Published: May 20, 2008 11:15 am            

Around the World at Steed Speed

California dreamin’ becomes fundraising trek for Ezra Cooley

It started off as mere “crazy talk” between he and his dad several years ago. Chatting while they rode through the woods near their home in Chico, Calif., the two wondered if one really could travel across the united States on horseback.

But now after traveling more than 8,000 miles in three years, it doesn’t seem crazy at all to Ezra Cooley.

“It was in my heart and on my mind and I just decided ‘I’m going to do it. I’m going to ride around the world,’” Cooley said Monday, traveling just outside Wimberley on Ranch Road 12.

Cooley made a stop in San Marcos on Monday before heading down to San Antonio and on to Corpus Christi. He has plans of riding through Europe and Africa and is currently hoping to book a plane ticket to Australia, where he’ll ride next.

The 28-year-old rides to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. He’s traveled through the Colorado Rockies, the corn fields of Nebraska and even roped the Merrill Lynch bull on Wall Street in Manhattan. But early in his travels, while passing through Nevada, Cooley decided he ought to ride for a worthwhile cause.

“I had a lot of time to think and pray in the desert, and decided to ride for charity,” Cooley said. “My goal is to raise $1 million.”

The Children's Miracle Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children’s hospitals across North America.

Each year the 170 Children's Miracle Network hospitals provide care, research and preventative education to help children overcome diseases and injuries.

Cooley said when he initially told his family about his plans, they figured “it was just another crazy idea of his.” Cooley has always been a thrill seeker, whether it be riding a bucking horse or bungie jumping. He’d worked previously in the rodeo business and as a Western re-enactor.

But he was determined to ride. He sold his car and house and left his construction business and hit the road with his horse, Red.

“The first night I was out on the road, I was thinking to myself ‘this is the dumbest thing I could do.’ As I got going, though, it got a little easier. You get used to things I guess,” Cooley said.

Cooley’s only travel companions are Red, his seven-year-old quarter horse, and his pack horse Striker, whom he picked up in Laramie, Wyo. He gave his third horse, Jahob, to a family in Nebraska several months ago. Taking three horses was getting a little complicated, he said.

He sleeps in mounted police stations or the houses of people he meets along the way. When he can, he stops to work at a ranch for a day in exchange for a little food for his horses. Cooley says he mainly decides when to stop for the night based on the position of the sun.

“I wing it most days,” he said.

And it’s not always easy. He’s broken several bones and fell down a cliff in Colorado, but was pulled up by his buddy Red. It also helps him to think about why he’s making this ride.

“Red’s my best friend, he’s been there every step of the way,” Cooley said. “But what keeps me going is those kids. I’ve broke a few bones, but that doesn’t even come close to what those kids go through.”

For more information or to make a donation, visit ezrasexpedition.com.

        

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