Raise £100,000 for education in India, Pakistan and China

Rosie - Hero of India

For endurance and stamina, nothing will beat Rosie in her native country. She is perfectly adapted to the environment in India. Kathiawari are famous for their endurance, endearing qualities and affection. Rosie typically loves dust baths and goes nuts over 'gur' (solid chunks of local raw Indian sugar)!

Rohan and Griffin

Rohan and Griffin are both Afghani horses, white in colour and with long Afghan style flowing manes and tails. Both were once used to ship arms over the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan and who knows if they were ever used in Buzkushi matches! But it's that spirit and gritty toughness about each horse which made each purely suited to the journey over the mountains to China and really endeared them to me.

Sparks and Kabul

It was a chilly morning in Peshawar when I bought the troublesome twosome; Kabul from a wizened wily old trader called Dost Mohammad (an old 19th Century ruler of Afghanistan who was certainly no friend of the British) who had just brought her himself from Mazar-e-Sherif in Northern Afghanistan . And of course Sparks from a cart owner called Fayaz Khan who'd just stopped for chai (tea) outside of the horse market. Both mares are as different as black from white but then the team wouldn't work otherwise.

Boran - Desert Storm

Boran is a big horse in a little horse body. A war charger masquerading as a Chinese mountain pony. His past is unknown but he has no time for humans he doesn’t know and is overly sensitive around his nose, possibly resulting from maltreatment in the past.

And yet he’s loyal when trusting, listens well when ridden and courageous in adversity. He’s a horse for whom friendship is hard won but never forgotten. We’ve already hard our ups and downs together but there’s something special in this little horse and though I know not the reason, his companionship and spirit will prove consequential to this journey.

The Camel Crew

With the arrival of three new camels to tackles the open Gobi in 2007, comes a marked departure from equine only travel. With Bacterians in tow, a real caravan now exists to take on the challenges of North China as well as a new ball game to play. The ride is dependent more than ever on the trust and good will of its pack animals, yet camels are enormously different to horses and these three have already shared plenty of surprises.

Camel Myths

Camels are some of the strangest creatures on Earth. As a pack animal nothing can beat them. They're resilent, strong and remarkably adaptable. But whereas a horses may choose to work in a team, a camel alone will rarely do so.

Experts and common perception tell us that camels are stupid, stubbon and selfish. I will tell you now that they are wrong - to an extent. Camels are amongst the most adaptable creatures on Earth and their perception is a matter of opposites.