Beschreibung
Harberts, Bernie (2024) Two Mules to Triumph. RiverEarth Publishing. ISBN 979-8989263721. 305 Seiten.
Two Mules to Triumph is the true story of Bernie Harberts‘ 2,300-mile voyage through America with his two imperfect mules, Brick and Cracker. Brick is afraid of plastic bags, and Cracker gets erections in public. And Bernie? He’s not over-endowed in the planning department. Two Mules to Triumph begins:
I couldn’t ride my mule Cracker away from the barn. Every time I got his head turned and pointed toward the driveway, his jaw went hard, he spun, and he ran back in the direction we’d come. My wife Julia was leaning against the corral, watching. „Damn it, Cracker, let’s go!“ I said, thumped his sides with my heels and aimed him across the backyard. He galloped ahead, veered sideways and smashed Julia against the corral. I looked down and saw Cracker’s hairy mule chest crushing Julia against the fence.
„Get that mule off me!“ she gasped.
Two Mules to Triumph is a humorous, fast-moving story sure to fascinate readers who enjoyed the animal stories in The Ride of Her Life (Elizabeth Letts) and the Wild West mule adventures in The Oregon Trail (Rinker Buck). Bernie’s mules feud, balk at bridges, shy at dogs, bolt into traffic, run away, and dump him. They also bring great joy to the people they encounter, from the cowboy who gave Bernie the coat off his back to the man who kept a rat in a cage for a year without water.
Because he is traveling without a chase vehicle or support team, Bernie has to rely on the help of strangers to provide his mules with food, water and shelter. He also gets pulled into the lives of the people he meets along the way. He helps a vet pull quills from a knocked-out Husky’s face, watches a pig farmer jerk off a boar, eats stew that looks like snot with Mennonites and talks down a man with a club.
Two Mules to Triumph is not only a captivating travel story, but also a valuable resource for those intrigued by the technical aspects of long-distance saddle travel. The book includes 137 photos, maps, and sketches, along with fifteen pages of gear photos and a comprehensive packing list for anyone interested in embarking on a saddle voyage, whether it’s an overnight trail ride or a Long Ride covering thousands of miles.
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