Ende travels U.S. a hoof at a time

IRONWOOD - For some, horseback riding is hobby. For lady long-rider Bernice Ende, it's a way of life.

During an adventurous coast-to-coast horseback ride, Ende stopped in Ironwood Tuesday to rest for a couple days.

Beginning from her home in northwestern Montana, Ende rode her horses Montana Spirit and Essie Pearl all the way to Maine.

Spending the last winter on the East Coast, she has now embarked on a journey to the West Coast along a route that will take her across the breadth of the U.S. and Canada. Eventually, she will venture back home.

Her love of horses and riding started before she was born.

"I rode inside of my mother's belly," Ende said. "I came out riding. I really did."

Growing up, Ende was raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota. As a child, she said she learned about the American spirit.

"My father had that 'can-do-ness.' Even though you didn't have a pot to piss in, you still find a way to make it happen. Freedom," Ende said. "There was also an enormous amount of freedom on that dairy farm."

On the farm, Ende would ride her horse whenever she could to feel free.

"We had horses," Ende said. "I was able to just go. I had a mother that didn't say 'No, get off that horse,' even though I was galloping down the road standing up."

When she got older, Ende became a ballet teacher.

When she retired, Ende became sick of living a "normal life" and told everyone she would ride her horse to visit her sister.

"I rode from the northwest corner of Montana all the way down to Albuquerque. That was roughly a 2,000-mile ride on one horse, and my dog walked the entire ride."

Along the way, she faced challenges she never had before.

"It was so hard," Ende said. "A lot of it was simply fear and being scared. It blew me out of the water. I had no food, no water."

Relying on the good graces of complete strangers, she eventually made it all the way to New Mexico.

"Asking for help is the hardest part," Ende said. "I don't want to stop and ask."

By the time she got to her sister's, Ende said she felt like a new woman.

"I discovered freedom," she said

Having made that long journey, Ende said she didn't want to go back to her old life.

"I tried being normal," she said. "I can't do it."

Since making her daring ride from Montana to New Mexico, she hasn't stopped riding and has traveled more than 18,000 miles across deserts, plains and fields, gaining lots of attention along the way.

"When I first started riding, nobody knew who I was," Ende said. "I never had this kind of reaction that I had on the East Coast."

Now, when people see her, she wonders why people aren't afraid of her.

"I can't believe that people don't think I'm nuts," Ende said. "Yet, I've had thousands of people say to me, 'I've always wanted to do that.'"

Rather than run away, Ende said people have offered her tons of support.

"I'm offered support nearly each and every day I am out crossing the country via horseback," she said. "Many offer food, or a hot shower, or "let me wash your clothes or offer a place to camp...the list goes on."

To live this kind of lifestyle, Ende said she's changed a lot since retiring.

"I give up a lot," she said. "I give up my friends, my community, my home. I give all that up to do this."

On the course of her journey, she said she's formed a bond with her horses that's like no other.

"It's so intimate," she said. "I'm with these horses all year long, and their care is the most important thing to me.

"These horses are working horses. They've got a job to do. They're the finest team I've ever assembled," she said.

At a top speed of 4 miles per hour, Ende said she's ridden across states she's never been to before.

"I've never been in Michigan before," she said. "It's a fantastic state to ride through. It's in my top five. Seeing the Atlantic Ocean after riding thousands of miles brings a tear to your eye."

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For more information, visit Endeofthetrail.com