Xu Zhixian travels only about 30 km a day. After 6 months of traveling from Spain, both man and horse have arrived in the Netherlands. Xu Zhixian (32 years old), from Shandong province, China, is receiving a lot of attention on social media when sharing his cross-continental horse riding journey.
On February 20, Xu departed from Lalin (Spain) and has now arrived in the Netherlands, traveling more than 2,500 km, according toSouth China Morning Post.
"I told my family that I wanted to ride a horse back to China, but they didn't believe me until I bought a horse and started the journey," he said.
Having studied and worked in Italy and Norway for 13 years, Xu has visited almost every country in Europe. He said he came up with the idea of riding a horse back to China while traveling.
"When someone asks me why, I say there's no reason. I just do it because I want to."
Xu and his horse.
Xu had only ridden a horse once before the trip and spent three months learning to prepare for the journey. With the advice of the seller, he chose an eight-year-old purebred white Arabian stallion and named him Huihui. Xu and the horse averaged about 30 kilometers a day. To save on food and accommodation, he bought a sleeping bag, an inflatable mattress, and a tent to sleep in at night. He spent less than $600 a month, including horse care.
"If I walk alone, it takes me about 6 hours a day to complete the 30km distance. If I go with a horse, it takes me 10-12 hours because it often stops to eat grass along the way."
Another problem for Xu when riding in Europe is that Huihui might be attracted to another horse and want to "escape".
"Almost every day it tries to run away with another horse. Normally Huihui is reluctant to move, but whenever it meets another horse, I can't stop it from running towards them no matter how hard I pull on the reins."
Huihui also dropped Xu's luggage while chasing another horse and once damaged a laptop.
"Accidents and new situations arise every day," Xu said of the past six months.
The next leg of the trip is to Germany and then Austria. Xu said he originally planned to complete the journey in a year. However, many uncontrollable things happened during the trip, so he no longer dared to estimate. However, Xu said he was in no hurry and planned to travel at a leisurely pace of 30 km/day as he is now.
Phillipe rode around the world with 3 horses.
Before that, traveling around on horseback was a favorite activity in the southern states of America. Reply onAtlasObscura,Filipe Leite, a veteran horse rider, said he thought he might lose his life mid-ride.
"The scorching heat on the roads sapped my strength. Then the cold weather and snow covered the roads, making it difficult for both man and horse to move forward," said Filipe.
Fillipe Leite's journey began in 2012, when he set off from the United States to Brazil with just two horses. Fillipe then traveled for 803 days, through 10 countries and three different continents. Fillipe has been familiar with horses since childhood, his cowboy father taught him to ride. However, going through a long journey and harsh weather is not easy. Fillipe Leite had to train and plan for many years.
