Rainy, hauled her puppy Gypsy into the saddle with her and headed west to live her dream. This week, I interviewed Melissa about her new book “Distant Skies: An American Journey on Horseback”. Here is Part 1 of a two-part series of our conversation.

“Distant Skies: An American Journey on… Continue reading

Welcome to RiverEarth.com

Your go-to site about rambling, horses, mules, hoof boots, Long Riders and taking big voyages on short money. Scroll through the recent posts, browse the page that lists the 400-plus posts that go back to 2004 or visit the General Store.

Happy Adventuring!

Bernie Harberts

Caution: sometimes I don’t get it right (Dannebrog, Nb)

I’d love to give you a heads-up when my new book “Two Mules to Triumph” is published. Just enter your email below. Thanks!



The Hoof Boot Review: 3 Hoof Boots, 32 Days on the Trail

best hoof boot, cavallo hoof boot, renegade hoof boot, cavallo hoof boot, what is best hoof boot for horse, hoof boot for mule
Consumer Reports just won’t report on some things. These are the boots we’re reviewing. Here’s how they looked during our month-long mule ramble.We reviewed Cavallo, Renegade and Easy Boot hoof boots. Here’s how they held up after 32 days on the trail

What’s the best kind of hoof boot for your horse or mule? My wife Julia and I rode from North Carolina to Virginia and back with three brands of hoof boots. This hoof boot review is what we… Continue reading

“Trash to Triumph” Book One Step Closer to Publishing

`Hot damn! This week, I received the manuscript of my new book “Trash to Triumph”. It’s about riding my mules Brick and Cracker from North Carolina to Idaho. This is a huge milestone as I’ve been working on this book for over 2 years.

The “Trash to Triumph manuscript”: eleven pounds, 1,054 pages. It’s fair to say that I have just written the biggest manuscript ever about a saddle journey on two mules. The manuscript is double-spaced.
Cracker and Brick… Continue reading

How to Catch a Snake in Your House

I was taking a nap when I heard my wife Julia say, “honey, can you come here?” I walked into the kitchen and saw Julia looking at the cookstove. Our cookstove is a two-burner camp stove hooked to a twenty-pound propane tank. It’s black and greasy. I didn’t see anything. Then I saw the black snake next to the pot we boil our coffee in.

The snake and the pot

The bottom of the snake’s head was white and so… Continue reading

What is the Long Riders’ Guild

Twenty years ago, I owned a mule named Woody. Woody was cantankerous. I wanted to ride him across North Carolina – and maybe a whole lot farther. Too bad nobody could tell me how to ride a mule 300 miles. This is the post I wish I’d read all those years ago.

Woody and me trying to figure out how to ride across North Carolina. I had no idea what we were doing but figured feeding him apples was a… Continue reading

Mule Rider

It was about this time of year, a few years ago, that a TV crew for UNC-TV followed mule Polly and me on a wagon ramble through eastern North Carolina.

Mule Rider: just click on the arrow between mule Polly and me to watch the video

Director Morgan Potts and his film crew followed me from Oriental, North Carolina to Hobucken and Aurora and back to Oriental. They dropped in from time to film me as I visited with folks… Continue reading

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