Hoosier will ride Lewis & Clark trail for horse rescue group

KENTUCKY -- Fulfilling a 28-year-old dream, Richard Mills set out Saturday on a horseback ride along the Lewis and Clark Trail, starting at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville, Ind.

Costumed historical interpretors came out to watch the launch of the
Ride to Rescue Buck Creek, which will trace the path of the Lewis and Clark
Expedition, at the Falls of the Ohio State Park in Clarksville on Saturday.
(By Jenna Esarey, Special to The Courier-Journal)

The trip — which will take him 2,240 miles to Great Falls, Mont., over the next four months — is a fundraiser for the horse rescue organization he runs in Elizabeth with his wife Robin, Buck Creek Valley Rescue. He plans to ride from Montana to Oregon next year.

 

“I’ve wanted to do this ride for years. The good Lord just made it perfect timing,” Mills said. “Before, it would have just been for my own glory. Now it’s for the glory of Buck Creek Rescue.”

The nonprofit rescues and rehabilitates horses that have been neglected or abused, and Buck Creek President Bill Walsh said it now is housing 30 horses, which is too many. “We need to adopt some out,” he said.

On his journey, Mills will ride Willie, a Tennessee Walking Horse who was rescued last year. Willie had been severely abused and beaten in the head with two-by-fours.

A crowd of about 25 turned out in a light drizzle to see Mills off on his journey.

“It touches my heart,” said Dean Huber of New Albany, a former dude ranch manager in Colorado. Huber brought Mills a hay bag as a gift for Willie to use along the trail.

“There’s a special place in my heart for animals,” he said. “I wish I was going with him.”

Mills’ journey will be chronicled on the Ride to Rescue Buck Creek Facebook page. He and volunteers have mapped out a route using smaller roads as much as possible. But Mills said, “I’ll have to use interstates to cross some of the rivers.”

Richard Mills and his Tennessee walking horse, Willie,
prepare to head out on the Ride to Rescue Buck Creek at the Falls of the
Ohio State Park in Clarksville on Saturday.
(By Jenna Esarey, Special to The Courier-Journal)

A police escort has been arranged to see him over the Ohio River in Evansville.

A GPS application on his smartphone will allow his Buck Creek family to track his every movement. Along the route, veterinarians, VFW posts and others will watch over Mills and Willie, providing services if needed.

“I’m definitely planning to follow his ride online,” said Jim Mead of Jeffersonville. “I think the Lewis and Clark journey was fascinating and hearing that he’s going to duplicate it is wonderful.”

While he is traveling alone, Mills hopes to pick up riding companions from time to time. Buck Creek volunteer Ryan Rawlings set out on the journey with him, riding Blondie, a rescued Palomino he plans to adopt from the organization.

Richard Mills, in the lead, and Ryan Rawlings, his travelling companion for
the first two days of his four-month journey, head up the Ohio River
Greenway from the Falls of the Ohio upper falls parking area on
Saturday as they begin the Ride to Rescue Buck Creek.
(By Jenna Esarey, Special to The Courier-Journal) July 27, 2013.

The two planned to travel to Buck Creek Saturday, spending the night at the rescue before riding on to Leavenworth on Sunday, followed by Tell City and Evansville.

Once Mills and Willie reach Montana, they will return by trailer. “The plan is to go back out there in the spring and continue on to Oregon and continue the trail,” Mills said.

(The Courier-Journal - Jul. 28, 2013)