A Different Kind of Life

Bernice Ende from Trigo, Montana, leads a nontraditional lifestyle.

Inspired by watching black and white westerns such as Hop Along Cassidy and John Wayne when she was a child, the 56 year old former ballet teacher is a “longrider,” traveling thousands of miles each year on horseback and calling a tent home.

Last week, Ende’s current 2,700 mile journey from London, Texas, to Montana led her to Clarendon, and she made her temporary home at the Clarendon rodeo grounds.

“I would like to say thank you to the community for their hospitality and to Joe Neal Shadle for opening up the Cowboy Church and making sure I had everything out here,” Ende said.
“Everyone has been so helpful.” 

During her stay, Ende made a guest appearance at the monthly Friends of the Library meeting on April 14 and shared her experiences.

“I think she’s an amazing woman,” Librarian Jerri Ann Shields said. “Anyone who sleeps with her dogs and horses is amazing.”

Ende’s previous rides include 3,000 miles in 2009, 3,000 miles in 2008, 5,000 miles in 2006-2007 and 2,000 miles in 2005. This will be her fifth time to cross the Rocky Mountains.

“On my first ride I was so afraid I wasn’t gonna make it because I had no place to go,” she said.

“But this is my life. It doesn’t matter about getting to the end anymore. It didn’t change until about 700 miles into this. The journey takes you, not you take the journey. There is no going home. For me, this is home.”

From Clarendon she will go onto McLean, Wheeler and Allison, and then into Oklahoma.

“I’ve been in the state of Texas for three months,” Ende said. “This state is huge! My pockets are bulging with hospitality from my stays here. It has definitely been a chapter of its own coming through Texas.”

Her companions on her journeys are Hart, a 14-year-old paint gelding that replaced Hope, her former mare after she recently broke her shoulder and had to be put down; Essie Pearl, a three-year-old Fjord packhorse; Claire, a nine-year-old dog of “unknown origin,” and Francis, a three-month-old West Texas cattle dog. Both dogs get the privilege of riding on Essie Pearl in a box.

“Both my dogs are ditch puppies,” Ende said. “When I found Claire I took her out of the ditch, and then I began teaching her how to ride in a wheelbarrow and bicycle basket, so riding on the horse was nothing.” 

Ende dedicates her rides to her mother.

“In honor of my mother, I have five siblings who I stay in touch with by riding,” she said. “All of my routes take me to see my sisters.”

Her gear and possessions she travels with include a tent, sleeping pads, wool blanket, sleeping bag, food department, Coleman burner, one spork, one knife, tin cup, vet supply, toiletries, water bottles, rain gear, ponchos, two sets of clothes, and riding and reading material.

Food found in the “Lady Longrider’s” diet consists of a tortilla with cream cheese and vegetables, coffee and meat cooked with her portable Coleman burner, and wild plants and berries.

“Some of the plants I eat include lambsquarters, nettles, watercress, dandelion greens, and pecans,” Ende said. “I eat a lot of all those things, and of course all the wild fruits.”
While there are those who would suffer from withdrawals when isolated from technology, Ende actually enjoys it.

“I love not having everything,” Ende said. “I don’t use a phone but about four times a month, and I’m experiencing the amazing diversity in our country that you cannot find on TV.”
Ende walks about ten miles a day and rides an average of 20-25 miles on a good day.

“It’s so physically demanding, and I hope I have another five years in me,” she said.

“I sleep on the ground, and everyday I’m packing hundreds of pounds on and off the horse, not to mention walking and encountering the heat and cold.”

Ende said that a critical part of longriding is learning how to accept help and not caring what others think of you.

“Longriding has been a teacher to me,” she said. “At first I was afraid to ask for water at houses, but since I first did it I’ve never been turned down.

“It’s humbling being in the presence of people who care about you riding and who want you to continue.”

According to Ende, other requirements include mental perseverance and faith.

“You find out what you’re made of when a storm comes around and your holding on to your tent telling yourself you’re going to stay,” she said.

Ende has discovered that enduring these hardships is worth it.

“When you live your life at four miles an hour, something changes in you,” she said. “When you travel by car, you travel fast and smooth. But when on a horse, you have a view and your elevated 12 feet off the ground and can see all around without watching where to go. There’s just a quality of life that comes from the horse.”

Out of all the places she has traveled to, the desert scene is one of Ende’s favorite. In order to cross a desert she must follow storms and drink out of puddles.

“In the desert there is no one in any direction, and there are coyotes howling and birds singing, and you’re around a fire,” she said. “It’s the most wonderful feelings of contentment and satisfaction, and it’s embracing.”

Ende said the only reason she rides is to “bring smiles to people’s faces.”

“It’s not about me, it involves all of us,” she said. “It’s about our country, sharing stories and the goodness in our people. It’s a reminder of living a simpler life and of not being afraid to find your passion in life.”

Thousands of people have told Ende they wish they were a longrider and want to join in on her journeys.

“It is a romantic image, but it’s not easy,” Ende said. “It’s not a once in a lifetime dream for me; it’s my life.”