"The Long Way to Los Gatos"

Amigo Publications, Inc.
Solvang, CA 93463

ISBN 0-9658533-2-2
October 1999
392 pages, $29.95

Los Gatos is just south of San Francisco at Latitude 37deg. North, just about the same latitude as Washington D.C. In the early 1930's a hardy fellow, Amie F. Tschiffely, rode two Criollo horses, Mancha and Gato, most of the 10,000 miles from Buenos Aires, Argentina (Latitude 34deg. South) to Washington D.C. This grueling feat of hardship and endurance spanning 2¹/2 years, inspired Verne Albright to attempt a similar ride on Peruvian Paso horses from northern Peru (Chiclayo, Latitude 5¹/2deg. South, 750 miles north of Lima) the long way back to Los Gatos. Verne used Amie's book as an exemplary guide to the extreme extent that he actually corralled his horses once along the way in Cumbe, Equador, selecting the exact same place as Amie had three decades before. All the way from August 1966 to March 1967 he walked with or rode his horses about 2500 miles on the 7000 mile journey.

His book states that the prime objective of the journey was to introduce and promote great Peruvian Paso horses to American horsemen. Additionally, he dreamed of bringing a superior horse to Los Gatos for the 100 mile endurance race Tevis Cup in the summer of 1967. With these adventurous thoughts in mind he gathered up $2000 in traveler's checks and boarded a Boeing 707 to Lima, Peru. His great notion was to buy some horses and ride them along the Pan American Highway. Spatially this entailed travel from Lima (Lat. 12deg.S) to Trujillo (Lat. 8deg.S) to Piura (Lat. 5deg.S) to Quito, Equador (on the Equator) to Panama City (8¹/2deg. N) to San Jose, Costa Rica (9-1/2deg.N) to Antigua, Guatemala (17deg.N) to Mexico City (19¹/2deg.N) to Mexicale (U.S. Border at Lat. 32¹/2deg.N) to Los Gatos (37deg.N). In elevation this haphazard travel plan ranged from sea level along the northern Peruvian coastal plain, over the high Andes of Equador, and across the Central American tropics.

Obviously this was a tough, heroic and historic display of strength and enthusiasm for the man and his horses, but above all it was a complex logistical nightmare. Passport authorizations, customs administration, horse certificates, immunizations, inoculations, veterinary, boarding, dwelling--all these and more were up against his time table. Diet for the horses, hay and grain, salt, water... all had to be pre-scheduled and arranged. And all these things fought against his will to conserve the strength of his horses and preserve their health from injury (lameness), disease (ticks, anthrax, colic), and danger (thieves, vehicle wrecks, unexpected bad luck). Verne sacrificed constantly for the protection and care of his horses.

The first 150 pages of his book describe in detail his initiation to the steep learning curve of arduous travel in northern Peru, where he dubiously bought 3 geldings (Huascaran, a tall, handsome gray; Inka, a smaller, strong bay; and Lucero, a small, dull black) around Chiclayo, a town about 250 miles south of Puira. With some training and considerable effort, Verne spirits them along the Highway, but by Puira the geldings are completely played out. Huascaran is gut sick, Inka's blindness in one eye diminishes his performance, and Lucero proves prone to lameness. So the entrepreneurial Verne, with the help of friends, acquaintances, and Peruvian Paso lovers, sells the geldings at a substantial profit and heads back south to Chiclayo country to buy better horses.

And better horses he buys, this time two matching mares: Hamaca, a 6 year old black; and Ima Sumac, a 4 year old black with a white star. These two fit the program better, and, with the lessons learned from the previous misfire, horses and rider become equal to the extended traipse north. Hamaca proved an exceptional Peruvian Paso and made the Long Way To Los Gatos in better shape than Ima. She lived a long life and lasted out her later years in Washington State with her owner Betty Bowe.

The trio finally make it out of Puira and successfully cross the border into Equador, gradually riding and walking over the 12,000 foot Carbonsillo Pass to Quito, the Capital, where they take a long and deserved rest over Christmas on the Equator. Next they board a C-47 cargo plane from Quito to Panama City, thence to Antigua, Guatemala where Verne realizes he has only $250 dollars left to complete the trip. By hook or crook they make it to Mexico City with less than $80 to spare. From there, on the last leg to Mexicali, Verne takes a job caretaking cattle for railroaders. Hamaca and Ima go along for the train ride in the final race between money and miles and time.

Verne has conjured up all the old memories in intricate detail from his adventures as a young man on a mission to bring great Peruvian Paso horses to America. All along the way the terrain varies, weather threatens, distance exhausts, events endanger, and the worst happens, but through it all he stays on track and the horses behave and perform magnificently. If you want to establish a clear line of connection to lasting achievement and tap into a big time endurance experience, read his book.

Fasten the gate, Bob Howdy, PhD