Hope Reins riders complete 1,300km trip from Gympie to Longreach for mental health charity

For someone who describes herself as “not a horse rider”, Kylie Reed has seen plenty of time in the saddle.She’s traversed 1,329 kilometres since April — battling emus, kangaroos and prickles — on an epic journey from Gympie to Longreach.

The trip raised funds for Hope Reins, and 30 per cent of the $70,000 raised will go to not-for-profit Outback Futures, which provides mental health and wellbeing services for people in the bush.

“We rescue horses and we run free programs for people who’ve been through stuff or want to be challenged,” Ms Reed said.

“The two [horse and rider] help each other to heal and to trust and to have that growth.”

Ms Reed, the co-founder of Hope Reins, said her small team had met incredible people and heard many amazing stories, which had helped them get through the tough days on the road.

“As a team we work out where’s lunch going be, meeting up, and encouraging each other to keep going.”

Horses’ great achievement

Ms Reed said the horses were all “a little bit broken”, or had stories of their own, and were not horses that would typically be used for a journey like this.

“But they’ve made it and I’m really, really proud of them and all that they have achieved,” she said.

“They’ll be surprised on Sunday when we turn around and head back … to Gympie.”

Kylie Reed said she felt pretty good, despite bruised knees from hanging onto a horse that would often shy.

“I’ve had pretty interesting pain in my hips from arthritis and I had sciatica issues … sore shoulders, and I’ve been a bit dehydrated lately — haven’t obviously drank quite enough,” she said.

“I really did tell everyone, ‘Man, by the time I get to Longreach you’re going to need a crane to get me off the horse’.

She said it was mixed feeling of joy, but also sadness that the journey had ended.

“We’re pretty stoked that we’ve made it and that the horses are well and happy,” she said.

Wildlife encounters

While road trains and large birds did not bother the horses, the interactions with small birds, kangaroos and emus had not been so good.

“There were a group of five middle-sized babies and two bigger ones, and then two adults, and they just were walking straight at us. Our horses started to go a bit nuts.

“The horse I was on started doing like donuts. He was just anxious and so I’ve just got his head, turned his head around — and him kicking up that bit of fuss was enough to scare them off, so they ran away in their funny little run.”

Come nightfall, the group found beds wherever they could, on people’s properties, rodeo grounds, show grounds and racecourses when they were in towns.

But sometimes it was just a patch of dirt on the side of road — with not too many prickles.

The team will spend a few nights in Longreach attending a campdraft, speaking at the local school and community events, before they begin their trip home.