Before the Beginning

The Great FASD Horseback Ride Across Canada began with a phone call to Bruce Ritchie in Bright's Grove, ON at FASlink from Steve Thomas, a cowboy from Golden, BC. Steve had a dream to cross Canada on horseback to raise awareness of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

After several sometimes heated discussions on the FASlink Fetal Alcohol Disorders Society listserv, the decision was made to support the adventure. Preparations began. The Ride would leave Halifax, NS on May 17, 2007 and arrive in Victoria, BC on September 10, 2007. International FAS Day would be observed in Nanaimo, BC.

Steve left Golden BC on May 5th, with his Black Labrador Retriever, Dutch, in the cab of his Cummins deisel powered 1988 Dodge pickup truck hauling a 5th-wheel 4 horse trailer with his quarter horse, Dash, on board. He stopped along the way to pick up supplies and three more horses. Errin Weigel of Prairie Majik Arabians sent two of her young prized Arabians for Steve to train and use on the Ride. Brandy and Flint will make excellent endurance mounts. Errin also sent another Arabian with Steve to be delivered to our contact rider in Blind River. Errin has also donated an Arabian foal to be drawn by a rider who rides with us.

Along the way, Steve gave a ride to a young man from Calgary to Regina and a girl travelling to St. John, NB. On May 10th, Steve left Blind River, ON, heading to Ottawa. Bruce Ritchie left Sarnia, ON to meet Steve in Ottawa. The rendezvous was successful and we were accommodated by the Rideau Carleton Raceway overnight.

May 11th we headed for New Brunswick. On the autoroute in Quebec we were pulled over by an officer so he could check out the truck and trailer. He was satisfied with its condition and we proceeded to Edmunston, NB where again we were generously accommodated by dairy farmer Luc Lavoie and his wife and family. The horses were delighted to be in an open paddock rather than confined to a trailer or stall.

Luc and his brother jointly own and manage 110 head of dairy cattle, a 7 day/week job. They get 1 day off every 14 days. That takes dedication. Luc and his wife treated us to a huge farm breakfast and we were on our way.

May 12th, we headed for Fredericton, NB and met Poul Jorgenson and his wife for lunch. Poul is with the NB Trails Association.

Horsewoman and trainer, Mel Cormier, met us at the Irving Big Stop to return unsold Ride T-shirts and meet us in preparation for our return and her participation. The horses were taken out of the trailer for some exercise and Steve put on a training demo. Christine said her goodbye's and headed out for St. John, NB.

After lunch, we headed for Moncton to meet up with the third member of our team, Ride Coordinator Claudia Julien, and her Golden Lab, Tobby. After dinner with Claudia's son Robert, a fine young man, we headed out to Halifax.

We arrived at Hatfield's Farm outside Halifax after dark and set up overnight camp. In the morning we were greeted by a staff member and taken to "the Fort", a rustic pioneer village in the forest. WOW!!!! It may be rustic on the surface, but this is a serious business enterprise. From its small beginnings in 1961, it has grown to more than 1200 acres of forest, lakes, trails and fun. The Fort buildings are heated by a central wood furnace. 8 fire pits can accommodate a large number of guests for trail rides, sleigh rides, corporate functions and cruise ship passengers. It is very much the model of what was envisioned in FASlink's TRIUMF Project at http://www.faslink.org .

The next few days were spent training the horses, contacting media and agencies, police, etc. and checking out the Ride launch location at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax. Aliant Telephone provided $500 in Long Distance Phone Cards to help defray our communications costs. Scotia Signs in Sackville lettered the side windows of the van at a generous discount.